Wholehearted Devotion

Luke 11:14-26

A House Divided Cannot Stand

14 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. 15 But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."

16 Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven. 17 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. 18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. 19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. 22 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. 23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

An Unclean Spirit Returns

24 "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.' 25 And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. 26 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."

Jesus taught through these parablesthat wholehearted devotion and commitment to Him and the kingdom of heaven is essential.  He ordered demonic spirits of fallen heavenly beings under His absolute authority to vacate a mute man and allow the possessed to once again speak to others.  Unfortunately, those witnessing this divine power in action attributed it to the devil who is not in charge instead of the Lord of the universe and all creatures of His creation.  How could they equate Him with the Aramaic lord of the flies dung-god?  That was a vernacular name of Satan that they slandered and blasphemed the one they called their God with!  These then tested Jesus more by asking for signs and wonders to prove He was whom he claimed to be instead of the ruler of demons as they maliciously accused Him of being because Jesus ruled over them.  He did not even have to wait for them to speak because He knew everything they were thinking.  Only God can do that.  They missed this also.  He put it in terms not too difficult to grasp that a kingdom divided against itself in civil war only brings destruction down on itself as a divided household does as well without agreement in purpose and rule.  He equated this truism with their assertion that if the devil was similarly divided against his own meager fiefdom that his organization would quickly fall down just as quickly.  He made it clear that He said these things in response to their blasphemous accusations that God’s kingdom power belonged to the devil.  He asked by whom did their own cast our demons and told them plainly that they would judge them for that accusation as well.  He then turned the conversation around to point out that if He cast out demonic spirits under satan’s rule by heaven authority that they witnessed the kingdom of God in their presence as He worked.  The very finger of God Almighty was present in these moments and not a fallen creature with limited powers.  He was the strongest one who came and overcame the armored one who set up fortifications in the souls of men and women by possession.  He reminded them all that they must choose who they serve, omnipotent God or limited creature of His hand’s creation.  They were to be wholly devoted to God and committed to following in worship and obedience as they gave Him alone the credit of honor and glory for all His divine deeds.  If they opposed Jesus, they would reap the consequences and be scattered about, not allied in strength as they supposed.  Jesus then went into a further story about how an unclean spirit may be evicted and then return to a place still prep for it to come back bec of a lack of devotion and ownership of one mightier as a parable of having a demon cast out and the host not becoming God’s child for  protection afterwards.  That demonic fallen angelic spirit might even bring others with him to be like the demon possessed man named Legion (Luke 8:30) who had a houseful.  What the Lord taught these opposed to Him and His words with the works proving His iden which they denied was that they had to choose a side, the world under the sway of the wicked one (1 John 5:19) or the Lord and Master ruling over them all.  We are to choose wisely (1 John 5:20) instead as the finger of God moves through this world and in us.  Only one kingdom has the power to stand forever (Luke 11:2, Revelation 12:10).  All others will crumble in division and destruction.  Are you in God’s everlasting kingdom or have you chosen to defame His name and have chosen unwisely?  It is nev too late to choose well with singleness of heart, mind, and devotion to the one true God and Jesus Christ (John 17:3) whom He sent as the finger of God among us to point to Him in the gospel of deliverance from sin and righteousness in Him.  This is Wholehearted Devotion to God as undivided attention of the life in worship to follow and honor Him.