When you read a passage in the Bible, you can talk about its main point in several ways. You can say that the main point is the biggest, greatest, most important reality in the text, or you can say that the main point is the biggest, most urgent implication for my life.

So, if you look at our text, Luke 11:14–26, the biggest, greatest, most important reality is Jesus Christ, who is the embodiment of the arrival of the kingdom of God Almighty on planet earth (verse 20) — the finger of God, as it were — who is vastly stronger than Satan and is taking away his armor (verse 22), and plundering his goods, and taking the spoils of human souls for himself.

The biggest, most urgent implication for our lives is verse 23: “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” You cannot be neutral to Jesus Christ. There is no neutrality in dealing with Jesus. If you are not for him, you are against him. If you are not seeking to gather faith and obedience from those around you, you are scattering people away from him.

And if you say, “I’m not against Jesus. I don’t even think about Jesus most of the time,” consider what you just said. To be against Jesus is to be against his purpose for your life. And his purpose for your life is not that you ignore him 99 percent of the time.

Be Not Neutral

What is the purpose of your life — the purpose of all our lives? The previous thirteen verses are all about prayer. They’re all about pursuing God and his purpose for our lives. For example, verses 2–3: We were made to hallow God’s name — to reverence, honor, treasure God’s name. We were made to seek God’s kingdom, that is, live joyfully under his rule. We were made to depend on God for everything. Verses 9–12: Ask! Seek! Knock! You have a good heavenly Father, better than any earthly father, and he will not give you what’s bad for you.

And what’s the main thing he wants to give you? He wants to give you himself, that is, the Holy Spirit. Verse 13: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Yes, all Christians have the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). But we are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) and to pray for the Spirit of wisdom (Ephesians 1:17). So, I don’t take verse 13 to mean that we pray for the first giving of the Spirit, and then when we have him, we never pray for him again. We seek his fullness continually, his power and his experiential presence continually. The Holy Spirit is God’s gift of himself and his Son to us.

The God-given purpose of your life is not neutrality toward Jesus. It is the wholehearted pursuit of Jesus Christ, very God of very God, who is present in us by the Holy Spirit. To know him, to enjoy his friendship, to follow in his ways, to gather his harvest with him. There is no neutrality toward Jesus. Verse 23: “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

That is the big reality and the big implication for your life: Jesus Christ triumphant over Satan, and no neutrality. You’re for him or you’re against him. Now, let’s walk through this text and see how Luke makes these points.

Demons Then and Now

Verses 14–16:

Now he [Jesus] was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul [lord of the flies, lord of filth, which we will see in verse 18 refers to Satan], the prince of demons,” while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven.

A mute demon possesses a man and makes him mute. He can’t talk. Jesus casts out the demon, and the man talks. And people marvel. But some say, “He’s doing this by the power of the prince of demons” (verse 15). And others say, “Come on, prove that you didn’t do this by the power of hell by showing us a sign from heaven.” Verse 16: “while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven.” No neutrality here. You marvel or you blaspheme. You say, “You are amazing!” or you say, “You are satanic.”

If you think this story is irrelevant for 2024, consider this testimony from Jennifer Nizza in this month’s Christianity Today:

The door to demons was thrown wide open when, at age 13, I had my first experience with tarot cards. . . . Throughout my teens, I delved into other divination tools, like numerology charts, astrology charts, angel cards, and runes. . . . In my early 20s, I had my first apparent communication with a dead person. . . . I felt [the demons] touching me, and I could see them manifesting as shadowy figures, animals, and what looked like human beings. . . .

Eventually, I started my own divination group. I taught a variety of New Age techniques like chakra balancing, tarot reading, psychic mediumship, meditation, smudging, and past-life automatic writings. . . . I lived in constant fear of bad spirits, and what they would do to me. In my mid-30s, in a moment of especially intense fear, I suddenly cried out the name of Jesus Christ. . . . I had no idea what the gospel was. But I knew I didn’t want to be a psychic anymore. . . .

Four weeks later, on a Sunday morning, I woke up with a strong desire to go to church. So I went, curious to know what a Bible-based church was actually like. I was singing along with the worship music when the lyrics Jesus saved me flashed on the screen, instantly transporting me back to the moment I had cried out to Jesus Christ. . . . [Later] I didn’t have a Bible on hand, so I asked Google, “What does the Bible say about psychic mediums?” (May/June 2024, 94–96)

Here’s what she read:

There shall not be found among you anyone . . . who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. (Deuteronomy 18:10–12)

She continues,

In the 10 years since, Jesus has changed my heart and my life, as only he can. . . . I continue to share the gospel . . . devoting myself to exposing the demonic darkness I served for many years.

The demon was real. Jesus conquered him, plundered him, took his spoils for himself. And one group marveled and another group blasphemed. No neutrality.

What Is and Isn’t

The stage is now set for Jesus’s response. Jesus responds in two ways. First, in verses 17–19, he says to those who accuse him of casting out demons by the prince of demons, “That’s not what’s happening. And I’ll give you two ways you can know that’s not what’s happening.” And the second response is in verses 20–22, where he says, “Here’s what’s really happening.” So first: what’s not happening.

But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.”

In other words: “I am not casting out demons by the power of the prince of demons. And here’s how you can know it. First, you don’t really believe that Satan would use me to deliver people that he himself has taken captive (verses 17–18). You don’t believe that Satan intends to divide and destroy his own house. Do you? You are so desperate to explain away my divine power that you are talking nonsense.”

“The God-given purpose of your life is not neutrality toward Jesus. It is the wholehearted pursuit of Jesus.”

And verse 19: “If I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.” We know there were Jewish exorcists, because we meet them in Acts 19. And Jesus doesn’t call into question the reality that that happens. What Jesus means is this: “The fact that your sons cast out demons and you find no fault with them will show how guilty you are, when you find fault with me even though you can’t find anything in me that makes me more demonic than they are. This is sheer prejudice. And you know it. You simply have to find a way to escape the implications of my reality.”

So: “Your interpretation of what’s happening when I cast out demons is wrong. I’m not casting out demons by the power of the prince of demons. Let me tell you what’s really happening here.” Verses 20–22:

But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. [Then he interprets what that involves:] When a strong man [Satan], fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe [the people whom he has taken control of are safely his]; but when one stronger than he [Jesus] attacks him and overcomes him [verse 14!], he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil [Jesus takes for himself the people he has set free].

So, in a word, what’s really happening when Jesus casts out demons is that the kingdom of God has come. Verse 20: “If it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” The Old Testament eagerly awaited the coming of the kingdom of God, that is, the saving reign of God, when all enemies would be banished, wrongs righted, and all his people raised from the dead, no more sickness, no more tears, no more pain, no more death, but justice and righteousness and peace and happiness forever. This has come.

Luke wrote in chapter 1:31–33 that with Jesus this had come:

And behold, you [Mary] will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.

His Kingdom Is Come — and Still Coming

But what boggled the mind of everybody, including his disciples, is that there was a mystery about this kingdom. And the mystery was that it would come in stages. There would be real fulfillment in the world, but not yet consummation. The mystery of the kingdom was fulfillment without consummation. Jesus healed the sick, he cast out demons, he raised the dead, he walked on water, he turned water into wine, he commanded wind and waves and they obeyed him, he forgave sins, he said, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).

And all of this was designed to show that fulfillment had come, but not consummation. He only raised three people from the dead. We still get sick. We still do battle with sin. There are disasters and calamities everywhere. And we still die. But Jesus will come a second time. And this time he will bring the consummation of the kingdom. Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:1, “[When he comes he will] judge the living and the dead . . . by his appearing and his kingdom.” The kingdom has come in fulfillment, and it will come in consummation.

So, Christian, are you in the kingdom now or not? Here’s the way Paul puts it in Colossians 1:13–14: “[God] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” You are in the kingdom of Christ. But there is more coming. Romans 8:23: “We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” In the kingdom of Christ? Yes. In the consummated kingdom? Not yet.

And now Jesus, having explained to us what is really happening when he casts out demons, comes to verse 23: “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” No neutrality. You are either in the sway (kingdom) of the strong man (verse 21), or you are in the sway (kingdom) of the stronger man (verse 22). No in-between.

Did you notice that’s what Paul says in Colossians 1:13? “[God] has delivered us from the domain [kingdom] of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.” We submit to the dominion of darkness, or we submit to the dominion of Christ. No neutrality.

No Soul Stays Empty

Which brings us to Jesus’s final response or interpretation of what’s going on in the deliverance of this mute man. Perhaps he turns and looks at the man who is no longer mute, or perhaps he is just saying this to you and me:

When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, “I will return to my house from which I came.” And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first. (verses 24–26)

What’s the point? The point is this: “If you are not for me, you are against me. You think an empty house is neutral? It’s not.” All of Jesus’s teaching about prayer in verses 1–13 ended with this, in verse 13: “How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Not an unclean spirit, the Holy Spirit. That’s what we are to ask for and seek. Not an empty soul. A Spirit-filled soul.

So, here in verse 25 there is a house, or a human soul. The unclean spirit has been cast out, and the room is uninhabited. It is swept and put in order, and no Holy Spirit has replaced the unclean spirit. Picture the formerly mute man going home and saying, “I’m free. I can talk. This is wonderful. I can make a living for my family. I’m not going to complain anymore. I’m not going to cheat anymore, or steal, or commit adultery. I’m going to be a good person.” But no Christ, no Holy Spirit, no faith, no zeal for God. Just a morally cleaned-up life.

If there was a sign on the wall of that swept and orderly room (in verse 25) that says, “I am not against Jesus,” would it be true? It would not be true. It would be a lie, and seven demons are on their way to prove it.

When it comes to Jesus and you and me, there is no neutrality. “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (verse 23). Whoever is not seeking a Spirit-filled soul is inviting a demon-filled soul. Did you come this morning thinking you are neutral toward Jesus? Jesus’s word to you is that you’re not.

Tragic Order

Let me say one final word by applying this to our culture in America today. Given the moral collapse of the culture around us, some people are saying that the “cultural Christianity” of sixty years ago (for example) is a good thing and that we should work for its return. Cultural Christianity means a culture in which the people are mainly not true Christians, but the culture is still shaped by the outward vestiges of the so-called “Judeo-Christian ethic.”

“Whoever is not seeking a Spirit-filled soul is inviting a demon-filled soul.”

It was the culture in which I grew up: I played outside till ten o’clock at night, and nobody called the police. We never locked our doors. No drag queen ever came to my kindergarten. It was beyond anyone’s imagination that two men having sex would be celebrated or called “married.” Sex before marriage was fornication, not recreation. Killing babies did not yet have national sanction. We did not call mutilation “gender-affirming care.”

Here’s the point: the cultural room in which I grew up was, in many ways, swept clean and in good order from an external perspective. Oh, there was plenty of racism and greed and lust. But in many ways, it was externally good. But the room was not inhabited by the saving grace of the Holy Spirit. And the demons were on their way, if not already crawling through the windows. Therefore, I draw two implications.

One is that when you give thanks for the temporal benefits of cultural Christianity, do it with tears, because the eternal cost has been horrific. Millions upon millions of cultural Christians, by definition, are in hell today — those who enjoyed that swept and well-ordered room. Perhaps your parents or grandparents.

And the other implication is that in and through our vocations — our 8-to-5 jobs — let us seek the true good of our city, our culture, the way Jesus did in verse 23: “Whoever does not gather with me scatters.” By our gospel words, by our vocational excellence, by our deeds of love, we are aiming to rescue people from the illusion that a clean, well-ordered life can save them. We are always seeking to magnify the all-satisfying worth of Jesus, who came into the world to set people free from unclean spirits, and from the illusion of neutrality, and to fill us with the joy of the Holy Spirit.