1 00:00:07,030 --> 00:00:11,060 Good morning. Who's feeling great after the 2 00:00:11,070 --> 00:00:15,040 time change? I'm feeling great after I I was 3 00:00:15,050 --> 00:00:20,110 awake at 5:00 not because I wanted to be awake at 5:00. 4 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:24,610 Good morning. If I'm a new face, I wanna say 5 00:00:24,620 --> 00:00:26,340 welcome, welcome to court, right. 6 00:00:26,350 --> 00:00:27,810 It's good to have you all with us. 7 00:00:27,820 --> 00:00:30,810 My name is Grant and I'm one of the pastors here at the church. 8 00:00:30,900 --> 00:00:33,350 And in a minute I want to give you the heads up. 9 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:35,650 We're gonna jump into Luke Chapter 11. 10 00:00:35,660 --> 00:00:39,790 So I'm not going to give you the whole 10 chapter how we got to 11 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:42,650 here. We'd be here until next week. 12 00:00:42,740 --> 00:00:47,050 But if you are flying in kind of newer on this series, we are 13 00:00:47,060 --> 00:00:49,050 working our way through the gospel of Luke. 14 00:00:49,060 --> 00:00:52,630 And one of the reasons why we're doing that is because we just 15 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:56,550 believe that it's important to get the text in front of us and 16 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:00,150 not to jump around a whole lot, but simply to work our way 17 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:04,819 slowly through an entire book. And so we've been doing that 10 18 00:01:04,830 --> 00:01:07,540 chapters all the way through. Now we're into 11. 19 00:01:07,830 --> 00:01:11,860 If you're newer to the Bible, Luke is almost all the way to 20 00:01:11,870 --> 00:01:15,400 the end of the book. And so if you want a Bible to 21 00:01:15,410 --> 00:01:19,200 follow along inside of to read along with me, we've got Bibles 22 00:01:19,210 --> 00:01:20,870 at the back of the sanctuary over here. 23 00:01:20,910 --> 00:01:23,180 You're going to start hearing me say this until they all 24 00:01:23,190 --> 00:01:25,800 disappear. If you want to take those home, 25 00:01:25,810 --> 00:01:28,250 please, please take it home. If you don't have a Bible, if 26 00:01:28,260 --> 00:01:30,380 you have somebody you want to give a Bible to, we would love 27 00:01:30,390 --> 00:01:32,450 to run out of Bibles. I think that would be a great 28 00:01:32,460 --> 00:01:35,210 story for the church to tell. Alright, the church that ran out 29 00:01:35,220 --> 00:01:37,830 of Bibles, we will happily buy more. 30 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:40,470 OK, so those are there. We're also going to have it on 31 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:42,420 the screen. I'm going to begin though, just 32 00:01:42,430 --> 00:01:47,370 by slowly reading us through a few of these verses in Luke 33 00:01:47,380 --> 00:01:50,650 Chapter 11. So hopefully that gave you a 34 00:01:50,660 --> 00:01:52,710 little bit of time to find it if you want to pull it up on a 35 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:55,010 phone as well. I will not think that you're 36 00:01:55,020 --> 00:01:58,630 texting until I start hearing those little like Ding, Ding, 37 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:00,030 Ding. So just like turn, you know, 38 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,650 turn on silent if you're going to also text as we read. 39 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:06,030 OK, great. I told you, feeling great. 40 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:07,150 Time change. Love it. 41 00:02:08,530 --> 00:02:13,540 Let me pray. God, thanks for your love and 42 00:02:13,550 --> 00:02:16,930 your grace and thanks that that's the reason why we gather. 43 00:02:17,220 --> 00:02:20,290 Like it's your Spirit who does this, who gathers us together, 44 00:02:20,430 --> 00:02:22,470 calls us. The church thinks that you do 45 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:24,670 that. And some of us run in like we're 46 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:27,530 feeling great and some of us stumble in and we're feeling 47 00:02:27,540 --> 00:02:29,510 weary. And some of us trip and fall and 48 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:34,870 we kind of find our way here. Some of us are drug along. 49 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,390 We're here because somebody decided to lift us up and carry 50 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:39,580 us in. So yeah, thanks to the community 51 00:02:39,590 --> 00:02:44,120 is where you designed us to be. And so wherever we are, each of 52 00:02:44,130 --> 00:02:48,960 us on our journey with you, our relationship to you, yet I pray 53 00:02:48,970 --> 00:02:51,860 that we, each one of us would find here a community that is 54 00:02:51,870 --> 00:02:56,820 shaped, that is formed by your love and by Your grace and by 55 00:02:56,830 --> 00:03:02,160 prayer and in worship by this book that we have your word to 56 00:03:02,170 --> 00:03:05,170 us. So Gab, as we read, would you 57 00:03:05,180 --> 00:03:08,660 speak to us? Whatever's rattling around in 58 00:03:08,670 --> 00:03:10,940 our hearts and in our minds and our souls and our bodies? 59 00:03:10,950 --> 00:03:12,960 God, would you steal us? Now what do you call us? 60 00:03:14,140 --> 00:03:16,370 And God, I pray that we would hear your voice. 61 00:03:17,100 --> 00:03:20,100 So would you do that? I pray in Jesus name, Amen. 62 00:03:22,530 --> 00:03:27,510 So I'm gonna begin reading at verse 14 of Chapter 11 and read 63 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:31,230 through to verse 28, and then we'll work our way through some 64 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:35,410 of it. So it says Jesus was driving out 65 00:03:35,420 --> 00:03:39,600 a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who 66 00:03:39,610 --> 00:03:43,080 had been mute spoke and the crowd was amazed. 67 00:03:43,430 --> 00:03:46,860 But some of them said by Beelzebul, the Prince of demons, 68 00:03:46,870 --> 00:03:51,420 he is driving out demons. Others tested him by asking a 69 00:03:51,430 --> 00:03:55,270 sign from heaven. Jesus knew their thoughts and 70 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,610 said to them, Any Kingdom divided against itself will be 71 00:03:58,620 --> 00:04:02,120 ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. 72 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:06,130 If Satan is divided against himself, how can his Kingdom 73 00:04:06,140 --> 00:04:08,900 stand? I say this because you claim 74 00:04:08,910 --> 00:04:10,940 that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. 75 00:04:11,130 --> 00:04:14,280 Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your 76 00:04:14,290 --> 00:04:18,570 followers drive them out? So then they will be your 77 00:04:18,579 --> 00:04:21,370 judges. But if I drive out demons by the 78 00:04:21,380 --> 00:04:25,520 finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. 79 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:30,130 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his 80 00:04:30,140 --> 00:04:33,270 possessions are safe. But when someone stronger 81 00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:36,330 attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which 82 00:04:36,340 --> 00:04:38,440 the man trusted and divides up his plunder. 83 00:04:39,220 --> 00:04:43,070 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not 84 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:47,250 gather with me scatters. When an impure spirit comes out 85 00:04:47,260 --> 00:04:50,370 of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest, and 86 00:04:50,380 --> 00:04:53,090 does not find it. Then it says, I will return to 87 00:04:53,100 --> 00:04:56,050 the house I left. When it arrives, it finds the 88 00:04:56,060 --> 00:04:58,310 house swept clean and put in order. 89 00:04:58,380 --> 00:05:01,690 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than 90 00:05:01,700 --> 00:05:05,780 itself, and they go in and live there, and the final condition 91 00:05:05,790 --> 00:05:07,790 of that person is worse than the first. 92 00:05:08,820 --> 00:05:11,030 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd 93 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:13,110 called out. Blessed is the mother who gave 94 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:16,650 you birth and nursed you, and he that's Jesus replied. 95 00:05:16,660 --> 00:05:21,510 Blessed, rather, are those who hear the word of God and obey 96 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,960 it. So if there's ever been a week 97 00:05:24,970 --> 00:05:27,390 where I want to give a plug to you listening to the podcast, 98 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,840 this would be it. Because we're not gonna get to 99 00:05:30,850 --> 00:05:37,040 every single thing in this short ish section of Chapter 11. 100 00:05:37,050 --> 00:05:40,510 We're not even through Chapter 11 yet, so we're not gonna touch 101 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:41,910 on everything. So I would encourage you. 102 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:44,470 I would say, hey, like if you've got something hanging at the end 103 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:48,160 of this sermon, you're like, you didn't talk about like this one 104 00:05:48,170 --> 00:05:51,950 thing, TuneIn, send that one thing to us in an e-mail or 105 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:55,210 text. Give us a shout and maybe we'll 106 00:05:55,220 --> 00:05:57,250 talk about it on the on the podcast this week. 107 00:05:57,260 --> 00:05:58,840 But that's just an opportunity here. 108 00:05:58,850 --> 00:06:02,050 Let me say this much. That's an opportunity for us not 109 00:06:02,060 --> 00:06:04,950 to teach you more. Like that's not our our hope and 110 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:07,030 our heart behind it. It's not like an opportunity for 111 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:09,540 you just to like, go listen to us more of our voices. 112 00:06:10,430 --> 00:06:14,140 What it is, we hope is a conversation that helps you 113 00:06:14,150 --> 00:06:17,380 continue to also have your own conversations, be it around the 114 00:06:17,390 --> 00:06:20,080 dinner table or in the car when you commute, driving to and from 115 00:06:20,090 --> 00:06:22,600 sports with a spouse, with a friend, partner, like whoever 116 00:06:22,610 --> 00:06:24,020 you've got going on in your life. 117 00:06:24,030 --> 00:06:26,900 Like we want you to have more meaningful conversations about 118 00:06:26,910 --> 00:06:29,080 these things. And so that's our hope. 119 00:06:29,130 --> 00:06:32,120 Yep, we're going to jump in and cover a lot of different things, 120 00:06:32,170 --> 00:06:34,390 but our hope is to encourage you to have conversations. 121 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:39,280 So disclaimer #1 I don't know if you've ever had this experience, 122 00:06:39,290 --> 00:06:41,500 but when we sold our house in Hamilton, so this was over a 123 00:06:41,510 --> 00:06:43,360 year ago, we were just reminiscing because it was like 124 00:06:43,370 --> 00:06:46,180 a year to the day, October 15th, that we moved into our new house 125 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:48,770 and go off. But when we sold our house and 126 00:06:48,780 --> 00:06:51,330 moved here to Guelph, our real estate agent came in and did 127 00:06:51,340 --> 00:06:55,770 some staging, like some she called it like easy staging or 128 00:06:55,780 --> 00:06:57,190 soft staging or something like that. 129 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:00,010 Anyway, she what she said is that she would use some of our 130 00:07:00,020 --> 00:07:04,160 furniture, emphasis on some and bring in some decorative 131 00:07:04,170 --> 00:07:06,720 furniture and items of her own to make our house look more 132 00:07:06,730 --> 00:07:08,420 appealing to buy. Like this is the thing, you 133 00:07:08,490 --> 00:07:10,960 clean your house all up and then somebody comes in, they makes it 134 00:07:10,970 --> 00:07:15,060 look like not your house so that it looks better to sell. 135 00:07:15,150 --> 00:07:18,140 And this is supposed to work. And I guess it did. 136 00:07:18,670 --> 00:07:23,180 So the key though, for us was, like I said, before that could 137 00:07:23,190 --> 00:07:25,430 happen, before our real estate agent could come in with her 138 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:28,050 friends and stage our stuff to make it look better than it is, 139 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:32,510 we had to empty out of our House of like 90% of our own stuff. 140 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:34,990 Like, and I don't know that I'm exaggerating. 141 00:07:35,460 --> 00:07:38,670 We boxed everything up and my brother showed up with a 142 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:41,540 trailer, a big trailer, closed trailer. 143 00:07:41,550 --> 00:07:45,230 You could fit multiple snowmobiles in said trailer. 144 00:07:45,300 --> 00:07:49,310 And we filled it with so much of our stuff and we sent it off to 145 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:51,560 his place. And you couldn't open a closet. 146 00:07:51,570 --> 00:07:53,330 We're like, please just don't open the closets. 147 00:07:53,340 --> 00:07:55,660 Everything is clean, we promise. But if you open it up, floor to 148 00:07:55,670 --> 00:07:59,290 ceiling boxes of the rest of our stuff hidden away to make our 149 00:07:59,300 --> 00:08:03,100 house look better, to sell it, our house was clean. 150 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:06,640 Oh my goodness, it was cleaner than it had been in five years, 151 00:08:06,650 --> 00:08:08,130 the whole five years we lived there. 152 00:08:08,140 --> 00:08:11,150 It was never as clean as it was during this process of Cliff 153 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:15,080 selling the house, but it was also empty. 154 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,570 I remember walking around the house going like man, like this 155 00:08:19,580 --> 00:08:23,750 thing lacks the very thing that it's supposed to be like it. 156 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:27,290 It was missing us. It lacked the people, it lacked 157 00:08:27,300 --> 00:08:30,270 our family, it lacked personality and and yes, on 158 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:33,590 occasion, it lacked a mess of everyday life that comes along 159 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:38,789 with real life. It was empty. 160 00:08:38,860 --> 00:08:41,130 And, and the other thing that I noticed about this house that 161 00:08:41,140 --> 00:08:47,840 was empty was no matter how hard I tried, our stuff would creep 162 00:08:47,850 --> 00:08:51,850 back into it. So we get a phone call or a text 163 00:08:51,860 --> 00:08:54,820 and we like, OK, you got a showing at 2:30 today. 164 00:08:54,830 --> 00:08:56,620 Do you approve it? Yes, we want to approve it. 165 00:08:56,630 --> 00:08:59,340 What time is it, 158? OK. 166 00:09:01,090 --> 00:09:03,520 And we're like, great, Connie, like, take the girls, go to the 167 00:09:03,530 --> 00:09:05,220 park. And I was like, frantically go 168 00:09:05,230 --> 00:09:07,390 through all the spaces, cleaning it again because you know how 169 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:12,310 this works? Like, no space stays empty for 170 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:15,490 long. Things creep back in and yes, 171 00:09:15,500 --> 00:09:19,030 again, sometimes the mess of life can creep back in and I 172 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:21,110 wonder, maybe you've noticed the same thing. 173 00:09:21,970 --> 00:09:24,110 You finally get carve out time like you got. 174 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:26,780 We're gonna take a whole day and we're gonna do a deep clean on 175 00:09:26,790 --> 00:09:29,520 our house. We're gonna focus on one space. 176 00:09:29,590 --> 00:09:32,240 Usually it's the garage. Like, we're gonna clean out that 177 00:09:32,250 --> 00:09:35,390 garage and you do it. You actually do it. 178 00:09:35,460 --> 00:09:37,830 You clear your schedule. Maybe you even invite people 179 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:40,090 over here like, hey, pizza, help us clean, right? 180 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:47,030 Game on and you do it. You clean the space and you do 181 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:47,840 the dump. Run. 182 00:09:48,710 --> 00:09:50,820 That's like one of the most therapeutic things you can ever 183 00:09:50,830 --> 00:09:53,730 do. Well, it doesn't go to the dump. 184 00:09:53,740 --> 00:09:58,220 You donate, right? You give stuff away, boxes are 185 00:09:58,230 --> 00:10:01,180 emptied and the room is clean. You organize it and you close 186 00:10:01,190 --> 00:10:04,640 the door and the next day you open the door and it's filled 187 00:10:04,650 --> 00:10:07,700 with stuff again. Like this is how it works, 188 00:10:09,580 --> 00:10:11,990 right? Next day filled with things 189 00:10:12,060 --> 00:10:16,440 again. Empty spaces don't stay empty 190 00:10:16,490 --> 00:10:19,200 for long. A clean house becomes filled 191 00:10:19,210 --> 00:10:21,560 with things like best intentions. 192 00:10:21,570 --> 00:10:24,540 Clutter creeps in, bad habits return. 193 00:10:25,340 --> 00:10:31,670 But life also, like our spaces, can feel the same way. 194 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:35,930 Like they don't stay empty for long. 195 00:10:36,020 --> 00:10:39,080 They don't stay free of clutter for long. 196 00:10:39,090 --> 00:10:43,210 They fill with things and people and time and commitments and 197 00:10:43,220 --> 00:10:47,640 stuff to do and stuff to buy that you don't really need in 198 00:10:47,650 --> 00:10:50,510 the 1st place. But we fill our lives with 199 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:54,160 things and, and eventually, I don't know if you felt this, but 200 00:10:54,170 --> 00:10:57,120 like, our lives can feel like they're filled up to your 201 00:10:57,130 --> 00:11:02,670 eyeballs with all of the things to do and all the errands to run 202 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:05,020 and work to be completed and deadlines to meet and kids to 203 00:11:05,030 --> 00:11:07,980 raise and grandkids to visit. And when, like, is the vacation 204 00:11:07,990 --> 00:11:10,750 that we talked about 3 years ago actually gonna happen? 205 00:11:11,820 --> 00:11:15,950 When are we gonna slow down? When are we gonna empty our life 206 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:20,470 of what feels like chaos? The reality though is that so 207 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:24,320 often we don't do that very thing that we know we need to, 208 00:11:24,330 --> 00:11:28,650 which is to empty it of some of the things that cause it to be 209 00:11:28,660 --> 00:11:35,500 too full and overly noisy and chaotic, right? 210 00:11:35,510 --> 00:11:38,300 In the end, maybe we don't get the rest that we know we need or 211 00:11:38,310 --> 00:11:40,460 we don't develop and practice good habits. 212 00:11:40,470 --> 00:11:43,300 Instead. I think what many of us do when 213 00:11:43,310 --> 00:11:47,500 life feels chaotic and when your stress is high and when anxiety 214 00:11:47,510 --> 00:11:50,440 is running a little bit wild and like will slow down when you 215 00:11:50,450 --> 00:11:52,890 can't shut off the voice. This is a good indicator when 216 00:11:52,900 --> 00:11:55,260 you can't shut off the voice inside of your head. 217 00:11:55,510 --> 00:11:58,420 When you lay down to go to sleep and your mind is just running 218 00:11:58,430 --> 00:12:01,380 over and over and over all of the things that you haven't done 219 00:12:01,390 --> 00:12:03,440 or that you did do that you shouldn't have done or that you 220 00:12:03,450 --> 00:12:07,480 need to still do tomorrow. Rather than addressing the noise 221 00:12:07,770 --> 00:12:11,320 in the business, what I think many of us end up doing is we 222 00:12:11,330 --> 00:12:15,640 add to it. We consume more content. 223 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:19,670 We watch another movie or we find another TV show to binge. 224 00:12:19,680 --> 00:12:22,570 We turn something on and be like, I'm just gonna force that 225 00:12:22,580 --> 00:12:24,520 voice to shut up. I'm like, hey, I don't wanna 226 00:12:24,530 --> 00:12:29,040 listen to you, so I'm gonna drown it out with something 227 00:12:29,050 --> 00:12:32,370 else. Maybe it's that we purchase 228 00:12:32,380 --> 00:12:35,760 another thing or we say yes to another commitment because we 229 00:12:35,770 --> 00:12:38,990 don't wanna slow down and feel what we're feeling or hear, hear 230 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:42,490 what we are hearing and address what's going on inside of our 231 00:12:42,500 --> 00:12:45,390 minds and inside of our souls and inside of our lives and our 232 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:48,810 spaces around us. And so we just simply keep 233 00:12:48,820 --> 00:12:52,020 consuming and filling it with more, and we don't slow down. 234 00:12:52,950 --> 00:12:55,600 Empty spaces don't stay empty for long. 235 00:12:56,420 --> 00:12:59,790 And we fill the space that we have, and it can be physical 236 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:03,030 space and it can be mental space, and it can be spiritual 237 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:05,940 space. Luke 11. 238 00:13:05,950 --> 00:13:07,940 Jesus gives us this bizarre warning. 239 00:13:07,950 --> 00:13:10,410 And it is, it's bizarre. It sounds strange. 240 00:13:10,420 --> 00:13:13,740 She says when an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes 241 00:13:13,750 --> 00:13:16,640 through arid places seeking rest, doesn't find any. 242 00:13:16,650 --> 00:13:19,680 Then it says, I will return to the house I left. 243 00:13:19,870 --> 00:13:23,360 And when it arrives, it finds the house swept clean, great, 244 00:13:23,370 --> 00:13:25,480 and put in order. OK, that sounds good. 245 00:13:25,550 --> 00:13:30,360 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than 246 00:13:30,370 --> 00:13:32,640 itself, and they go in and live there. 247 00:13:32,650 --> 00:13:37,280 And the final condition of that person is worse than the first 248 00:13:37,370 --> 00:13:40,820 two things as we go. First, if you're here for the 249 00:13:40,830 --> 00:13:43,810 first time or if you like are newer to Christianity, I love 250 00:13:43,820 --> 00:13:45,470 that you're here. And I think this is one of the 251 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:48,460 best places for you to be as inside of church, Christian 252 00:13:48,470 --> 00:13:51,180 community, doing life, figuring it out, wrestling it all 253 00:13:51,330 --> 00:13:53,300 together. But you're being tossed into the 254 00:13:53,310 --> 00:13:58,700 deep end here, not because of anything profound that I'm gonna 255 00:13:58,710 --> 00:14:03,610 say, but simply because of what we're reading. 256 00:14:03,620 --> 00:14:08,610 So that's not what number 2, I think probably all of us helpful 257 00:14:08,620 --> 00:14:13,190 for you all to hear when we read this think, hey, Jesus, wouldn't 258 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:17,140 it be better for the first guy just to stay the way he was? 259 00:14:19,030 --> 00:14:22,420 Like, I can do that math. That's simple math. 260 00:14:22,470 --> 00:14:28,600 One is less than 7. 7 sounds worse. 261 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:33,110 One of the things that we see in Jesus life through the lens of 262 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:37,930 these gospels is that Jesus regularly and routinely and kind 263 00:14:37,940 --> 00:14:41,090 of all the way through casts out demons. 264 00:14:41,100 --> 00:14:44,370 This is part of Jesus ministry, it's part of his life. 265 00:14:44,380 --> 00:14:48,180 It is part of how he was as he navigated the world, as he 266 00:14:48,190 --> 00:14:51,350 navigated what was physical and what we can see temporal and how 267 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:55,730 he navigated what his spiritual. And so we get these stories I 268 00:14:55,740 --> 00:14:58,930 can look for Jesus casts a demon out of a man in a town called 269 00:14:58,940 --> 00:15:02,250 Capernaum. And Luke 8, he heals a man who's 270 00:15:02,260 --> 00:15:05,970 possessed by many demons. He's called Legion because there 271 00:15:05,980 --> 00:15:07,750 are many. And that story involves a herd 272 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:09,870 of pigs. Luke chapter 8 if you want to go 273 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:14,900 and read it. Luke 9 Jesus sends out his 274 00:15:14,910 --> 00:15:19,620 disciples and what does it say? It says he gives them power and 275 00:15:19,630 --> 00:15:23,460 authority to cast out all kinds of demons. 276 00:15:23,630 --> 00:15:27,160 So this is power, this is authority, this is reality for 277 00:15:27,170 --> 00:15:30,600 Jesus and his disciples. It happens throughout Jesus 278 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:34,760 ministry and what it is, is it is all part of God's plan to 279 00:15:34,770 --> 00:15:39,000 roll out the Kingdom of God. This is all part of God's 280 00:15:39,010 --> 00:15:43,430 Kingdom arriving on earth and pushing against the places and 281 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:47,530 spaces of darkness. And it's why at the beginning of 282 00:15:47,540 --> 00:15:50,130 Jesus's ministry, and we've often referenced back to these 283 00:15:50,140 --> 00:15:54,030 lines throughout our study, Jesus gets up and he reads from 284 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:56,250 the book of Isaiah. He says the Spirit of the Lord 285 00:15:56,260 --> 00:16:00,150 is on me and because he is anointed me to proclaim good 286 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:02,660 news, he says I'm gonna proclaim it to the poor. 287 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,930 And he has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and 288 00:16:05,940 --> 00:16:09,770 recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to 289 00:16:09,780 --> 00:16:12,190 proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. 290 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,350 He says, hey, with this, with my arrival, with the kingdoms 291 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:19,710 arrival, there is the grace and favor of God to be experienced 292 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:21,430 and it is going to look like these things. 293 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:26,150 It is going to look like good news to the poor and freedom for 294 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:29,610 prisoners and healing for those who are physically ill. 295 00:16:29,620 --> 00:16:31,810 And he says, listen, we're gonna set the oppressed free. 296 00:16:31,820 --> 00:16:37,500 We're gonna push against these things, and the beautiful thing 297 00:16:37,510 --> 00:16:41,860 about the way the Gospels traced Jesus's life is that he actually 298 00:16:41,870 --> 00:16:45,510 begins to do it. He says This is why I've been 299 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:51,800 sent and now let me show you what it looks like. 300 00:16:52,110 --> 00:16:55,300 And people are healed and they're not just healed 301 00:16:55,310 --> 00:16:58,510 physically, they're healed relationally and spiritually and 302 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:00,510 they're forgiven. But they they aren't just 303 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:03,190 forgiven, they're restored into community, into right 304 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:06,250 relationship with people, with groups of people. 305 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:10,869 The kingdom's arrival is this wonderful mixture of healings 306 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:16,020 where it's never just spiritual and it's never just physical and 307 00:17:16,030 --> 00:17:20,940 it's never just social. And that's why we see the same 308 00:17:20,950 --> 00:17:23,839 word used often over and over again in the New Testament. 309 00:17:23,849 --> 00:17:25,800 And the word, you don't remember it, it's so so. 310 00:17:25,890 --> 00:17:33,190 But we can read it both as to save and to heal, that like with 311 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,190 God salvation comes God's healing and with God's healing 312 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:39,160 comes God's salvation. It means to save, to rescue, to 313 00:17:39,170 --> 00:17:42,060 deliver, to heal, to be healed, to be forgiven, all of it 314 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:44,830 together. This is like holistic here is 315 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:48,580 your entire life back kind of Kingdom. 316 00:17:50,300 --> 00:17:54,930 And that's what we begin to see play out in this interaction 317 00:17:54,940 --> 00:17:59,450 between Jesus and this man, the demon and these crowd onlooker 318 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:04,930 people says Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. 319 00:18:05,620 --> 00:18:09,590 And when the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke. 320 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:13,150 So there's immediately evidence that this has happened and the 321 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:16,430 crowd was amazed. But some of them said by 322 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:19,310 Beelzebub, the Prince of demons, he is driving out demons. 323 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:23,630 Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven. 324 00:18:24,490 --> 00:18:27,500 Others tested him. So here's the context. 325 00:18:27,510 --> 00:18:29,350 Jesus has arrived. Jesus is healing. 326 00:18:29,360 --> 00:18:33,870 A man is possessed by a demon that caused this man to be mute. 327 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:35,750 So that is, he couldn't or wouldn't speak. 328 00:18:37,050 --> 00:18:41,320 And the people, they see Jesus heal the man. 329 00:18:41,670 --> 00:18:43,230 They see the evidence of the healing. 330 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:46,590 The man speaks. And then they begin to wonder. 331 00:18:47,470 --> 00:18:51,510 And I think what they begin to wonder is like, who is this guy? 332 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:57,550 Who is this guy really? Because they see the demon being 333 00:18:57,560 --> 00:18:59,460 cast out. They see this man healed and it 334 00:18:59,470 --> 00:19:03,450 says they are a crowds are amazed. 335 00:19:04,180 --> 00:19:07,100 They're filled with wonder or awe, like astonishments like, 336 00:19:07,150 --> 00:19:10,700 well, really, no, there's a little bit of like mystery here. 337 00:19:10,710 --> 00:19:14,920 We don't know what's happening. And I think really what ends up 338 00:19:14,930 --> 00:19:17,890 happening in their hearts and in their minds is that they begin 339 00:19:17,900 --> 00:19:21,390 to think to themselves, like, wait a minute, like, how is this 340 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:23,440 guy doing what he's doing? Like who is he? 341 00:19:25,270 --> 00:19:28,200 And so they're wonder it it turns to this kind of like 342 00:19:28,210 --> 00:19:32,520 question and even toward like skepticism. 343 00:19:32,810 --> 00:19:34,740 And I'm not saying that skepticism is bad. 344 00:19:34,750 --> 00:19:37,000 It has its right place. What I am saying is I think it's 345 00:19:37,010 --> 00:19:39,950 interesting how the human heart can be prone towards cynicism 346 00:19:40,860 --> 00:19:44,860 and even like resentment. And it's all in this attempt to 347 00:19:44,870 --> 00:19:49,420 hold things out of distance. Because I, I think these guys, 348 00:19:49,430 --> 00:19:53,320 they see Jesus doing what he is doing and in their minds, like 349 00:19:53,330 --> 00:19:58,040 if he really is who he says he is, then that means I need to 350 00:19:58,050 --> 00:20:00,640 now live differently. That is going to have an 351 00:20:00,650 --> 00:20:02,640 implication on my life. That's going to have an 352 00:20:02,650 --> 00:20:06,360 implication on who and how I am in the world and what we thought 353 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:10,160 might not be what we continue to think and how we are might not 354 00:20:10,170 --> 00:20:13,240 continue to be who we are moving forward. 355 00:20:13,250 --> 00:20:17,020 Like if Jesus is right about who he is, they, these people are 356 00:20:17,030 --> 00:20:19,480 now required to live differently. 357 00:20:19,550 --> 00:20:21,700 And so they start saying to themselves, no, like by 358 00:20:21,710 --> 00:20:24,910 Beelzebul, the Prince of demons. This is at this point in Jesus's 359 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:27,960 life at this point in in sort of what history. 360 00:20:28,020 --> 00:20:32,200 This is simply a word for Satan. Helpful though, to know this. 361 00:20:32,210 --> 00:20:36,280 It actually means Lord of the flies and even like dung dung 362 00:20:36,290 --> 00:20:38,680 God. It's it's not a great term. 363 00:20:39,590 --> 00:20:41,970 It's not even necessarily like a powerful term. 364 00:20:41,980 --> 00:20:46,100 It's kind of like this guy on the side, simply Satan by be 365 00:20:46,110 --> 00:20:47,620 honest of all, by Satan, the Prince of demons. 366 00:20:47,630 --> 00:20:50,870 He is driving out demons. So in their mind, they're like, 367 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:54,180 no, it would be better for us if Jesus is doing what he's doing 368 00:20:54,230 --> 00:20:57,540 because of a different power, because of the eligible, but 369 00:20:57,550 --> 00:21:00,600 because of Satan, because of his power, like we don't want. 370 00:21:00,610 --> 00:21:04,000 If Jesus is living and acting with the power and authority of 371 00:21:04,010 --> 00:21:08,220 God, then that means I need to live differently. 372 00:21:08,230 --> 00:21:11,140 But if we can hold them at a distance and he's acting with 373 00:21:11,190 --> 00:21:14,630 Satan's authority or power, then that doesn't have anything to do 374 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:16,700 with us. And we can keep that over here, 375 00:21:16,710 --> 00:21:20,750 and we can keep our lives tidy and neat in this corner. 376 00:21:22,770 --> 00:21:28,750 If Jesus is right, then they now need to live differently and, 377 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:30,610 and I think Jesus names the attention. 378 00:21:31,060 --> 00:21:33,710 In fact, it says Jesus knew their thoughts. 379 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:37,580 We get this little editorial. And then he said to them, any 380 00:21:37,590 --> 00:21:39,430 Kingdom divided against itself will be ruined. 381 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:41,250 Like no, you can't listen common sense. 382 00:21:41,490 --> 00:21:43,580 A house divided against itself will fall. 383 00:21:43,650 --> 00:21:47,100 If Satan is driving is divided rather against himself, how can 384 00:21:47,110 --> 00:21:49,660 his Kingdom stand? In other words, it can't. 385 00:21:51,120 --> 00:21:53,850 This is the implication. It cannot stand if it's divided 386 00:21:53,940 --> 00:21:56,780 amongst itself. But, and this is what I want you 387 00:21:56,790 --> 00:22:01,480 to see, but if I drive out demons by the finger of God, 388 00:22:01,550 --> 00:22:05,700 this is a power, authority. It is a call back actually to 389 00:22:05,710 --> 00:22:08,700 the Old Testament, but means the authority, the power, the 390 00:22:08,710 --> 00:22:13,450 presence of God. Then the Kingdom of God has come 391 00:22:13,660 --> 00:22:18,760 upon you, says listen. Like if I drive out demons by 392 00:22:18,770 --> 00:22:23,180 the power of Satan, game over. Like what's the point? 393 00:22:23,250 --> 00:22:26,560 Divided Kingdom gonna fall. Game over. 394 00:22:27,390 --> 00:22:31,750 But if I drive demons out by the power of God, he says, then it's 395 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:38,150 game on the Kingdom coming out there. 396 00:22:39,620 --> 00:22:45,170 Wherever there is means the Kingdom coming in here. 397 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:52,990 It demands that something in me change, and it requires in 398 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,770 something that something in you change. 399 00:22:57,220 --> 00:23:02,080 The Kingdom of God confronts the places of sin and death in the 400 00:23:02,090 --> 00:23:04,470 world. Yes, absolutely. 401 00:23:05,700 --> 00:23:11,020 And the Kingdom of God confronts the places of sin and death in 402 00:23:11,030 --> 00:23:15,680 my life and in your life. The real presence of God, the 403 00:23:15,690 --> 00:23:20,610 Holy Spirit is disarming the devil's power over peoples 404 00:23:20,790 --> 00:23:23,200 lives. That's what Jesus declares with 405 00:23:23,210 --> 00:23:28,620 this one line, that the power of Satan in the world is being 406 00:23:28,630 --> 00:23:33,500 driven out as the Kingdom of God arrives. 407 00:23:33,570 --> 00:23:37,750 And that has very real implications for your life and 408 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:41,610 for my life. You see, I don't know about you, 409 00:23:44,020 --> 00:23:47,810 but I think we can like it when the Kingdom of God confronts sin 410 00:23:47,820 --> 00:23:54,850 and death out there in the world at a distance from us, from me, 411 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:59,410 where I can watch it happen, but we become a little bit more 412 00:23:59,420 --> 00:24:03,180 uncomfortable. I think we tend to resist when 413 00:24:03,190 --> 00:24:06,320 the Kingdom of God confronts sin and death in here. 414 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:12,930 I think we can end up living lives that want the social 415 00:24:12,940 --> 00:24:17,260 gospel to heal all of our relationships and to make life 416 00:24:17,270 --> 00:24:20,640 just that much better. We want the justice gospel to 417 00:24:20,650 --> 00:24:22,310 heal our world like God. Do it. 418 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:25,890 Do it out there. We want the physical gospel to 419 00:24:25,900 --> 00:24:34,000 heal our diseases, our disease, but our fundamental disease is 420 00:24:34,010 --> 00:24:40,540 actually a disk is it's this like unending longing and pulled 421 00:24:40,550 --> 00:24:43,440 toward Jesus and toward the Kingdom of God and what God is 422 00:24:43,450 --> 00:24:45,320 doing in the world and how you've been created to live. 423 00:24:45,330 --> 00:24:50,460 And Ron Rolheiser calls it a congenital, all embracing ache 424 00:24:51,870 --> 00:24:54,080 that prevents us from being at peace. 425 00:24:54,090 --> 00:24:59,090 Ultimately, outside of a deep and knowing relationship with 426 00:24:59,100 --> 00:25:01,360 God. You're gonna live in this 427 00:25:01,370 --> 00:25:07,140 perpetual season of anxiety driven like ache, longing not 428 00:25:07,150 --> 00:25:11,080 quite resolved, wondering like, am I created for something a 429 00:25:11,090 --> 00:25:14,530 little bit more outside of God's presence? 430 00:25:14,540 --> 00:25:17,440 You are going to feel that all throughout your life. 431 00:25:17,450 --> 00:25:20,000 This is what Augustine says famous quote when he writes. 432 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:24,690 You have made us for yourself, oh Lord, and our heart is 433 00:25:24,700 --> 00:25:32,200 restless until it rests in You. You've been created not to know 434 00:25:32,270 --> 00:25:35,820 this perpetual treadmill throw you off the end of it kind of 435 00:25:35,830 --> 00:25:42,450 life and to know a life of deep and meaningful rest. 436 00:25:43,510 --> 00:25:48,550 And but that only comes because of God's salvation, God's saving 437 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:54,070 life, and in order to know, in order to have that kind of deep 438 00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:57,870 and knowing relationship with God, that everything of your 439 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:03,180 life has to be surrendered. And This is why we hold it at a 440 00:26:03,190 --> 00:26:08,800 distance, because this is the deepest, hardest, most hurt, 441 00:26:08,850 --> 00:26:13,020 ugliest, worst, most shameful parts of your life need to be 442 00:26:13,090 --> 00:26:15,550 all of them surrendered to Jesus. 443 00:26:17,790 --> 00:26:19,880 What does that look like? So here, like, Are you ready to? 444 00:26:19,890 --> 00:26:24,760 Are you ready for the gospel? Is that Jesus puts it When a 445 00:26:24,770 --> 00:26:27,960 strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions 446 00:26:27,970 --> 00:26:32,650 are safe. But when someone stronger 447 00:26:33,850 --> 00:26:39,070 attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which 448 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:43,800 the man trusted and divides up his plunder. 449 00:26:46,330 --> 00:26:49,460 The strongman, fully armed, guards his house like 450 00:26:49,470 --> 00:26:52,490 possessions. Everything that's safe, that's 451 00:26:52,500 --> 00:26:56,060 Satan. The strong man here is Satan, 452 00:26:57,530 --> 00:27:01,390 but when someone stronger attacks and overpowers, that's 453 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,770 Jesus. And that's the hope of the 454 00:27:04,780 --> 00:27:07,920 gospel. No matter what it is that you've 455 00:27:07,930 --> 00:27:10,300 experienced, no matter what it is that you're going through. 456 00:27:10,310 --> 00:27:13,800 Like here it is in five words. Jesus is the stronger man. 457 00:27:13,810 --> 00:27:18,900 That's the gospel in five words. When we talk about the devil, I 458 00:27:18,910 --> 00:27:21,520 think it can lead to a couple of different things going on in our 459 00:27:21,530 --> 00:27:25,660 minds. Alright, first, like we can, you 460 00:27:25,670 --> 00:27:29,410 know, kind of dismiss it and even hyper personify the devil 461 00:27:29,420 --> 00:27:32,410 in a way that leads actually at the end of the day to apathy 462 00:27:32,420 --> 00:27:34,700 like this toward not caring about it at all. 463 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:38,070 And and the devil becomes this in this idea that's like 464 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:42,530 childish boogeyman, Halloween esque type thing that we can 465 00:27:42,540 --> 00:27:44,730 just easily dismiss and like, it's silly, right? 466 00:27:45,970 --> 00:27:47,220 But what's that line? There's a line. 467 00:27:47,230 --> 00:27:50,340 The finest trick, the devil like of the devil. 468 00:27:50,690 --> 00:27:55,310 It's to persuade you that he does not exist, right? 469 00:27:55,360 --> 00:27:57,350 So that's number one. We can kind of like dismiss it 470 00:27:57,900 --> 00:28:01,280 #2 Second, I think we can hyper spiritualize and dwell on the 471 00:28:01,290 --> 00:28:03,110 devil or Satan or evil or demons. 472 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:07,070 Like in a way that leads to a very real like, grip you at 473 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:12,290 night, keep you awake, scare you to just never fall asleep kind 474 00:28:12,300 --> 00:28:18,200 of fear, right? That we can kind of hold on to 475 00:28:18,210 --> 00:28:20,980 this reality, like, OK, Jesus and the devil. 476 00:28:20,990 --> 00:28:23,860 Like we can think about these things as like, are you like 2 477 00:28:23,870 --> 00:28:27,640 opposing forces, right? Like holding our breath, like 478 00:28:27,650 --> 00:28:30,040 who's gonna win? And we can live in fear kind of 479 00:28:30,050 --> 00:28:35,280 waiting, like who's gonna win? And I gotta tell you, like this 480 00:28:35,290 --> 00:28:37,840 isn't, this is not like World Series Game 7. 481 00:28:37,850 --> 00:28:41,080 Who's gonna win? It's too soon, I know. 482 00:28:45,660 --> 00:28:51,290 What would Jesus points us to in a very real way, is that you 483 00:28:51,300 --> 00:28:55,350 don't have to lay awake wondering who's gonna win. 484 00:28:57,020 --> 00:29:00,890 You don't have to lay awake in fear going OK, Jesus like the 485 00:29:00,900 --> 00:29:02,710 devil. Jesus like who's on top? 486 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:09,430 Who's who's gonna win the day? Jesus is the stronger man. 487 00:29:10,310 --> 00:29:16,860 This mini parable, Alright, Jesus uses it to put the devil 488 00:29:16,870 --> 00:29:21,430 in his place. Not 2 opposing forces of good 489 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:24,740 and evil, not any kind of holding our breath, not waiting 490 00:29:24,750 --> 00:29:26,170 to see who's gonna be victorious. 491 00:29:26,180 --> 00:29:30,540 Jesus is victorious. There's a story about Martin 492 00:29:30,550 --> 00:29:34,710 Luther who said, and this may or may not have happened, but the 493 00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:37,460 story is great. Martin Luther used to tie and 494 00:29:37,470 --> 00:29:39,350 this is true. He talked about how he himself 495 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:43,740 would regularly at night do battle with the devil, and he 496 00:29:43,750 --> 00:29:45,560 would lay awake and he would do battle with the devil. 497 00:29:45,570 --> 00:29:48,360 He would think and dwell and become anxious and fearful and 498 00:29:48,620 --> 00:29:53,560 but he did this so much and he learned to claim Jesus's victory 499 00:29:53,570 --> 00:29:57,540 in very real ways, so strongly that he said, there's a story 500 00:29:57,550 --> 00:29:59,750 about one night he woke up and he rolled over and he looks and 501 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:02,100 he sees the devil. He's like, oh, it's only you. 502 00:30:03,350 --> 00:30:04,740 He rolled over and he goes back to sleep. 503 00:30:07,310 --> 00:30:10,070 There's power in the name of Jesus. 504 00:30:12,220 --> 00:30:13,300 There's power in the name of Jesus. 505 00:30:13,310 --> 00:30:18,350 Not just to push against the power of evil, but to defeat it. 506 00:30:19,670 --> 00:30:23,660 Because that's what Jesus does. On the cross, Jesus defeats 507 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:30,750 evil, but that same power also requires an ask something of us, 508 00:30:31,950 --> 00:30:35,600 and that is the honest, raw, bare your heart kind of 509 00:30:35,990 --> 00:30:39,130 vulnerability. I want you to notice something 510 00:30:39,140 --> 00:30:43,950 here as we kind of move toward wrapping up and change colours 511 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:48,020 here so someone stronger attacks overpowers him. 512 00:30:48,290 --> 00:30:53,930 He takes away the armor in which the man trusted and then he 513 00:30:53,940 --> 00:30:58,200 divides up like disperses, gets rid of his plunder. 514 00:31:00,130 --> 00:31:04,080 It's really easy again, I think the hyper spiritualize that and 515 00:31:04,090 --> 00:31:07,220 to keep it at a distance again to keep it metaphorical or like 516 00:31:07,230 --> 00:31:10,210 only about evil in the world, but in a very real way. 517 00:31:10,220 --> 00:31:14,640 Here's what Jesus is saying. The experience that wounded you 518 00:31:14,650 --> 00:31:17,310 so deeply that you now walk with a limp. 519 00:31:19,510 --> 00:31:22,070 The thing that allows you to view yourself just a little bit 520 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:25,420 better and maybe even just a little bit better than everybody 521 00:31:25,430 --> 00:31:30,140 around you. The habit that you have that you 522 00:31:30,150 --> 00:31:33,780 think soothes your soul but really only helps you escape 523 00:31:33,790 --> 00:31:36,240 from yourself and only for a minute. 524 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:40,630 The guilt and the shame that you carry around and that makes you 525 00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:45,110 think. If they only knew feeling knew 526 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:49,960 what goes on over here, the things that I carry around. 527 00:31:49,970 --> 00:31:53,110 Like if they only knew then that surely it wouldn't apply to me. 528 00:31:55,150 --> 00:32:00,000 The things of death that you carry around with you every 529 00:32:00,010 --> 00:32:03,400 single day and that hold on to your heart and hold on to your 530 00:32:03,410 --> 00:32:07,320 mind and that hold your life captive, those are the things 531 00:32:07,330 --> 00:32:14,670 that Jesus divides and plunders, and that's the armor that Jesus 532 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:18,270 longs to take away and strip you of. 533 00:32:19,180 --> 00:32:23,160 All of the things that cause you to to rely on yourself. 534 00:32:23,850 --> 00:32:26,330 All of the things that hold Jesus at a distance. 535 00:32:26,340 --> 00:32:27,790 You brag. I'm gonna keep my own little 536 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:30,890 thing over here because it makes me feel just good enough. 537 00:32:31,940 --> 00:32:35,300 All of those things that rattle around in your heart and in your 538 00:32:35,310 --> 00:32:37,580 mind, and if God's doing anything in you, it's the thing 539 00:32:37,590 --> 00:32:38,780 that you're thinking of right now. 540 00:32:40,530 --> 00:32:46,260 Those are the things that Jesus wants to divide up and plunder 541 00:32:46,270 --> 00:32:50,840 and defeat and destroy and carve out of your life. 542 00:32:53,430 --> 00:32:55,070 These are the things that Jesus takes away. 543 00:32:56,940 --> 00:32:59,280 But that's not surface level healing. 544 00:33:00,540 --> 00:33:09,480 That's hard and deep and long. Walked out healing in The Voyage 545 00:33:09,490 --> 00:33:14,370 of the Dawn Treader by CS Lewis which beautiful book if you 546 00:33:14,380 --> 00:33:16,770 haven't read it. Great book to start. 547 00:33:18,110 --> 00:33:21,200 There's a boy named Eustace and Eustace has turned into a 548 00:33:21,210 --> 00:33:23,780 dragon. And CS Lewis writes this better 549 00:33:23,790 --> 00:33:26,260 than I could ever retell it. So I simply want to read a 550 00:33:26,270 --> 00:33:33,350 section to you, but this is what Eustace says of the moment when 551 00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:35,480 he's healed. He says. 552 00:33:35,490 --> 00:33:38,620 I started scratching myself and my scales began coming off all 553 00:33:38,630 --> 00:33:41,760 over the place. But just as I was going to put 554 00:33:41,770 --> 00:33:44,760 my feet into the water, I looked down and I saw that they were 555 00:33:44,770 --> 00:33:47,760 all hard and rough and wrinkled and scaly, just as they had been 556 00:33:47,770 --> 00:33:51,080 before. Then the lion said You will have 557 00:33:51,090 --> 00:33:55,490 to let me undress you. I was afraid of his claws, I can 558 00:33:55,500 --> 00:34:00,090 tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now, so I just 559 00:34:00,100 --> 00:34:02,740 lay flat down on my back and let him do it. 560 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:07,140 The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had 561 00:34:07,150 --> 00:34:10,949 gone right into my heart, and when he began pulling the skin 562 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:13,350 off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt. 563 00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:17,929 The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure 564 00:34:17,940 --> 00:34:22,280 of feeling the stuff peel off. You know, if you've ever picked 565 00:34:22,290 --> 00:34:26,540 a scab off a sore place, it hurts like billio, but it is 566 00:34:26,550 --> 00:34:30,920 such fun to see it coming away. Well, he peeled the beastly 567 00:34:30,929 --> 00:34:33,120 stuff right off, just as I thought. 568 00:34:33,130 --> 00:34:38,060 I'd done it myself the other three times, only they hadn't 569 00:34:38,070 --> 00:34:41,080 hurt. And there it was, lying on the 570 00:34:41,090 --> 00:34:45,980 grass, only ever so much thicker and darker and more knobbly 571 00:34:45,989 --> 00:34:47,670 looking than the others had been. 572 00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:53,810 And there I was, as smooth and soft as a peeled switch, and 573 00:34:53,820 --> 00:34:57,520 smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me. 574 00:34:57,890 --> 00:35:00,540 I didn't like that very much, for I was tender underneath. 575 00:35:00,550 --> 00:35:05,170 Now I'd had no skin on and he threw me into the water. 576 00:35:06,130 --> 00:35:10,980 Smarted like anything, but only for a moment, and that after 577 00:35:10,990 --> 00:35:12,870 that it became perfectly delicious. 578 00:35:13,690 --> 00:35:16,200 And as soon as I started swimming and splashing, I found 579 00:35:16,570 --> 00:35:18,260 that all the pain had gone from my arm. 580 00:35:18,710 --> 00:35:22,770 And then I saw why I turned into a boy again. 581 00:35:25,390 --> 00:35:30,760 So we don't preach Narnia or CS Lewis, we preach Jesus. 582 00:35:31,830 --> 00:35:36,000 But CS Lewis, man, he had a way, a beautiful way of capturing the 583 00:35:36,010 --> 00:35:40,720 kind of deep, transforming work that Jesus longs to do in each 584 00:35:40,730 --> 00:35:43,860 of our lives. And I gotta tell you what 585 00:35:43,870 --> 00:35:47,620 happens in prayer. And it happens with confession, 586 00:35:48,710 --> 00:35:52,610 and it happens alongside friends and fellow travellers along the 587 00:35:52,620 --> 00:35:54,620 way. And it happens with good and 588 00:35:54,630 --> 00:35:58,040 wise mentors, and it happens with counselors who are trained 589 00:35:58,050 --> 00:36:01,530 to help you navigate the deepest hurts of your life in slowed 590 00:36:01,540 --> 00:36:05,330 down ways. But it only happens because 591 00:36:05,340 --> 00:36:07,990 Jesus has defeated sin and death on the cross. 592 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:12,490 And it only ultimately happens when you let Jesus get at you. 593 00:36:14,020 --> 00:36:16,810 It's not something that you can work hard enough on your own to 594 00:36:16,820 --> 00:36:19,640 do. You need Jesus to deal with the 595 00:36:19,650 --> 00:36:24,160 worst and most painful parts of your life so that you can have 596 00:36:24,170 --> 00:36:28,000 your life back in the way that it was meant to be lived. 597 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:31,540 Frederick Beechner. He wrote this book called The 598 00:36:31,550 --> 00:36:33,510 Final Beast, which sounds like a video game. 599 00:36:33,520 --> 00:36:39,070 But he says the worst isn't the last thing about the world. 600 00:36:40,900 --> 00:36:42,380 He says it's the next to last thing. 601 00:36:43,460 --> 00:36:47,150 The last thing is the best. It's the power from on high that 602 00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:51,630 comes down into the world that wells up from the rock bottom 603 00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:55,070 worst of the world, like a hidden spring. 604 00:36:57,780 --> 00:37:00,290 So what I want to do is return all the way to that very awkward 605 00:37:00,300 --> 00:37:05,370 beginning and Jesus is warning about the one and the seven. 606 00:37:06,780 --> 00:37:10,140 So Jesus warns, says one goes out, gets 7, comes back. 607 00:37:10,980 --> 00:37:16,110 It's very likely a warning to Israel as a nation, less about 608 00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:20,160 the individual and more about collectively the people. 609 00:37:21,180 --> 00:37:26,810 But it's the call of a prophet to a people to return to God and 610 00:37:26,820 --> 00:37:30,060 to embrace again a dynamic relationship with Jesus through 611 00:37:30,070 --> 00:37:33,970 the presence of the Holy Spirit. What Jesus is saying is allow 612 00:37:33,980 --> 00:37:37,010 God to fill your heart and your mind and your life with His 613 00:37:37,020 --> 00:37:39,750 Spirit. Allow that Spirit to be the 614 00:37:39,760 --> 00:37:44,010 thing that dwells inside of you and fills you up to the fullest 615 00:37:44,020 --> 00:37:46,910 measure of life that God's created you to live. 616 00:37:48,170 --> 00:37:50,770 And it's the same Spirit that Jesus has just promised. 617 00:37:50,780 --> 00:37:55,750 If you're here last week on that very last line, how much more 618 00:37:56,380 --> 00:37:59,850 will your generous Father in heaven give you the Holy Spirit 619 00:38:00,780 --> 00:38:04,410 when you ask Him? How much more? 620 00:38:06,390 --> 00:38:10,810 And that same spirit is still the Spirit that God wants to 621 00:38:10,820 --> 00:38:15,530 give you today to fill your life up to its fullest measure. 622 00:38:15,590 --> 00:38:20,750 Let me pray. I gotta thank you for your 623 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:28,120 spirit, which does fill us as individuals and as your church. 624 00:38:30,050 --> 00:38:35,450 Yeah, I, I know that many of us, like we wanna live with you at a 625 00:38:35,460 --> 00:38:36,640 distance. And maybe we're kind of 626 00:38:36,650 --> 00:38:39,050 wrestling through wanting benefits of knowing you, Jesus, 627 00:38:39,060 --> 00:38:45,250 But we're struggling to name the thing or to allow you to go to 628 00:38:45,260 --> 00:38:49,110 the deepest places of our hearts and our lives and root out all 629 00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:56,500 of the little pieces of death that you long to, which is God. 630 00:38:56,510 --> 00:39:01,040 If there's any of us here are sitting in that place, I pray 631 00:39:01,050 --> 00:39:03,710 that you would remind us of Your love and Your grace. 632 00:39:05,140 --> 00:39:09,280 I pray that you would make us bold to name those things just 633 00:39:09,290 --> 00:39:14,210 even to one other person. Got to name and confess it 634 00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:20,020 before you and then to learn this slowed down, hard 635 00:39:20,030 --> 00:39:25,550 disciplined way of surrender. God thanks that at the end of 636 00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:28,120 the day, this rides on you, not on us. 637 00:39:29,060 --> 00:39:30,390 You're the one who longs to heal. 638 00:39:31,420 --> 00:39:33,890 You're the one who longs to give us your spirit. 639 00:39:33,900 --> 00:39:36,450 You're the one who longs for us to know life and to know it 640 00:39:36,460 --> 00:39:40,430 abundantly. You're the one who can heal and 641 00:39:40,440 --> 00:39:42,630 transform our lives. And yeah, we need you to do it. 642 00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:47,810 So I pray today, would you do in the strong name of Jesus? 643 00:39:49,110 --> 00:39:49,530 Well, man.