Adapted from a Greg Nance sermon https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/9-battle-for-faith-greg-nance-sermon-on-children-66515?ref=SermonSeriesDetails

2. The authority of Jesus flashes in our hearts and
minds and brings light and deliverance from
demonic darkness.
But beware!
Armor is essential to spiritual survival!
At the heart of is a message about the
battle for the heart.

3. NIV divides this chapter into 5 sections or
headings:
Jesus’ teaching on Prayer
Jesus and Beelzebub
The Sign of Jonah
The Lamp of the Body
Woes on the Pharisees and the Experts in the Law

4. What is in between these is a series of
presentations by Jesus that build to a
crescendo of warnings and woes against the
Experts in the Law (scribes) and Pharisees who
are trying to discredit His ministry.
At the end of this chapter Jesus openly accuses
them. He doesn’t hold back any punches.

5. He’s not trying to make them look bad, He’s just
trying to make them look at themselves.
He is also helping His disciples see who the
enemy is, what he stands for, where he is
headed and some of how he works.

6. The chapter opens with Jesus praying and then
instructing His disciples on prayer after one of
His disciples asked Him to do so.
After that, beginning in verse , Jesus casts
out a demon and gets three reactions:
multitudes marvel, some accuse Him of being in
cahoots with the devil, others demand He show
them a sign from heaven.

7. NIV Jesus was driving out a demon
that was mute. When the demon left, the man
who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was
amazed. But some of them said, “By
Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving
out demons.” Others tested him by asking
for a sign from heaven.

8. Excuse me?
Isn’t that what has just occurred?
Have you ever noticed that, for those who do
not want to believe, and for those whose minds
have been poisoned against the gospel, there is
a sort of fault-finding mindset against it?

9. Now this is common and it happens with
anything we chose not to believe in.
We come up with rational reasons and
arguments for our positions.
This is especially seen within upper level
educated circles, such as the Pharisees and
Experts in the Law (scribes).

10. Today, in the guise of expanding their students
thinking, unbelieving teachers confuse and
cloud the simplicity of faith in Jesus by clever
questions or accusations that are sometimes
open and sometimes concealed attacks on
Jesus’ character.
You see unbelief has to defend itself just as
belief does.

11. It goes like this… Jesus casts out a demon and
the crowds marvel, but the unbelieving ones
look for excuses to remain in their unbelief.
The arguments here are stated, “You know, it
could be that Jesus is using the Devil’s power to
perform these exorcisms.
Have you ever considered that?”
Or,

12. “You know if Jesus really were from heaven He
would be doing this kind of sign or that kind of
sign to prove it, but you don’t ever see Him do
that, do you… He must not be from heaven
then.”
And so it goes.

13. There were these sorts of subtle and not so
subtle attacks against Jesus.
But Jesus knows their thoughts and openly
addresses them.
He comes up against the strong man and takes
away his armor and releases his captives.
In doing so, He issues a few attacks of His own.

14. Honest questions deserve honest answers, but
these are not honest people, they are
unbelieving faultfinders who neither want to
follow Jesus nor let others do so.
They are looking to punch holes in Jesus’
ministry and discredit him.
Why?
Because they don’t believe and they want to
justify their unbelief.

15. By the way, this still happens.
The higher the education level the more cleverly
crafted and convincing the attacks we see
against faith in Jesus Christ.

16. Those in a teaching positions like the Pharisees
and Experts in the Law (scribes) that do not
believe in Jesus Christ and are not committed to
following him, do you think they keep this
unbelief and all its symptoms to themselves?
They can’t!
And they may poison unprotected minds with
unbelieving arguments in the guise of
expanding their thinking.

17. Unbelief has an agenda!
It is to discredit faith in Christ!
You don’t think this happens?
Wake up and smell the enemy!
Belief and unbelief always determine our
attitudes and behaviors.
And we tend to influence those around us in the
direction of what we strongly believe.
Beliefs are like this strong man in verses .

18. NIV “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 armor in
which the man trusted and divides up his
plunder.

19. If a person’s belief in Christ is weak someone
stronger comes along and overpowers them.
Sometimes it is openly done, but many times
and most dangerously, it is subtle and tacit like
hidden cancer cells that grow unnoticed until
they have spread beyond control. Would you
trust a witch doctor to perform brain surgery?
Then don’t trust unprotected minds with
unbelieving instructors!

20. Jesus said it plainly here!
“Whoever is not with me is against me, and
whoever does not gather with me scatters.
To whom does this apply?
Everyone!
Do we believe Jesus or not?
Will we trust in His warnings, or will we find
fault with them so that we can continue to walk
in comfortable but dangerous paths that lead to
destruction?

21. We must be in Scripture and building a strong
spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ daily.
It’s not going to happen without cost.

22. While it can be fun and enjoyable,
and we should try to make it so,
fun and games is not the goal.
Strength in the Lord is!
Expect it to be difficult and to have resistance.
But never give up!
And let me say plainly,
with God’s help, you can do it!

23. NIV Finally, be strong in the
Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full
armor of God, so that you can take your stand
against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle
is not against flesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities, against the
powers of this dark world and against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

24. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so
that when the day of evil comes, you may be
able to stand your ground, and after you have
done everything, to stand. Stand firm then,
with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,
with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
and with your feet fitted with the readiness
that comes from the gospel of peace.

25. In addition to all this, take up the shield of
faith, with which you can extinguish all the
flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the
helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God. And pray in the
Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers
and requests. With this in mind, be alert and
always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

26. We are not fighting against flesh and blood, we
are fighting spiritual forces of evil and we need
the armor of God to protect us.
Our kids need this armor!
Some say what we need today is to put the Bible
and prayer back in school.
I disagree.
We need to put Christians in school.

27. Praise God for every Christian teacher we have
in our schools today.
But, if you put the Bible and prayer into the
hands of a secularist, you will not get what God
wants.
The scribes and Pharisees had the Bible and
prayer too!
Did that fix them?

28. What you and I and our children need is to be
constantly instructed and influenced by faithful
instructors who walk with Christ Jesus.
If our kids need math daily, how much more do
they need spiritual encouragement and
instruction daily?
We need the armor of God to stand up against
and face the demons of this world.

29. Notice again.
When some in the crowds began to speak
against Him, Jesus defends His ministry!
He didn’t ignore the influences.
He didn’t see them as harmless either.
Some accuse Him of working with the Devil’s
power and others of not doing the right signs.

30. Jesus knew their thoughts and said to 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 Beelzebul.
Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by
whom do your followers drive them out? So
then, they will be your judges. But if I drive
out demons by the finger of God, then the
kingdom of God has come upon you.

31. Jesus is great with logic.
He presents the obvious.
Satan is not having a civil war.
If so, his kingdom is over.
They know better than that.
Second, as Jesus points out, they also have
followers who cast out demons too.
It appears that in those days demons were
recognized and cast out by others.

32. NIV Many will say to me on that day,
‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and
in your name drive out demons and in your name
perform many miracles?’
Earlier in we see a case of someone
casting out a demon in Jesus name who is not
even following with the disciples.
NIV “Master,” said John, “we saw
someone driving out demons in your name and we
tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.”
“Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not
against you is for you.”

33. Jesus’ point is that what He is doing is in
agreement with what some that they know and
love are also doing. And finally, Jesus tells
them, But if I drive out demons by the finger
of God, then the kingdom of God has come
upon you.
In other words, be careful! Your rejection of Me
is of greater consequence than you think!

34. What’s the lesson in all this for us?
When you find out the cause of Christ is being
challenged or criticized in the ears of your
family, do like Jesus.
Take action.
Point out the obvious and use clear God given
logic to persuade and convince and confirm the
faith for them.

35. Arm yourself and your family with the armor of
God! This is a kingdom affair.
Whose kingdom are we to serve in?
We can’t serve the Devil and Jesus too.
Next, Jesus describes what happens to a
person that is freed from an evil spirit who does
nothing to arm against evil.
He gets his demon back with seven more!

36. “When an impure spirit comes out of a
person, 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 person is worse than the
first.”

37. As Jesus was saying these things, a woman
in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother
who gave you birth and nursed you.”
He replied, “Blessed rather are those who
hear the word of God and obey it.”
Crowds increase as Jesus now speaks about
their demand for a sign.

38. As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is
a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none
will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For
as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also
will the Son of Man be to this generation. The
Queen of the South will rise at the judgment
with the people of this generation and condemn
them, for she came from the ends of the earth to
listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now
something greater than Solomon is here.

39. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the
judgment with this generation and condemn it,
for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and
now something greater than Jonah is here.
Look at the words, “this generation” He uses
over and over.
Sign? You want a sign? What sign will you
believe? No! The only sign you’ll get is that of
Jonah. Jesus is predicting His death, burial and
resurrection here.

40. He now speaks of light which seems to mean
their view of things.
Where are your eyes?
What light is in you?
If the light in you is darkness, watch out!
Jesus, by the way, is the light of the world!
His illustration points to the light of His
teaching, which, if rejected leaves you in the
darkness.

41. Finally, Jesus has supper with those that are so
spiritually blind they can’t see themselves or
Jesus.
He turns up the brightness and flashes with
clear exposure of their condition.
It’s not very pretty.
Jesus’ spiritual x-ray vision sees all.

42. The sword of His tongue slashes away at the
hidden agendas of their hearts.
I highlighted the words “you” and “your” in
verses and found that they occur 31 times
in these 13 verses.
Jesus finds nothing to compliment.

43. Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you
Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish,
but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
You foolish people! Did not the one who
made the outside make the inside also? But
now as for what is inside you—be generous to
the poor, and everything will be clean for you.

44. “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give
God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds
of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the
love of God. you should have practiced the
latter without leaving the former undone.
“Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the
most important seats in the synagogues and
respectful greetings in the marketplaces.

45. “Woe to you, because you are like
unmarked graves, which people walk over
without knowing it.”
One of the experts in the law answered him,
“Teacher, when you say these things, you insult
us also.”
Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law,
woe to you, because you load people down with
burdens they can hardly carry, and you
yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.

46. “Woe to you, because you build tombs for
the prophets, and it was your ancestors who
killed them. So you testify that you approve
of what your ancestors did; they killed the
prophets, and you build their tombs.
Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will
send them prophets and apostles, some of
whom they will kill and others they will
persecute.’

47. Therefore this generation will be held
responsible for the blood of all the prophets that
has been shed since the beginning of the world,
from the blood of Abel to the blood of
Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and
the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will
be held responsible for it all.
“Woe to you experts in the law, because you
have taken away the key to knowledge. You
yourselves have not entered, and you have
hindered those who were entering.”

48. Reading these makes you wince a bit.
Where’s the gentle, loving Savior?
Where’s the kind and compassionate Christ?
Who has the right to talk like this?
Then it hits…

49. He’s the King, and He speaks just like one with
ultimate authority.
The King is speaking to His disloyal subjects.
God is talking to those who should know better.
He is rebuking those who are damaging the
kingdom instead of supporting it.

50. The Pharisees love attention.
They crave the front seats.
Their outsides look good but inside they are
dead and rotting and defiled.
The Scribes speak up… Wait a minute Jesus,
you’re insulting us too.
Wow!
All that did was turn Jesus’ attention to them.

51. Jesus turns to them and calls them murderous
grave diggers who have taken the key of
knowledge away. They won’t go into the
kingdom and they prevent others from coming!
Ouch!
Their hand is forced.
Will they submit to Jesus and admit His words
are true?
Or will they resist Him and harden into their
unbelief?

52. Jesus already knows.
This will lead to His crucifixion.
Everyone knows He tells the truth, but what
gives Him the right to say it?
If Jesus were to speak to your heart today, what
would he say?
Would His words be soothing or painful?
Jesus isn’t asking you to come to Him,
He’s telling you to.

53. He’s the King, you know.
Jesus doesn’t ask you to let him be Lord,
He is the Lord!
He doesn’t need your permission.
He demands your submission.
Christian faith is not an option among many,
it is the only way.

54. If you don’t believe that, you’ll resist and the
light in you will be darkness.
If you do believe, you’ll follow and walk in the
light.
What does it take to make believers out of us?
The only sign is the sign of Jonah.
The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus
Christ is it.
Believe it.