Luke 11:21-23

Luke chapter 11 verses 21 to 23. When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, His goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted and divided his spoils. He that is not with me is against me, he that gathereth not with me, scattereth. May God bless to us the reading of His holy and sacred word this morning. John Bunyan wrote a book called Holy War. And you have in this book an allegory. where people and places and things have a symbolic or hidden meaning. Now in this story, Diabolos, which is Satan, attacks the city of man’s soul, which is the soul of man. And he occupies the castle in the city, which is the heart of man. And he rules of the city. over the city, which is the man himself. King Shaddai, which comes from the Hebrew L. Shadai, speaking about Almighty God. Almighty God resents this move by Diabolus and has a gracious intention of free man’s soul and rescue it. Diabolus fortifies the city best as he can, and he plans to fight to retain it. King Shadai sends his beloved son, Emmanuel, which it means God with us, which speaks, of course, of Jesus Christ. To conquer man’s soul, and Emmanuel proves to be too strong for Diabolus to resist. So Emmanuel defeats. So diabolis, liberates all the citizens of Man’s Soul, and they rejoice in the rescue. Now, this whole story, the Holy War, is really based on this text of Scripture that we have before us this morning. And you can see it. We have here the Lord Jesus Christ who has ever in conflict with Satan. And whenever he strikes a blow against Satan, it is meant ultimately to lead to Satan’s destruction. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. We read in the book of 1 John 3 in verse 8. So there’s this eternal hatred. towards Satan. And all for which he stands. And so there is a war to the death, if you would. Where Christ, of course, is going to bruise the head of Satan. Where Christ healed was bruised on the cross, he’s going to have a fatal blow against the head of the serpent, Satan himself. So there’s nothing more absurd. than the foolish assertion of the Pharisees that Jesus is casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of the devils or Satan himself. What could be more incongruous with Christ’s work than that? Satan never works against himself or he would undermine his own kingdom. He does. He does all he can to hold on to what he has. It was the finger of God by which Christ was doing this. It was the power of God by which he was casting out these demons, and that should be clearly recognized. So our topic this morning is really the strong man overcome, or, if you prefer, the Holy War. We see, first of all, the power of Satan over your unconverted soul here in verse 21. When a strong man armed, keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace. So you find Satan here portrayed as a strong man, literally the strong one. The strong one. Satan was originally one of the holy angels. And where we read about these angels, that they excel in strength in the book of Job, I believe it is. So even though Satan is fallen out, we should still recognize he’s very formidable. He is portrayed as a fearsome, an awesome red dragon in the book of Revelation, you recall. He’s called Apollion, the destroyer. So, indeed, he has awesome power. He’s called the God of this world. The spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. His power has been well proved by his victories over the souls of men down through the ages. He has led captive mankind through the temptation and fall of Adam. So men are portrayed as entrapped in need of escaping out of the snare of the devil who has taken them captive at his own will. 2.26. So you find Satan here is the strong man in this particular passage of scripture. Now, your unconverted heart is Satan’s palace. So when you’re talks about here he keepeth his palace. A man’s heart devises his way. He’s talking about the heart here when he talks about the palace. Therefore, wherever controls the heart directs the activities of a man. Thus you find Satan entering the hearts of people to dominate and control them. Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Ascariate, Luke 22 verse 3. The suffer being ended, the devil having put now into the heart of Judas to betray him. John 13. Remember what Peter said to Ananias in the book of Acts Chapter 5, why have Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost to keep back part of the price of the price land. Satan then controls a man’s heart and thus he rules. He is the king. The king is in the palace. Whoever controls the palace is the king. So he controls people. They are subject to him to do his bidding. He reigns over them. Satan says to his servant, go and he goes, says to his captive, do this and he doeth it. Satan says, this man will fall down and worship me. This man will sacrifice his comfort, his very life for me. He will go upon my service and not care that eternal death will be his everlasting labor. So your unconverted heart is Satan’s palace. Now you’re assured in this verse of scripture. That Satan is well armed here. Satan is well supplied with defensive armor. He cannot be overcome by evil exertions. Satan is like Leviathan. In the book of Job, we read about Leviathan. He’s like a huge sea monster. And he laughs at man’s puny efforts to even capture him or harm him. Lay thine. hand upon him and remember the battle and do no more because you can’t harm him and all your weapons against him are useless as Job 416 indicates. Bunyan in Pilgrim’s progress when he speaks about Apollion attacking Mr. Christian he finds him this way. Now the monster was hideous to behold. He was clothed with scales like a fish. They are his pride. He had wings. like a dragon, feet like a bear. Out of his belly came fire and smoke and his mouth was the mouth of a lion. That Apollion straddled quite over the whole breadth of the way and said, I am void of fear in this matter. Prepare thyself to die. Was Satan afraid? You’re not going to harm me. And he’s very confident. that he’s going to kill Mr. Christian. As Christ reminded his disciples, this kind goeth not out, but by prayer and fasting. By God’s power, can Satan be cast out of the human heart? And only by God’s power. As far as offensive armor, when we think about Satan, there are many ways he can injure the souls of that. One of his chief weapons, of course, is the lie. He’s a great deceiver. His wiles are unmatched. He’s very crafty. His fiery darts of temptation are skillfully thrown. His strength is lion-like. He’s very powerful. His experience enables him to assault you with the most advantageous advantageous attack. So you’re assured that Satan’s well-armed. Now, Satan here is determined to maintain his hold over you. He keepeth his palace. When Satan enters into your heart, he takes care to watch that whenever there is a chance for God’s truth to come in and drive him from his throat, and he’s going to stop it. so that we read that when anyone heareth the word of the kingdom or the gospel and understandetheth it not, then cometh the wicked one and catches the way that witch was sown in his heart. Matthew 1319. Once Satan holds the palace of your heart, he does all that he can to keep it and not lose it. He guards it jealously. When Mr. Christian faced Apollion in the Valley of Humiliation, Satan was quite upset with Mr. Christian because he was now serving the Lord Jesus Christ. Christian says, I come from the city of destruction, which is the place of all evil, and I’m going to the city of Zion. Apollion says, by this I perceive thou art one of my subjects. For all that country is mine, and I am princerned. and God of it. How is it then that thou hast run away from thy king? There is no prince that will thus lightly lose his subjects, neither will I as yet lose thee. Paulian then proceeded to attack, Mr. Christian, intent on killing him. Spurgeon once said this. He said, in regard to this aspect, we have preached at such men, prayed for them, spoken sharply, spoken tenderly, assaulted them from every quarter, wooed them with divine love, thundered at them with the judgments of God, with the terrors of the law, but the strong man is so completely mailed or armored, that as yet we have made no impression upon him whatsoever. It just shows you that no matter how you argue and how even the best arguments that we could muster to deal with the hearts of men, they will not be moved by these things in and of themselves. Satan is determined to maintain his hold over you, and you see that Satan keeps his goods in peace, it says here. Now, there is a kind of peace that the unconverted people have. And that is that they are asleep to the danger of their condition. They’re not really aware of how serious their condition really is. They think themselves to be pretty good people. Maybe they go to church on Sundays. They’re kind of their neighbor. And so they don’t see themselves as in grave danger. They don’t have any idea of Satan’s dominion over their souls. You say to your soul, well, take your ease, eat and drink, be merry, enjoy life while you’re here. And that’s the way people live their lives. So you don’t see yourself as Satan’s servant. You blissfully pass your time here on earth in ignorance of that fact. Satan however says, I will have his mouth and he shall swear for me. I shall have his eyes, and they shall wonder after vanity. I shall have his feet. They shall work for me and be my slave. So the natural man is not usually troubled unless the word of God comes with conviction upon him. But he’s at peace in his situation, so he’s not trying to escape Satan’s dominion over him. He’s comfortable the way he is. So you see Satan keeps his goods in peace. Now, let me make this observation on this first main point. You should never think lightly of Satan. This passage teaches us that even though people commonly jest about Satan and don’t take him seriously, that’s foolish. It is a great evil. He is very strong, the Bible says. He’s alive and well in this world. He goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devire, and he’s a strong man. He has power over men’s souls. He’s determined to maintain the control over man. So man’s in a very dangerous position and doesn’t even know it. When you witness for Christ, Satan is opposing every word you say. to that person. This is why it’s so difficult in dealing with those who are blind to the things of God, because Satan will try to keep them blind. He is snatching away the seed of the word you were sowing, doing all he can to prevent the heart from being affected by the word of God. And without divine intervention, all are witnessing, all are witnessing, all are people. persuading will be in vain. How we need to pray for God to cast out the devil. How we need to pray that God would break through to the heart, to the palace of man’s soul, and that they may embrace the gospel. Satan is a formidable foe to Christ’s kingdom. And you would do well not to underestimate him. And so the power of Satan over your unconverted soul, as mentioned here. But then secondly, we see the supreme power of Christ overcoming Satan’s dominion over your soul. In verses 22 and 23. But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted and divideth his spoils. He that is not with me is against me, He that gathereth not with me, scattereth. Now the first thing we see here is that Christ is stronger than Satan. One who is stronger than He. There is no man who can even match Satan’s strength. But Jesus Christ, the God man, man, is almighty. You know, man always touts his free will and really he has no match. He’s no match for Satan. He can’t control Satan. But Jesus Christ comes by his spirit into the heart of men is vastly superior to Satan’s power. Satan is a mere creature. But the Son of God possesses all power on heaven and earth. He cannot be thwarted. There is no contest. In Revelation, you recall, it is Christ that lays hold upon the dragon, you remember, Satan, and cast him into the bottom of his pit. Effortlessly, he does so. With ease. And he does so that the door of the gospel would be open to the Gentiles, you recall, that the gospel could go. off into the world and people which could be converted from all nations. It’s interesting that John the Baptist called Jesus Christ the mighty one using the very sane Greek words here in our text. He says, one mightier than I, or the mighty one, the mightier one than I. So you are assured that Jesus Christ is stronger than Satan. You find here that Jesus Christ assaults Satan and overcomes him. He shall come upon him and overcome him, the Bible says. Jesus Christ attacks Satan, and whenever he comes and attacks Satan, he overwhelms him. As a consequence of his superior strength, he gains the victory, and he frees his people. Satan has confidence in his armor, but Jesus Christ is not going to be thwarted. Satan has no chance to withstand Christ. Psalm 45 verses this. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O mighty one, almost mighty. With thy glory and thy majesty, and in thy majesty ride prosperously. Speaking of Jesus Christ. Going forth to conquer. Does the devil strive to keep Christ out of the hearts of man? Of course he does. Does he trust in his weapons of ignorance to hold his subjects? Yes, he does. But Christ causes a beam of light to break through the darkness. Does Satan try to hold his subjects by doctrinal error? Christ causes them to know the truth. Satan tries to keep his subjects in unbelief, but Christ bestows the grace of faith and destroys that effort. Ultimately, Satan is foiled. Jesus Christ prevails, and he takes possession of the citadel of men’s hearts, the palace of men. So you find Jesus Christ assaults Satan and overcomes him. You find that Jesus Christ divides the spoils here. When Christ takes possession of the heart, he now controls all the endowments that a man has. the mind and the body of the individual. So that his thinking, his affections, his will, his understanding, his eyes, his ears, his feet are all now Christ’s possessions. And he uses them to honor and glorify himself. So there’s a new application of man’s faculty. and powers when Christ converts the soul. Now they are used to advance Christ’s kingdom on earth. He causes those conquered to use their faculties and powers that benefit their fellow believers. You find Jesus Christ divides the spoils. Now notice Christ concludes with this thought. You can’t remain neutral in this conflict between Christ and Satan. Notice verse 23. He that is not with me is against me. He that gathers not with me, scabbardth. If you’re not for Christ, you must be against him. Now here Christ speaks of those who dismissed his miracles, who rejected his God. They refuse to follow Christ as Lord and Savior. They will not commit themselves to Christ. Oh, you may have some respect for Christ, for you are a religious person, but you prefer an easy religion. You can’t tolerate the strictness of what is required in the following of the narrow way. of true Christianity. You prefer a lukewarm religion. You don’t want to be cold, and you don’t want to be hot either. So you prefer the lukewarmness of the middle ground. You halt between two opinions. You wish you could avoid being looked upon as a heathen. You don’t want to be looked upon that way. But you don’t wish to be too serious about religions. So you’re lukewarm. If this describes you, then Jesus says, you’re really his enemy. You’re on Satan’s side. You’re not gathering into his kingdom. You’re not working with him. You’re really working against him. So if you do not endeavor to gather with me to gather people into my kingdom, then ultimately you’re driving them away from me. This is a point. So if you’re not for Christ, you’re not. against him. So we see here the absolute necessity of decidedly committing to Jesus Christ. You need to have a settled determination that you’re going to serve Jesus Christ in this life. It does no good to be halfway committed to Christ. They cling to the world with one hand and reach out for Christ with the other. You must resolve by God’s help to be joined the Christ, to be on his side, to be gathered with his people. There’s always a cost to following Christ. We can’t avoid that cost. We must be committed to serving Him. A half-hearted Christian is useless to Christ and despised by Christ. We can’t straddle the fence. So the supreme power of Christ overcome Satan’s dominion over your soul. John Bunyan’s Holy War seems to be based upon our text today. And so when you think about that book, think of it in terms of this passage. Emmanuel overcomes Diabolus and frees the city of man. soul. Let us thank God. There is one powerful, more powerful than Satan. Let us thank God for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who breaks the enslavement of Satan over human souls. The Son of God has triumphed over him by the way of the cross and his people are free from this entrapment to sin and Satan. Do you know what it is be delivered from Satan’s power? Because that is the key factor here. Let us close.