A House Divided Cannot Stand

Luke 11:14–26
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Do we have blanket immunity from Satan’s invasion? No, that protection is conditional on our responsible participation in God’s plan for our protection. Dr. Unger writes: “The Holy Spirit indwelling the believer, ungrieved by sin (Eph 4:30) and unquenched by disobedience ( … More

Demons

After seeing Jesus cast out a demon, He was accused by some of doing it in Satan’s power. They even said that He was possessed by Satan himself (vv. 14-16).

Jesus answered their charges with two basic arguments:

Their accusation was illogical - It would be ridiculous for Satan to drive out his own demons. Why would he fight against himself (vv. 17-18)?
Their accusation was really an admission of His power - When their followers drove out demons they claimed it was done by the power of God. Since Jesus cast out demons it too must be done by His power (vv. 19-20).

Jesus then gives them a parable of a strong man and a stronger man. It seems that the strong man refers to Satan and the stronger man to Christ (vv. 21-22). The point is that Jesus, the stronger one, has the right to divide the spoils, or in this case to cast out devils. Jesus goes on to state that it is impossible to be neutral in the battle between Christ and Satan. We must make a choice, and if we choose to make no choice, we are really choosing against Christ. He illustrated this by telling the story of the man and the demon (vv. 23-26). He was illustrating an unfortunate human tendency. Our desire to reform often does not last long. It is not enough to be emptied of evil; we must then be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish God’s new purpose.

Application

This parable shows the battle going on between God and Satan. It points out what will happen to me if I try to remain neutral.

Luke 11:14-26 (English Standard Version)

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