Luke 11:14-28: The Haunted House

Presented to Swift Current Corps, 31 October 2010; Corps 614 Regent Park Toronto, 01 November 2015; Alberni Valley Ministries (abridged), 31 October 2021 by Captain Michael Ramsay

This is the 2015 Corps 614 Toronto version, to view the original 2010 Swift Current version, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2010/10/luke-1114-28-matthew-1225-29-parable-of.html 

To view the 2021 Alberni Valley, BC Version, click here:  http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2021/10/luke-1114-28-parable-of-haunted-house.html

To view a video of the abridged 2021 version, click here: https://youtu.be/zkKz9y_uBoQ

Yesterday was October 31^st so I thought that it would be good to start off with an October 31^st quiz today (answers in footnotes):

1)      What historic event happened in Wittenburg on October 31 in 1517?[1]

2)      True or False: Ghosts are mentioned in the Bible.[2]

3)      True or False: A king of Israel went to a witch to speak with the spirit of a dead person[3]

a.       Bonus Marks name the King, the dead person, and the witch

4)      How many people can you name who the Bible records God used to raise others from the dead?[4]

5)      The man possessed by so many demons that they called themselves Legion, where did he live?[5]

6)      True or False: Jesus tells a parable about a haunted house?[6]

The parable – especially noticeable in the Lukan account – talks about a demon-possessed man and a demon-possessed house. Luke 11:24-26: “When an evil 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.” The house is haunted by more demons than it was in the first place. This is in the Parable of the Haunted House.

There are many important things to come out of this Parable of the Haunted House. We obviously don’t have time today to spend on all of them. One of the key things to come out of this parable is that God is more important than anyone in the Christian’s life.[7] This is highlighted in the Markan account (Mark 3:20-35).[8] If even one’s own parents are opposed to the life and work of Jesus, Christ goes as far as to model disowning one’s parents; when his mother and brothers came to interfere with his work, in order to take charge of and/or arrest him Jesus replies, “Who are my mother and brothers?” (Mark 3:31-34; Matthew 12:46-50; Luke 11:27-28, 8:19-21).[9] We are not to be distracted from serving the Lord by anyone (cf. Matthew 10:38-39, 16:24-24; Mark 8:34-35; Luke 9:23-24, 14:26-27, 17:33; John 12:25; 1 Corinthians 15:31; cf. also Gospel of Thomas 55b).[10] This is very important.

There is in Matthew and Mark’s record of this parable also the important, significant, and controversial statement about the unforgivable sin, which is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:32, Mark 3:29).[11] This sin is almost certainly not a once-off and in this context here, especially in Mark’s version, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit appears to refer to anyone who gets in the way of the work of the Lord or anyone who consistently attributes the work of God to the devil. Luke speaks about sweeping the house clean and then the spirits returning to haunt to the haunted house once more.[12] This is similar to John’s words about the apostate and those who walk with Christ but then reject him completely so much so that they never return to Him (1 John 2:18-26, 5:13-20, 2 John 1:7-11; cf. Matthew 10:14, 12:31-32; Mark 3:29-30, 6:11; Luke 9:5, 12:10; Acts 13:50-52; 2 Peter 2:17-22). These ‘rejecters’ appear to be the ones who have committed the unforgivable sin (cf. TSA Doctrines 7 and 9).

Each of these interesting points we can talk about later if you like but today I would prefer to concentrate on something else in this, the Parable of the Haunted House. Recorded in Luke 11:17-18 and Mark 3:24 and Matthew 12:25, “…Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? ...” And Luke 11:23 and Matthew 12:30 each record Jesus’ comment that “He who is not with me is against me” Jesus is drawing the line here. He is being quite clear. Jesus has had a serious accusation levelled against him. He has been accused of exorcising demons by demonic power.

Jesus is accused of driving out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons (Luke 11:15, Matthew 12:24, Mark 3:22). We are familiar with the term Beelzebub, right? Milton named one of his characters in ‘Paradise Lost’ Beelzebub. In Milton’s story he was the devil’s henchman but Beelzebub here in scriptures isn’t the right hand man of the devil.[13] Beelzebub is the devil himself. Beelzebub is another name for the Satan. We remember that the ancient Israelites – long before the time of Jesus’ birth– were often split between those who worshipped YHWH and those who worshipped a Canaanite god by the name of Baal. One of the names people who worshipped Baal used to call him was Baal-Zebul - which literally means ‘Baal the Prince’ (Cf. 2 Kings 1:6; Matthew 10:25; 12:24,27; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15, 18-19).[14] Knowing this, the people who didn’t worship Baal gave the Canaanite god a related nickname of their own. They called him Baal-Zebub, which sounds like Baal-Zebul, ‘Baal the Prince’, but in reality means Baal, Lord of the flies; Baal the pest; or Baal, Lord of the dung heap.[15] It wasn’t a favourable name, Baal-Zebub. It was a derogatory name. By Jesus time, with Baal-worship relegated to the dustbin of history, they couldn’t let this good nickname go to waste though; so they applied it to the devil, Satan inherited this nickname. Beelzebub, in the first century CE, was a common derogatory name for Satan.[16] Jesus in our text here is being accused of working for the devil.

In our society today we think nothing of people dressing up like evil characters or using the language of demon-possession and witchcraft: we hear it everyday on TV, radio, in pop culture and in casual colloquial language. There were on TV last night alone dozens of movies and TV shows trivializing or glorifying evil. It is so common in our contemporary Canadian society that many times we don’t even twig when we hear references to sorcery or divination but it was very different in Jesus’ day (cf. Deuteronomy 18:10; 1 Samuel 28:9; 2 Kings 19:22; 2 Chronicles 33:6; Micah 5:12; Nahum 3:4; Galatians 5:20).

Witchcraft is a serious crime. It was punishable by death (1 Samuel 28:9, Galatians 5:20). These religious teachers who are accusing Jesus of being an agent of evil here cannot be left to make these remarks unchallenged. It must be addressed. They are accusing Jesus of divination, of witchcraft, of sorcery, and in those days (unlike today when many of our kids and grandkids or their friends watch cartoons or other  shows relating to the occult or dress up as devils and witches) people won’t stand by and let that evil go unchecked. 

Jesus doesn’t stand by and let these accusations stand. Knowing their thoughts Jesus tells them: “…Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges” (Luke 11:17-19; cf. Matthew 12:15-17, Mark 3:23-26). Jesus tells them that if he is driving out evil with evil than his opponents are doing exactly the same thing when they perform exorcisms and even more than that Jesus says, one won’t and one can’t even drive out evil with evil: a house divided against itself will fall. Jesus says, Verses 21-22, “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armour in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils (Luke 11:21-22; cf. Matthew 12:29, Mark 3:27)” And, Verses 24-26, “When an evil 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” (cf. TSA Doctrine 9). These are the only two options. A divided house cannot stand. So just like an American president said not too many years ago as they were embarking on one of their many wars, “You are either with us or against us.” Jesus says, Luke 11:23, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.”

Well, on this day after Halloween Day, on this day after Reformation Day, 2000 years after the birth of our Lord, where do we stand? Are we with him or are we against him? I have run through a litany of the contemporary evils of the western world and of the English-speaking Empire many, many times. Even though Canada was founded upon Psalm 72, the Word of God, now we no longer say the Lord’s Prayer in the House of Commons or even read the Word of God in our public schools. If whatever demons our ancestors had were exorcised when we chose to build our nation on the Word of God (the Godly principles of Isaiah 9:6: Peace, Order, Good Government and promise of Psalm 72 claiming this land as the Lord’s dominion from sea to sea) then I think in our lifetime, as we’ve left our historic values, those demons that were exorcised have returned, found our house swept clean and brought many, many of their friends.

Some of the legions of demons that currently haunt our nation have the same names as the deadly sins mentioned by Dante in his historic book (which would be very appropriate for Halloween) entitled ‘Inferno’, which he wrote many, many years ago. Some of our cultural demons include: Pride, the belief that we can do things on our own, without God (Psalm 10:4; 2 Chronicles 26:16; cf. Proverbs 16:18); Vanity, the desire to do what is right in our own eyes (cf. Judges 21:25) – it seems that our whole political system these days revolves around this sin; There is Lust, not only pornography, but you have noticed commercials and advertising these days? Sloth is another demon that seems to have made his home in our culture; has there ever been a less active generation in service in the history world? Just look at the declining membership not only in churches but also in service groups across this country. We have seemingly been raising a generation or two of people who would rather stay home and indulge themselves than get out there and do something. There is also Gluttony; did you know that the number of people in the world who suffer from malnutrition as a result of hunger is in excess of 1.2 billion and -at the same time- the number of people in the world who suffer from malnutrition as a result of over-consumption is in excess 1.2 billion?[17] We rich nations are mal-nourishing ourselves by eating the food that the underdeveloped nations so desperately need. That contains a scary symmetry. Did you know that children in our society are now suffering from adult onset diabetes? Adult onset diabetes in children is a direct result of eating too much bad stuff.[18] This can also relate to greed and the so-called deadly sin of Greed could also be the name of one of the demons haunting our nation’s house here today: it seems that our whole economy depends upon greed.[19] I read once that if the North American societies went even just one day without spending any money on frivolities our entire economies would collapse.[20] Ire / unholy anger is another demon; have we forgotten that ‘vengeance is mine…saith the Lord’ (Romans 12:19)? With this unholy anger comes an appetite for violence that I imagine would even make the Romans in their coliseum cringe: there is a not only a market for violent movies and television but people also watch real people brutalize each other in ultimate fighting or other such events and not only that but we Canadians allow our children to sit down and watch the never-ending violence that is on TV. Do you think that so many people would support international wars of aggression and violence against foreigners if we weren’t conditioned from the time we were children to see revenge and even so-called ‘pre-emptive strikes’ as normal? As sure as in generations past God used great churchmen and women and faithful servants of our Lord as a broom to sweep this land clean of the demons that had plagued it; the devil has now found it well kempt and come back stronger than ever. Our nation, it seems, is haunted by many demons.

This we know not only applies to our nation; it also applies to ourselves as well. The sin spiral has many parallels with addictions for example. Any of us here who have ever struggled with addiction or who know others who have, we know that each time one becomes clean and then slips up, it becomes more and more difficult to become clean again remain that way. The metaphorical demons of addiction come in apparently stronger (bringing in more friends) each time we invite them in. It doesn’t need to be that way. Jesus can clean our haunted houses and when Jesus cleans our house we can let him keep it clean too (TSA Doctrines 6 and 10)! Pretty good deal!

So what can we do? Well, of course, we can do nothing to clean the house: Jesus defeated sin and death between the cross and the empty tomb (TSA Doctrine 6) but if we look back in our text to Luke 11:27, we notice that a woman who hears what Jesus is saying and who witnesses what Jesus is doing in delivering a man from evil; she calls out to him, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” Jesus then gives her an answer which should be our answer to the deliverance he has offered each of us through his death and resurrection. Jesus replies, Luke 11:28, “blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Luke 11:23, “He who is not with me is against me.”

This is the choice set before us today. We can ask Jesus to sweep our life clean of the demons that haunt us and he will. But in that we have to choose whom we will serve. We can serve ourselves, our own lustful desires, we can serve the Enemy by inviting demons back in to haunt our lives again or we can serve the Lord and live life abundantly (TSA Doctrines 6 and 8). Today we must decide, are we with our Lord or are we against him? 

Please remember too that any and all of us can ask our Lord Jesus to come and clean our haunted houses. Even if he has already cleaned it once or a hundred times and we have subsequently messed it up. While we still have breath in our body, we can invite him back into our lives to clean them up and sort us out and then, we can continue on to receive the Lord’s blessing of eternal life, Luke 11:28, “blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” As we do this, we will continue in the blessing of the Holy Spirit. This is holiness and this holiness is available to all of us but we must make a choice (cf. TSA Doctrine 10). And, as Joshua said on the very border of the Promised Land, when faced with this very choice, Joshua said ‘as for me and my house we will serve the Lord’ (Joshua 24:15) and I pray that that will be the same response for each and all of us today.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

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[1]  Answer 1: Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church

[2] Answer 2: True, especially The Holy Ghost in the Authorized Version

[3] Answer 3: True (1 Samuel 28), King Saul went to the witch of Endor to contact the deceased prophet Samuel

[4] Answer 4: God used Elijah to raise the son of the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:17-23), God used Elisa to raise the Shunammite woman's son (2 Kings 4:32-37); There was the man they threw into Elisha’s grave (2 Kings 13:21) Jesus raised: the widow's son (Luke 7:12-15), Jairus' daughter (Luke 8:49-55), Lazarus (John 11:43,44); God used Peter to raise Dorcas (Acts 9:37-40) and Paul to raise Eutychus (after Paul had literally bored him to death? Acts 20:9-12)

[5] Answer 5: In the tombs, the graveyard near Gerasenes; Mark 5:1,2, Luke 8:26-27

[6] Answer 6: True, Matthew 12:25-29, Mark 3:23-27, Luke 11:17-22

[7] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, 'Mark 3:20-35: The Family of God', presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps (February 17, 2008) Available on-line at: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/02/mark-320-35-family-of-god.html

[8] Cf. C.L. Mitton. The Gospel According to Mark. London: Epworth, 1957, p. 26

[9] Cf. F.C. Grant, The Gospel According to St. Mark. Vol. 7. IB. New York: Abingdon, 1951, p. 694: “In place of broken family relations, ostracism and persecution, was the close and intimate relation to the Son of God.”

[10] Cf. Lewis Foster, ‘Luke’ in NIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids, Mi : Zondervan, 2002), note on Luke 9:24, p. 1589.

[11] Walter W. Wessel, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM: Mark/ Book Version: 4.0.2l: The words of v. 29—"will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin"—have caused great anxiety and pain in the history of the church. Many have wondered whether they have committed the "unpardonable sin." Surely what Jesus is speaking of here is not an isolated act but a settled condition of the soul—the result of a long history of repeated and wilful acts of sin. And if the person involved cannot be forgiven it is not so much that God refuses to forgive as it is the sinner refuses to allow him. Ryle’s famous words are great reassurance to any who might be anxious about this sin: "There is such a thing as a sin which is never forgiven. But those who are troubled about it are most unlikely to have committed it" (J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels [New York: Revell], 2:59). On the other hand, those who actually do commit the sin are so dominated by evil that it is unlikely that they would be aware of it.

[12] Ibid: "because they were saying, `He has an evil spirit'"—suggests an explanation for the unforgivable sin. Jesus had done what any unprejudiced person would have acknowledged as a good thing. He had freed an unfortunate man from the power and bondage of evil (cf. Matt 12:22; Luke 11:14). This he did through the power of the Holy Spirit, but the teachers of the law ascribed it to the power of Satan. Taylor (p. 244) says that the sin described here is "a perversion of spirit which, in defiance of moral values elects to call light darkness." Further, Mitton says, "To call what is good evil (Isa 5:20) when you know well that it is good because prejudice and ill will hold you in bondage, that is the worst sin of all. The tragedy of the `hardening of heart' (as in Mk 3:5) is that it makes men capable of committing just this sin" (Gospel of Mark, p. 28). Perkins, Pheme. NIB VIII: The Gospel of Mark, p. 547: The evangelist’s comment in V. 30 shows that the judgement saying is directed against those who have charged Jesus with using Satan’s power.”

[13] John Milton featured Beelzebub as seemingly the second-ranking of the many fallen cherubim in the epic poem Paradise Lost, first published in 1667. Wrote Milton of Beelzebub "than whom, Satan except, none higher sat." Beelzebub is also a character in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, first published in 1678. See Absoluteastronomy.com, Beelzebub: http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Beelzebub

[14] Cf. Choon-Leong Seow. The First and Second Book of Kings. (NIB III: Abigdon Press, Nashville, 1999), p. 170 and R. D. Patterson and Hermann J. Austel, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM: 2 Kings/ Second Kings Note 1:3, Book Version: 4.0.2

[15] Cf. R. D. Patterson and Hermann J. Austel, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:2 Kings/Notes to Second Kings/Second Kings 1 Notes/Second Kings Note 1:2, Book Version: 4.0.2

[16] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, "2 Kings 1:6: Is it because there is no God in [this place]?” Presented to the Nipawin Corps 31 May 2009.

[17] Cf. Sheepspeak, ‘Be a Hero Stuff’, Monday, December 19, 2005 (posted at 1:53PM). Available on-line at http://renewnetwork.blogspot.com/2005_12_01_archive.html#113502200702877662

[18] ‘Overweight’ in PAEDIATRICS Vol. 113 No. 1 January 2004, pp. 152-154

[19] Cf. http://www.buynothingday.co.uk/ for more information about ‘Buy Nothing Day’.

[20] Cf. also John Wesley, 'The Use of Money': Sermon 50.

Acts 13:13-34: Who Will Save Us?

Presented to TSA Corps 614 Regent Park, 18 October 2015 
by Captain Michael Ramsay

Some review questions for us:

1. Who wrote Acts?
2. What Gospel did he also write?
3. About how much of the NT do these two works comprise?[1]

The General Election is coming up very quickly - tomorrow, October 19 -  and I encourage all of you, if you haven't already, to vote AFTER spending some time in prayer, fasting, and study to determine which candidate you should support in your riding. The Canadian Council of Churches has a VERY good election resource that I invite you to look at. I have a few copies of it at the back. I will also re-post it on-line and can email it to people it they like https://www.councilofchurches.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/CCC_FederalElectionResource_FINAL_WEB_REV.pdf . This does seem to be a very significant election. It really does -according to some -seem to be a choice between light and darkness, love and hate, acceptance and rejection. We are encouraged in our pericope today not to reject our Salvation. We are also encouraged to learn, know, and remember who is the ONLY Messiah.

Some more questions for us today:

1. Who is the Messiah? (Jesus)
2. Messiah is a Hebrew word, what is the Greek equivalent? (Christ)
3. What is the Messiah/Christ? What does it mean? What does he do? (Anointed One/King)

This is important. Acts 1:8: " But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Do we know what and where these places are?

Jerusalem was the capital of the united kingdoms of Israel and Judah and later the capital of the southern kingdom of Judah while Samaria was the capital of Israel. The countries of Israel and Judah both ceased to exist as independent nations by 586 BCE. As occupied nations, they were each looking for a saviour; Samaria was looking for prophet, a teacher and many in Judea were looking for a King to deliver them from their occupier and set everything right in the world.[2] Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria were looking for a saviour, a Messiah, the Christ.

One of the key differences between Christianity and Judaism is that contemporary Judaism (like Acts 13:27ff) rejects Jesus and his Kingdom while Christians accept Jesus as King of Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the world.[3] The King has come and he is gone away (sort of) but he is coming back. In both Biblical records and in history we have seen kings do this sort of thing before (cf. Luke 19:11-28). Herod the Great - for one example - who was a king of the Jews, went to the Emperor in Rome in 40 BCE to confirm his victory and authority and then returned to have his realm placed at his feet (cf. Josephus, Antiquities i..358) at which time among his supporters there was much celebration and among his adversaries a certain amount of weeping and gnashing of teeth (cf. Matthew 25).[4] Jesus won the victory between the cross and the empty tomb and Jesus is now in Heaven and he will return tot his realm placed at his feet.[5] Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Romans 14:11).

Some more good news: This has been the longest election campaign in memory. Who is sick and tired of all the hate and attack ads? Who is ready  for this election to be done? Tomorrow, it is done. I hope you vote and vote well but I have some more good news: When Jesus ultimately returns you won't ever have to vote again. You won't ever have another election campaign like this one. You won't ever have to vote again. So vote now while you have the chance! Jesus is King of the world and that is NOT nor should it be nor will it ever be an elected position.[6] We are not asked to choose who we want to rule for eternity, we are only asked do we want to serve the ruler or not. If we do, we are in. If we don't we are out. It's that simple.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ really is that simple. Jesus is the King of the World. He is coming back. If we serve Him we are part of His Kingdom, if we don't we aren't. And Jesus' Kingdom is and is going to be the best of the best of best of the best.[7]

There is an even greater hope embedded in this as well. You will notice that the central part of all Christianity, what the Apostle Paul talks about most and NT relates more than anything else is the resurrection of the dead.[8] This pericope mentions Christ's resurrection more than once (Acts 13:30, 34,35,35). This Kingdom to come is the greatest thing ever and God loves us so much that he doesn't want any of us citizens of heaven to miss its culmination; he cares about us all so much that even people who die before Jesus returns will come back to life so that they can be a part of his Kingdom. All election scandals, attack ads, corruption and the like will be wiped away as the whole world is made anew!

King Jesus - who died and rose from the grave - went to be with the Father in Heaven and He will come back to claim His Kingdom here on earth. At some point (I am not going to get drawn into any amillenial apologetics, rapturous pre-trib, post-trib, or other trivial pursuits here), those of us who die before Jesus returns to sit on His throne will be raised from the dead and invited to be a part of His Kingdom forever - no more elections, just everyone loving God and loving their neighbour (Leviticus 19:18; Mathew 5:43-44, 19:19, 22:39; Mark 12:31-33; Luke 10:27; Romans 13:9-10; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8). These are the basics of early Christian beliefs. And this love for one's neighbour and serving the unelected Jesus as Christ is one reason why some good Christian groups throughout history have actually refused to partake in democracy - because we don't serve the powers and principalities of this age but instead we serve the unelected Messiah, Jesus, the Christ (Ephesians 6:12).

If ruler of this world is not an elected position and Jesus is ruler of this world and He is coming back to set everything straight anyway, why should we vote? What difference will it make? The leaders of the four of the main political parties in Canada have claimed Christianity. Justin Trudeau has a great testimony of growing in his personal relationship with Jesus Christ around the Promotion to Glory of his brother. Thomas Mulclair credits the clergy at his school for teaching him the Christian basics of loving God and loving and taking care of your neighbour. And listen to this quote from Elizabeth May of the Green Party: She said, "We have a moral obligation to our Lord and Father to ensure we don't destroy the creation that was given to us. Through the power of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we can meet this moral obligation." That's a pretty solid proclamation of faith in action. I would probably vote for any of them if they were running in my riding, which they are not.

Even our Prime Minister I think may still attend an Alliance Church; and even in the USA - a nation born of rebellion against God, King and country - today their leaders profess Christ. But how can that be possible? I have been asked more than once in my role as an evangelist, how can servants of the King of the World - Jesus Christ - be attempting to conquer the world in the name of the twin gods of democracy and capitalism?[9] How can they be invading county after country after country after country to further the interests of their own country at the expense of all other countries and still claim to be servants of the King of the World? I am not at all convinced that we can both have this cake and eat it too. I remember being involved in ministry on the streets of downtown Winnipeg years ago and someone asked/told me: 'how can you be a Christian? George Bush is a Christian and look what he's doing!' We had a good conversation but - whether you liked George Bush's presidency or not - the question does arise that has arisen many times in history: why should Christians get drawn into all this? Why should we bother to vote? Our battle, after all is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12). The Liberals, NDP, Greens, the Conservatives won't save us.

This is truth. People will let us down. The Messiah does not lead any of these parties and I would caution you about getting drawn into the idea that He does. The prolonged feverish pitch that has overtaken social media and coffee shop conversations since this election began is terrible. You talk to some people and so-and-so is the only chosen one who can deliver us, who can save us from the enemy. Don't get drawn into all that.

Do not vote for the fallacy that a leader of a political party will make everything right. Trudeau cannot walk on water, Mulclair cannot part the seas, May may not add a moment to your life. Harper will let you down. Leaders will disappoint you. Vote and vote well but please don't put your faith in them. As important as this election is, our next Prime Minister will not cause the lame to walk or the blind to see, no matter what their campaign ads tell us; so vote to make this world a better place but remember Salvation comes from Christ alone. Jesus tells us that his followers will love God and love their neighbour. Vote for a candidate in your riding who loves God and loves your neighbour. Jesus tells us that the nations who will be a part of His Kingdom to come - Matthew 25 and elsewhere - will be the ones who take care of the sick, the poor, the widow, the prisoners, and the immigrants. After praying and fasting, vote tomorrow for the person in your riding who most reflects Christ in this way (This is one of the reasons -by the way- that I tend not to vote for proponents of tax-cuts because taxes are the primary way that a society provides for the poor and the needy; cf. Exodus 22:21, 23:9; Leviticus 19:34; Numbers 19:10, 35:15; Deuteronomy 10:18-19, 14:10, 16:11-14, 23:7, 27:19; Isaiah 10:2; Jeremiah 7:6, 22:3; Malachi 3:5; etc.). Vote for Jesus.[10]

But remember whoever wins the election tomorrow is probably not the devil incarnate and they are definitely not the Christ. Vote for someone who will help the less fortunate for Jesus' sake and then hold them accountable but more important that than even: pray, pray, pray! And pay attention to where God is moving in our community and follow the Holy Spirit. The whole book of Acts records what happens when we follow the Holy Spirit in proclaiming Jesus - not Caesar, not the president, not the Prime Minister - as Saviour of the World.  Acts 13:38 tells us that it is only through Jesus that the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed and it is only through Jesus that we can be set free from committing sin (TSA doc 10). Just think, if every Christian talked and posted on social media as much about the love and the forgiveness of sins offered by Jesus Christ as some have spoken about the election, hate, and attack ads in the past few weeks what a different world this would be (cf. Acts 13:38-39). For one, If we spent as much effort promoting God as politics, I imagine every church in this city and country would be full today. So vote tomorrow and vote well but remember: the Gospel of Jesus Christ really is simple. Salvation comes through Christ alone. Jesus is the King of the world. He is coming back. If we serve Him we are part of His Kingdom, if we don't we aren't. Salvation comes from Christ alone. 

As such it is my prayer that we will all spend our lives campaigning for Jesus.

Let us pray.

www.sheespeak.com

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[1] Luke, 2) Luke, 3) 30%

[2] Cf. Robert W. Wall, ‘Acts’ The New Interpreter’s Bible 10, (Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 2002), 191.

[3] Cf. The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Acts/Exposition of Acts/Part II. The Christian Mission to the Gentile World (12:25-28:31)/Panel 4-The First Missionary Journey and the Jerusalem Council (12:25-16:5)/C. At Antioch of Pisidia (13:14-52)/2. Paul's synagogue sermon at Antioch (13:16-41), Book Version: 4.0.2

[4] Cf. R. Alan Culpepper, Luke (NIB 8: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1995), 363.

[5] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, 'Luke 19:11-27: Time, Talent and Treasure Series, Part 2: Employee Evaluation: What About the Slaves?' (Swift Current, SK: Sheepspeak, 19 December 2010) On-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2010/09/luke-1911-27-time-talent-and-treasure.html

[6] Cf. William H. William, ‘Acts’, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, (Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1988), 125.

[7] Cf. N.T. Wright, Acts for Everyone Part 2 (Louisville, Kentucky, USA: WJK, 2004), 16.

[8] Cf. William H. William, ‘Acts’, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, (Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1988), 125.

[9] Cf. N.T. Wright, Acts for Everyone Part 2 (Louisville, Kentucky, USA: WJK, 2004), 14.

[10] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, 'Vote for Jesus' in Journal of Aggressive Christianity, Issue 57, October 2008 – November 2008 (pp. 27-39). On-line: http://www.armybarmy.com/pdf/JAC_Issue_057.pdf