Steve Webb: The Holy Spirit does not share space with demons.
This is the Lifespring family Audio Bible coming to you from
Riverside, California, podcasting since 2004. I'm your
OG God caster Steve Webb. This is the daily podcast where we
are reading through the entire Bible in a year. How are you?
I'm glad you're here. Welcome. Today in our reading, we're
going to read Luke chapters 11 and 12. And after the reading,
I'll have some comments of course, I'm calling today's
episode, no vacancy. The show notes page for today's episode
is Lifespring media.com/s 12, e 164. Are you ready? Let's go.
Luke chapter 11.
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place. And when he
finished, one of his disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to
pray as John taught his disciples. And he said to them,
When you pray, say, Father, hallowed be your name, your
kingdom come, Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us
our sins for we ourselves, forgive everyone who was
indebted to us, and lead us not into temptation.
And he said to them, Which of you who has a friend will go to
him at midnight and say to him, Friend led me three loaves for a
friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to
set before Him, and He will answer him from within, do not
bother me, the door is now shut and my children are with me in
bed, I cannot get up and give you anything, I tell you,
though, he will not get up and give him anything because he is
his friend, yet because of his impedance, he will rise and give
him whatever he needs. And I tell you ask and it will be
given to you seek and you will find, knock and it will be open
to you. For everyone who asks receives and the one who seeks
finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father
among you, if his son asks for a fish will instead of a fish give
him a serpent? Or if he asks for an egg? We'll give him a
scorpion. 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 asked him.
Now he 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 be eligible the prince
of demons, while others to test him kept seeking from him aside
from heaven, but he knowing your 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 abusable. And if I cast out demons by abusable, by whom do
your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your
judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out
demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong
man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are safe. But
when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him,
he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his
spoil. Whoever is not with me is against me. And whoever does not
gather with me scatters. When the unclean spirit is 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 in bring seven other spirits more evil
than itself, and they enter in dwell there, and the last state
of that person is worse than the first. As he said these things a
woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, bless it
is the womb that bore you and the breasts that which you
nursed, but he said, bless it, rather, are those who hear the
word of God and keep it. When the crowds were increasing, he
began to say, This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for
a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of
Jonah. For as Jonah became assigned to the people of
Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation, the Queen
of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this
generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the
earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold, something
greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up
at the judgment with this generation and condemn it for
they repented at the preaching of Jonah and behold, something
greater than Jonah is here. No one after lighting a lamp puts
it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that
those who enter may see the light. Your lamp is the lamp of
your body when
error is healthy, your whole body is full of light. But when
it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore, be careful,
less the light in you be darkness. If then your whole
body is full of light having no part dark, it will be wholly
bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light. While
Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him. So
he went in and reclined to table. The Pharisee was
astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner.
And the Lord said to him, now you Pharisees cleanse the
outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you're full of
greed and wickedness, you fools did not he who made the outside,
make the inside also, but give us all those things that are
within and behold, everything is cleaned for you. But woe to you
Pharisees, for you tithe mint and roo and every herb and
neglect, justice and the love of God, these you ought to have
done without neglecting the others. Whoa to you Pharisees,
for you love the best seat in the synagogues, and greetings in
the marketplace. Woe to you, for you are like unmarked graves,
and people walk over them without knowing it. One of the
lawyers answered him, Teacher in saying these things, you insult
us also. And he said, Woe to you lawyers also for you load people
with burdens hard to bear and you yourself, do not touch the
burdens with one of your fingers. Woe to you, for you
build the tombs of the prophets whom your father is killed. So
you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your
father's for they killed them, and you build their tombs.
Therefore also the wisdom of God said, I will send them prophets
and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute so that
the blood of all the prophets shed from the foundation of the
world may be charged against this generation, from the blood
of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between
the altar in the sanctuary? Yes, I tell you, it will be required
of this generation. Woe to you lawyers, for you have taken away
the key of knowledge, you did not enter yourselves. And you
hindered those who were entering. As he went away from
there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him
hard, and to provoke him to speak about many things, lying
and wait for him to catch him in something he might say.
Luke chapter 12.
As 1000s of people crowded together so that they were
stepping on each other. Jesus said first to His disciples, be
on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, I mean, their
hypocrisy, whatever is covered up will be uncovered, and every
secret will be made known. So then whatever you have said in
the dark will be heard in broad daylight. And whatever you have
whispered in private in a closed room will be shouted from the
house tops. I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of
those who killed the body but cannot afterward do anything
worse. I will show you whom to fear. Fear God who after killing
has the authority to throw into Hell, believe me, he is the one
you must fear. Aren't five sparrows sold for two pennies?
Yet not one Sparrow is forgotten by God. Even the hairs of your
head have all been counted. So do not be afraid you are worth
much more than many sparrows. I assure you that those who
declare publicly that they belong to me, the Son of Man
will do the same for them before the angels of God. But those who
reject me publicly, the Son of Man will also reject them before
the angels of God. Whoever says a word against the Son of man
can be forgiven. But whoever says evil things against the
Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they bring you to
be tried in the synagogues, or before governors or rulers, do
not be worried about how you will defend yourself or what you
will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what
you should say, a man in the crowd said to Jesus, teacher,
tell my brother to divide with me the property our father left
us, Jesus answered him, Friend, who gave me the right to judge
or to divide the property between you two. And he went on
to say to them all, watch out and guard yourself from every
kind of greed. Because your true life is not made up of the
things you own, no matter how rich you may be. Then Jesus told
him this parable.
There was once a rich man who had land which bore good crops,
he began to think to himself, I don't have a place to keep all
my crops, what can I do? This is what I will do. He told himself,
I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones where I will
store the grain and all my other goods. Then I will say to
myself, Lucky man, you have all the good things you need for
many years. take life easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself. But
God said to him, you fool. This very night you will have to give
up your life. Then who will get all these things you have kept
For yourself, and Jesus concluded, This is how it is
with those who pile up riches for themselves, but are not rich
in God's sight. Then Jesus said to the disciples, and so I tell
you not to worry about the food you need to stay alive or about
the clothes you need for your body. Life is much more
important than food, and the body much more important than
close. Look at the crows. They don't plant seeds or gather a
harvest. They don't have storage rooms or barns, God feeds them.
You are worth so much more than birds. Can any of you live a bit
longer by worrying about it? If you can't manage even such a
small thing? Why worry about the other things? Look how the
wildflowers grow. They don't work or make clothes for
themselves. But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all
his wealth, had clothes is beautiful is one of these
flowers. It is God Who clothes the wild grass grass that is
here today and gone tomorrow burned up in the oven, won't he
be all the more sure to clothe you what little faith you have.
So don't be all upset, always concerned about what you will
eat and drink. For the pagans of this world are always concerned
about these things. Your father knows that you need these
things. Instead, be concerned with his kingdom and He will
provide you with these things. Do not be afraid little flock
for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell all
your belongings and give the money to the poor. Provide for
yourselves verses that don't wear out and save your riches in
heaven where they will never decrease because no thief can
get to them, and no moth can destroy them. For your heart
will always be where your riches are. Be ready for whatever comes
dressed for action and with your lamps lit like servants who are
waiting for their master to come back from a wedding feast. When
he comes and knocks they will open the door for him at once.
How happy are those servants whose master finds them awake
and ready when he returns? I tell you, he will take off his
coat, have them sit down, that will wait on them how happy they
are if he finds them ready, even if he should come at midnight or
even later. And you can be sure that if the owner of a house
knew the time when the thief would come, he would not let the
thief break into his house, that you too must be ready, because
the son of Mad will come at an hour when you are not expecting
him.
Peter said, Lord, does this parable apply to us? Or do you
mean it for everyone? The Lord answered, who then is the
faithful and wise servant. He is the one that his master will put
in charge to run the household and give the other servants
their share of the food at the proper time. How happy that
servant is if his master finds him doing this when he comes
home, indeed I tell you, the master will put that servant in
charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself
that his master is taking a long time to come back. And if he
begins to beat the other servants, both the men and the
women and he eats and drinks and gets drunk, then the master will
come back one day when the servant does not expect him and
at a time he does not know. The master will cut him in pieces
and make him share the fate of the disobedient. The servant who
knows what his master wants him to do, but does not get himself
ready and do it will be punished with a heavy whipping. But the
servant who does not know what his master wants, and yet does
something for which he deserves a whipping will be punished with
a light whipping. Much is required from the person to whom
much is given. Much more is required from the person to whom
much more is given. I came to set the earth on fire and how I
wish it were already kindled. I have a baptism to receive and
how distressed I am until it is over. Do you suppose that I came
to bring peace to the world? No, not peace but division. From now
on a family of five will be divided three against two into
against three fathers will be against their sons and Sons
against their fathers. Mothers will be against their daughters
and daughters against their mothers. Mothers in law will be
against their daughters in law and daughters in law against
their mothers in law. Jesus said also to the people. When you see
a cloud coming up in the west and once you say that it is
going to rain and it does. And when you feel the south wind
blowing you say that it's going to get hot and it does
hypocrites. You can look at the Earth in the sky and predict the
weather. Why then don't you know the meaning of this present
time? Why do you not judge for yourselves the right thing to
do. If someone brings a lawsuit against you and takes you to
court, do your best to settle the dispute before you get to
court. If you don't, you will be dragged before the judge who
will hand you over to the police and you will be put in jail.
There you will stay I tell you until you pay the last penny of
your fine.
Beloved, I'd like to read Luke 11:24 through 26 to you again,
"When the unclean spirit is gone out of a person, it passes
through waterless places, seeking rest in finding none, it
says, I will return to the house from which I came. And when it
comes, it finds the house swept and put in order, then it goes
in bring seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they
enter and dwell there. And the last date of that person is
worse than the first. While of course, that was Jesus speaking.
And when he said, When the unclean spirit has gone out of a
person, here, Jesus is showing that demons can come and go for
people, they look for people to inhabit. But take note, when a
person gives their life to Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to
live in them. In John 14:15, through 17, Jesus said, If you
love me, you will keep my commandments, then I will ask
the Father and He will give you another Helper, or advocate or
counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of
Truth whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees
him nor knows him. You know Him for He dwells with you, and will
be in you. And then in First Corinthians 619, Paul said, or
do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit
within you whom you have from God?
So you see, the Christian, the believer, the one who has asked
Jesus to forgive them and be their lord has the Holy Spirit
in them? Right. And the Holy Spirit does not share space with
demons. They cannot take up residence in a Christian, no
way. No How. Now, notice in this account that Jesus is giving
that he says, 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 the house from which I came. So
at some point, for some reason, the demon left the person, and
it looked around for some other place to occupy, but it found no
place as well suited as the former place. So it returned.
And since the place was empty, without Jesus, he moved back in.
Listen, you can't be on the fence. Either Jesus is in you,
or he isn't. Jesus said in Matthew 1230, Whoever is not
with me is against me. So an agnostic is just as lost as an
atheist. You've probably heard the phrase nature abhors a
vacuum, right? Where there is space, it wants to be filled. I
remember my first computer back in the late 80s, maybe early
90s. I had 120 megabyte hard drive. Yes, megabyte, not
gigabyte and certainly not terabyte. Well, after I use the
computer for several months, guess what the hard drive filled
up. So I got a really spacious 350 megabyte drive. I thought
this thing is so big, it'll never fill up. Well, today, I
have a one terabyte drive in my iMac. Now, for reference, there
are 1000 megabytes in a gigabyte, and 1000 gigabytes in
a terabyte. So a terabyte is 1 million times larger than a
megabyte. So compared to that, 120 megabyte hard drive I
started off with the one terabyte drive in my computer
should be just fine, right? It'll never fill up. Well, wait
a minute. I'm not done. The one terabyte drive in my iMac is
nearly full. Yeah. Plus, I've got another four terabyte drive
connected to my computer, which gives me five terabytes. That
ought to be enough, right? I'm not finished. I have another
eight terabyte drive connected to that's 13 terabytes. That's
13 million megabytes. And all of my hard drives, all 13 million
megabytes are almost all used up. Yeah, I need to buy more
disk space. Out of all that space, I have only a total of
435 gigabytes available. That's less than half a terabyte.
Like I was saying nature abhors a vacuum. And according to what
this story from Jesus tells us that applies in the spiritual
realm as well. Either the Holy Spirit lives in you or you've
hung out a vacancy sign for a demonic tenant. Now, I'm not
saying that every non Christian will have an experience like an
exorcist movie. But of course, the way the enemy works, he
usually likes to inflict damage a little bit at a time, sort of
like termites. They can get into the wood framing of a house and
be there for months and years eating away at the structure
without being detected. But all the while the house is being
weakened, until there's no structural integrity left, a
demon takes up residence in a person and spiritual decay
begins. How it manifests can be a collapse of morals, lack of
judgment, substance abuse, addiction to pornography, and on
and on. Now, I'm not saying that these examples are always or
only because of demonic possession, I'm just saying that
these can be indicators. But listen, instead of focusing on
what the enemy or demons can do, our focus ought to be on Jesus.
He is the source of life and freedom and joy and salvation.
If you have him, you have all you need. He said in John 1010,
I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. So what
is your sign say, vacancy or no vacancy? If your sign says
vacancy, you can change that. Jesus wants to move in. He said
in Revelation 320, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If
anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him
and dine with him, and he with Me. Now notice, he does not just
move in. He's a gentleman. He waits for your invitation. And
you can invite Him in. Now, if you want to just say this
prayer, you can say it out loud, you can say it in your heart.
Just simply say, Lord Jesus, I want you to move in. I know that
I'm a sinner, and that only you can forgive me. I asked you to
forgive me now and be my Savior and my Lord, make me the person
you want me to be? Make me yours. Amen. Well, if you prayed
that prayer, congratulations, right now there is rejoicing in
heaven. And your sign now says no vacancy. From this point
forward. You belong to Jesus, and there's nothing that can
take you from him. Romans 828 says, neither death nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created
being, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which
is in Christ Jesus, our Lord, man, talk about security. Talk
about an abundant life. Hey, do me a favor, William, if you
prayed that prayer, would you let me know? Send me an email at
Steve at Lifespring media.com. If you have any questions, I'll
do my best to answer. And I won't put you on a list. I won't
spam you or anything like that. I just want to pray for you and
do what I can to help you get a good start. In this new life. I
invite your comments at Lifespring media.com/s 12 v 164.
And tomorrow, we'll begin the book of Ephesians. We'll read
chapters one through three.
Well, thank you some donations came in, Roderick made his
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Unknown: On this date in church history, February 12 1948. The
Pentecostal awakening known as the Latter Rain movement traces
its origin to this date. When students at the Sharon Orphanage
and Schools in North Battleford, Saskatchewan Canada began
experiencing mass spiritual awakening. And on this date in
church history, February 12 1644, Jacob Ammann was born. He
was a Mennonite minister from all saints, Switzerland and the
founder of the Amish Mennonites.
Prayer requests. Let's keep Kathi in prayer as she waits for
her surgery dated February 23. And also Lextin, as he has more
surgeries to repair his broken body from that traffic accident.
Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, you are holy, you're
righteous, you're just and you're merciful. How very good
it is to be yours. in you. There is rest, security and joy. Thank
you, Lord, for giving us your son so that we can be in your
presence, not just today. But throughout eternity.
We pray now for Kathi, Lord, that you would ease the pain
she's having with the cancer and the MS. And as she waits for
surgery, may the time pass quickly for her. And during
surgery guide the hands of the doctor, and may the surgery be a
success. And Lord, I'm going to ask you again. I know that you
can heal Kathi, if you will. I know you can. Please in Jesus
name, heal her, please. Like the man standing outside his
friend's house at midnight asking for bread. I'm asking
again. That man received, because he asked. And asked
again. Lord, hear my prayer. Heal Kathi, in Jesus name.
And I pray now for Lextin. He needs healing, too. His body is
broken, and I pray that you'll repair it and make it whole
again. And Lord, I thank you so much for each person listening
to this podcast right now, the Lifespring family. Be with them
today. May each one walk so closely with you that your
presence in their life is unmistakable. And I pray this in
Jesus name. Amen. Send your prayer requests and your praises
in at prayer.lifespringmedia.com.
I love it when you comment on show. Go to Lifespring
media.com/s 12 e 164. Leave a comment there or you can email
me at Steve at Lifespring media.com and support the show
please at Lifespring media.com/support. And until
tomorrow may God bless you richly. Thank you for being
here. Thank you for sharing your time with me. I do not take it
for granted. My name is Steve Webb. Bye