How to Stay Away from Evil
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Growing up, parents dealt with all the things regarding the house. Then, keeping a house with no children. I remember when we first bought our house in Old Fort. Things begin to break down and we had no landlord to go cry to. We had to fix everything ourselves. Fell through the ceiling at one point. Now, we own a home with two young kids, and that might be the hardest part of life.
Main Idea: Take care of your house (heart)
I’m using the metaphor of house because passage does.
Need: Sometimes we can simply do good and think that is enough. We falsely believe we have removed evil. That can’t be the end. We must take care of our hearts and the text will show us how.
He just casted out a demon. People were slandering him. He responded saying power of God. Stronger man. Now, he explains what a demon does in times like this.
Luke 11:24-28
Command #1: Do not simply empty your house of evil (24-26)
Exp. Remember verse 21-23. Stronger man destroying the kingdom of Satan. Forces scatter. Demons fleeing. Verse 24. Waterless places = deserts. Demons are tied to deserts. Desert is absence of people. They want to inhabit humans to create disorder. Verse 25-26. House clean by exorcism. Seven = number of completion. Full occupancy. House was in order, but empty. Last state is worse than the first. Not one demon, but complete takeover of evil. Getting at two things:
Second time is complete evil. More than one oppressive demon.
Second time is worse because you were free from it.
Ill. You constantly hear me mention being a Tennessee fan. My wife married into it. She was better off not knowing what it was like to follow Tennessee. Jesus says it is worse the second time. Knows what freedom is like.
Arg. Peter gives us more insight here. 2 Peter 2:20-22
20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”
Exp. Jesus gives us the demons’ perspective while Peter shows us the human perspective. We can place so much blame on the demons and take the ownership off of ourselves. Problem: we love sin. Which means we are against God. Peter says it would be better to have never known the way of righteousness than to turn away from it after knowing. An empty, clean house that the fullness of evil comes in.
Christ - Theologically, it must be understood that Jesus ushers in the Holy Spirit who seals us from evil. We are born again and filled with the HS. Ephesians 1:13
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
App. Emptying of evil is not enough. That would be morality. Something else must take place.
Command #2: Fill your house with God’s word (27-28)
Exp. At first glance, these sections don’t seem to go together. Verse 27. Normal culture to bless the mother. Mary even says they’ll bless her in Luke 1:48. Once again, Jesus responds by saying what being blessed truly means. Verse 28. He said the same in Luke 8:21. Mary is not blessed because of her womb, she is blessed because she heard the word of God and obeyed. Why? Because you can’t store up God’s word in your heart while evil reigns there. You can memorize Scripture, but that’s head knowledge. Psalm 119:11
11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Ill. It’s as inconceivable as lighting a match underwater as it is for evil to reside where God’s word reigns and is sanctifying you.
Arg. Understand the action here. Hears the word and keeps it. Psalm 119 says to “store it up.” Psalm 1:1-2
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
Arg. Our hearts are susceptible which is why we must guard it. Evil reigns in it until it is evicted and replaced with the true king on the throne = Jesus.
Christ - Do we fill our houses with the word or Jesus? Jesus is the word and he also kept the word. Jesus was sinless and followed the will of God to the cross for us.
Discipleship is not simply about eliminating bad habits, but about filling the void with Jesus himself. - James Edwards
App. What do we do? Hear and Obey
Hear and respond to the gospel. You may be lost, and have never responded to the gospel. Now is your chance. Even as a believer, the gospel is something we should be regularly returning to. Being filled with the HS is tied to the gospel.
Hear and respond to God’s word. Fill the void. Read Scripture for spiritual growth, not to prove you’re right. Approach it with humility and desire it above all else.
Conclusion
Even as believers, we can hear the word of God over and over again, and not obey. Where are you not obeying today?
