HOW TO BE A HAPPY CHRISTIAN
Luke 11:14-54
Key Verse: 11:28
“But he said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it.’”
This year, 2009, we’ve been studying Luke’s gospel in broad strokes, often covering a whole chapter in 1 sermon. This has been a challenge, for it hasn’t been easy to find 1 key theme & 1 key point & 1 key verse to synthesize all the various teachings & events in that chapter. Similarly, today’s passage (11:14-54) has 6 seemingly unrelated events. But a repeated theme of the gospels is Jesus teaching the word of God. In this passage, Jesus said, “Blessed … are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (11:28). What does “blessed” mean? Blessed, simply means happy. But more than just a feeling of happiness, one who is blessed is healthy & whole & in a state of well-being, especially in relationship to God. Surely, we want to be blessed, & happy, & healthy, & whole, don’t we? How can we be such a blessed person? Jesus said, “Blessed … are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” Let’s learn why a person is truly happy & blessed when he or she hears & keeps the word of God. Today’s sermon has 6 parts:
1. A happy Christian is stronger than demons (14-23).
2. A happy Christian keeps demons away (24-26).
3. A happy Christian hears & keeps the word of God (27,28).
4. A happy Christian accepts the sign of Jonah (29-32).
5. A happy Christian is full of light (33-36).
6. A happy Christian is not a Pharisee (37-54).
1st, A happy Christian is stronger than demons (14-23). Read verse 14. “Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled.” Jesus ministry was all about preaching the word of God and healing the sick. And some of the sick people were people possessed by demons. Today we don’t see and hear much TV news about people possessed by demons. Perhaps, only in the movies we see demon possessed people. But demons are real. It’s obvious that the devil has something to do with all the bad things happening in this world. Jesus even calls the devil, the prince of this world. We don’t much news about people possessed by demons because many don’t believe they exist. But those who deny that demons exist are the demon’s easiest targets. In verse 14, Jesus cast out “a demon that was mute,” & “the mute man spoke.” Those who saw this “marveled” at Jesus’ mighty miracle (14). What Jesus did was helped a man tormented by demons that kept him from speaking. He could not say the things he wanted to say. Perhaps he always wanted to say to his parents how much he loves them and appreciate all the things they have done for him. Perhaps, he always wanted to say to someone, “I love you.” But the demons prohibited him from speaking. But Jesus came and restored him and made him whole. In this way, Jesus demonstrated God’s love & mercy to the mute man. Some who witnessed what Jesus did have seen a wonderful thing. They have seen something that is heavenly, that God came and showed his love to this helpless man. But some didn’t think so. Instead of praising God, they mocked him, saying, "By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons."
(15). 2. They tested him & “kept seeking from him a sign from heaven” (16). Out of jealousy, they called Jesus a devil, & though Jesus had just performed a great miracle, they asked for another. Jesus knew their evil thoughts & pointed out that their logic & reasoning was absurd, because “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls” (17). Satan, who is crafty, will never use Jesus or anyone else to harm, compromise or undermine his own kingdom (18). Thus, Jesus says that he casts out demons by “the finger of God” (20a), & brings in “the kingdom of God” (20b). “The kingdom of God” is where God rules, not where the demon rules. Jesus knows how much we suffer under the torment & deception of demons. Out of his great mercy, Jesus delivered the mute man from Satan’s harsh rule & brought him into the kingdom of God, where God rules. Paul says in Colossians 1:13 that Jesus “has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.” We have no power over demons even when we use all our strength. But Jesus casts out demons by “the finger of God” (20a), because only Jesus is stronger than demons. Jesus tells a simple parable in verses 21,22 where the demon is the strong man, but that Jesus is stronger & able to attack & overcome him very easily. Only Jesus is stronger than demons, because Jesus is God. Jesus then warns the religious leaders or anyone who rejects him, because they are only harming themselves. Jesus said, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (23). Therefore, we must always hear Jesus’ words & take it to heart. Otherwise, demons rule us, & God cannot bless us.
2nd, A happy Christian keeps demons away (24-26). In the 1st part, Jesus says he’s stronger than demons, & that he casts them out in order to bring us “the kingdom of God.” This is God’s blessing to all mankind who are under the demon’s rule. But in this 2nd part, Jesus severely warns those from whom he has cast out demons, so that we never underestimate how evil demons are. Read verses 24-26. "When an evil[a] spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first." Some think that once you become a Christian, you will immediately become holy, righteous, and demon free forever, without doing a single thing. If that is so, then we don’t need the bible, we don’t need to pray and we don’t need to walk with God. WRONG! When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, he comes into our hearts and cleanse us our hearts and cast out our demons. Then we feel free and at peace with God. But there is a danger that in our happiness we easily become complacent & lazy. Meaning we like to follow Jesus and we want to love God but we don’t want to fully give our hearts to him. Instead we continue to allow ourselves to enjoy things that can easily corrupt & defile & capture our hearts. We don’t spend much time with God, we don’t feed our souls with God’s word and we don’t pray much. We don’t do much in order to grow in a love relationship with God. Then we are in great spiritual danger, because the demon is like a fighter who never wants to loose or give up his victim. So the demon will always check up on us to see whether or not he can come back & rule us again. If our hearts are not right with God, the demon will come back. Only, this time he comes back with more powerful & terrible demons. So even though Jesus had mercy on us & blessed us by casting out our demon, our final condition is much worse than before. The great tragedy of those who have tasted Jesus’ love & mercy is that they don’t hear & keep his word. When Jesus was tempted by the devil in Matthew 4, the devil tempted Jesus with what we all struggle with: The bread alone, faith problem, and idol problem. But Jesus was like a rock that couldn’t be moved. Jesus was untouchable because of the word of God in his heart. The temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4 clearly teaches how to keep the demons away.
3rd, A happy Christian hears & keeps the word of God (27,28). When Jesus drove out a demon & spoke about demons, a woman in the crowd was moved by Jesus’ teaching and praised him, saying, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you." (27) She likely experienced how much demons had tortured & tormented her & those she loved. Though she was so moved by Jesus & praised him, Jesus knew that emotion itself is not enough to keep us from the demon. What do we need? Jesus said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (28). We learn that we need both our head & our heart to live by God’s word. As a Christian, we know in our head that the word of God is good & right, such as “Love the Lord your God … and your neighbor as yourself” (10:27), or we understand Jesus’ severe warning that our heart must love God & not be empty after Jesus drives out our demon. But if we don’t take it to heart, we soon forget & our lives follow our heart, & not the word of God in our head. At other times, our hearts are moved by Jesus in Bible study or in church & we promise God that we will pray, & read the Bible, & work hard, & be self-controlled, & keep our heart pure, etc. But our heart feeling & emotion changes the next day. So how can we keep both our head & our heart to live by the word of God as a Christian? Jesus said that we must “hear the word of God and keep it” (28). It means that we must hear the word of God in our head & keep it in our heart. To keep it in our hearts means that we believe with our hearts, that God’s words are true and God’s words are given to us because he loves us and wants to give us the best life. Therefore, we keep it in our hearts and put it into practice. Jesus said in John 15:10-11 Jesus says to his disciples, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” God’s love grows in us until his words taste like sweet honey. God’s words not only protect us from demons but enable us to be like Jesus bearing the fruit of the spirit. A truly happy person is one who has a love relationship with God.
4th, A happy Christian God accepts the sign of Jonah (29-32). Look at verse 29. “As the crowds increased, Jesus said, "This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.’” The world’s impression of Jesus is that he’s a nice, kind & gentle person, which he is. Partly, people think so because they don’t read the Bible & they don’t know or remember some things Jesus says. Few people likely know that Jesus spoke these words. Not many know that Jesus says, This is a wicked generation(29a). Jesus is saying without any mincing of words that “You (people) are evil,” & “Your kids & your loved ones & your entire generation is evil.” Likely, if people knew that Jesus said this, they wouldn’t think that he was a nice person, because nice people do not generalize & call the entire generation an wicked generation. But Jesus, looking at them & at each of us straight in the eye, says, “This is a wicked generation” (29a). Let’s try to understand why Jesus calls us wicked, & why he calls our generation an wicked generation. Let’s read verse 29 again.
Jesus calls us an wicked generation because “It seeks for a sign” (29b). What does this mean? Earlier, in verse 16, right after Jesus drove out “a demon that was mute,” they tested him & asked for “a sign from heaven.” Jesus says that sign seeking people are wicked. Why? Miracles are signs from heaven. Miracles demonstrates God’s Almighty power showing that He is with us and He love for us. Our responds to miracles are to thank God, praise God, and love God all the more for his goodness. But people who saw the miraculous sign didn’t think about the God who loves them, but they think of God as they think of Santa Claus. God gives us a sign so that we may love & thank God. But we receive the sign & say, “Give me some more.” It’s like a child who loves the toy & wants more toys, instead of loving his daddy who gave him the toy. That’s why Jesus said that sign seeking people are wicked. Wicked people are unthankful, have no love, affection or interest in the God who loves them, because they’re only interested in what they can get from God. In Luke 17, Jesus healed ten lepers. After they were healed, all of them disappeared except for one. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?
Despite the evilness of man desiring signs to satisfy his own desires, Jesus still gave them “the sign of Jonah” (29c). What is “the sign of Jonah”? Read verse 30. “For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.” In the Old Testament, Jonah is known as a reluctant & rebellious prophet. God directed Jonah to go to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, to preach to them the impending judgment of God for their sins. But because the Ninevites were the enemy of his people Israel, Jonah refused to go, & instead took a ship & went in the opposite direction. Then God sent a storm & a big fish to swallow Jonah in its belly for 3 days. When Jonah repented, the fish vomited him onto the shores of Nineveh, where he preached to the people & they repented upon hearing his message. Thus, “the sign of Jonah” is the sign of Jesus’ death & resurrection, for Jesus would be killed & after 3 days be raised to life (1 Cor 15:3,4), just as Jonah was inside the fish for 3 days. The greatest sign of all is Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. St. Paul says that this sign shows with power that Jesus is the Son of God (Ro 1:4). Our Christian faith is built on the fact that Jesus rose again from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus proves that God is living. The resurrection of Jesus is the victory of God over all the power of the devil. The resurrection of Jesus gives us a living hope in the kingdom of God. There is no stronger evidence that Jesus is God than his resurrection from the dead. This sign is the sign of God’s uncondional love who sent his Son into the world to save men from their sins & from eternal condemnation. Therefore, this is greatest sign of all. But wicked people want other signs to satisfy their own desires, rather than the greatest sign from God, “the sign of Jonah,” to save them from our sins. Jesus warned them severely that if they reject “the sign of Jonah” they will be judge. Their condemnation would be far greater than in times past, such as the time of Solomon (31) & the time of Jonah (32). It’s because the queen of the South, Sheba, travelled a long way to hear the wisdom of Solomon, & Jesus is far greater than Solomon. The people of Ninevah repented when the heard the preaching of Jonah, who hated them & wished that they would go to hell. But now, Jesus, who is far greater than Jonah, came to preach to them with great love. Jesus’ sad point is that their condemnation would be so great, because they rejected Jesus’ great love for them, prefering a few petty miracles to satisfy their own desires. But no one can accept “the sign of Jonah” unless they hear & keep the word of God in their hearts.
5th, A happy Christian God is full of light (33-36). Light & darkness is a common allegory in the Bible referring to God as light & the devil & the world as darkness. Verse 34a says, “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. …” Through the simple parable about the lamp on a stand, Jesus wants us to understand God’s heart in giving his word to man. God really wants to reveal himself to us. God has given his word to be a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. God puts it on a stand and makes it most prominent for all to see. God’s light shines brightly in the dark world. But not everyone sees it. Look at verse 34. “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness.” Biologically speaking, light enters our bodies through our eyes and enables us to see. Spiritually speaking, the word of God enters our inner beings through the eyes of our hearts (Eph 1:18). The eyes of our hearts are good when we have a learning mind and humble heart before God’s word. Then God’s word comes in and enlightens our entire inner being–mind, heart and soul. But when we are stubborn and unrepentant, the eyes of our hearts become blind. Consequently, our minds, hearts and souls remain in spiritual darkness.
Look at verse 35. “See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.” Here, “the light within you” means the idea or thought that governs our lives. If “the light within us” is a mere human idea, it belongs to the darkness. It will make our whole body dark. We must examine ourselves. If our minds, hearts and souls are dark, we need to turn to God. Our self-examination should stop here. We do not need to probe the darkness further. Rather, we must turn from the darkness toward God and let his word come in. We can do this when we ask Jesus into our hearts. Zechariah calls Jesus “the rising sun” who comes to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace (1:78,79). Simeon calls Jesus, “a light for the Gentiles” (2:32). Jesus’ light fully illuminates our inner beings. Then we can walk in the light and enjoy fellowship with God and with God’s people. We can see how God is working in our nation and in other people and in our own lives. With God’s word we can know clearly where we come from and where we are going.
6th, A happy Christian is not a Pharisee (37-54). In this final part, Jesus pronounced severe & harsh woes, judgment & condemnation on the Pharisees. It is noteworthy that in the 4 gospels, Jesus didn’t pronounce such severe woes on common sinners like the prostitues & drunkards. In our modern day equivalent, common sinners might be the gays, those who have abortions, the promiscuous, the junkies & even Obama & our “liberal administration.” Unfortunately, the church often targets & condemns immoral people & our government, which is not the biblical pattern. The biblical pattern is that Jesus pronouced his most severe judgment on the religious leaders, the Pharisees. Without going through each of the 17 verses in this part, we’ll highlight the main points as to why Jesus procounced such severe woe & judgment on them. It’s because:
1. They made sure they looked good & sleek on the outside, while neglecting the condition of their own heart (39-41), which is what God sees. 1 Samuel 16:7b says, “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” But the Pharisees only tried to look good outwardly.
2. They neglected justice & the love of God, while they tithed for show & to look good to others (42).
3. They were most concerned about their own human honor & glory & public recognition (43,44).
4. They burden people like a boss & a ruler without any heart to truly serve them & unburden them (46).
5. They honored their godly prophets, while hating & persecuting those who didn’t bow to them (47-51).
6. They taught the Bible selfishly to make their own disciples (52).
In brief, the Pharisees were hypocrites who pretended to be something they were not. To Jesus, they were far worse & much more devilish & evil than the prostitutes & the corrupt government. Paul says that such religious leaders had “the appearance of godliness but denying its power” (2 Ti 3:5). Jesus explains why they were like this in John 5:39,40: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” They were the people who crucified Jesus, & they were the worst people in the Bible because they rejected the greatest sign of God’s love, the sign of Jonah.
From this passage, I realized that I lack the word of God in my heart. I struggled a lot with this passage. So much that demons attacked me many times and filled my heart with doubts, complaints, and anger. I complained, “Why do I end up getting a hard passage to prepare?” Last night when I went to bed, I said to myself, “I am struggling too much!” Then suddenly, I remembered a story of a missionary to Uganda(Samuel Yoo) whom I read recently. He’s a medical doctor in Korea. When he accepted Jesus in his heart, he decided to go to Uganda to serve God’s mission. His family suffered a lot. He suffered from tuberculosis, his daughter almost died of a deadly disease, and he got stuck by a needle while serving an AIDS patient. His sacrificial life led me to our Lord Jesus and who suffered and died for my sins. Then I said to myself. “Why am I complaining?” Jesus suffered terribly and died on the cross so I can have a blessed life and here I am complaining.” I repented and began to thank God that even for very tiny way, God could allow me to participate in serving His ministry. I realized that I need to spend more time with God, read the bible, and spend time with him through personal prayer. I want to change my lifestyle. I need to hear the word of God and keep it so that I can serve the Sunday service more prayerfully, with a thankful heart, and with the spirit of God.
Today we learn the utmost importance of hearing & keeping the word of God in our hearts (11:28). God wants all of us to be happy and victorious. May God bless each of us hear the word of God and keep the sign of Jonah in our hearts.