Before we look at the text this morning, just want to take another moment to pray. One of our members, Ray and Vencada, Brad and Ray Ann, Vencada were a, been a part of our church. They moved away this summer to California and they have not yet established a home there, so we are their church home. But Ray Ann recently found out and used that she has cancer and several different parts of her body. She and Brad were just married this summer. And obviously it's just a very, very difficult time for them. And we just want to take a moment to pray for them and to support them. And ask the God would minister to them during this difficult time. So let's go to Lord and pray. Father, we thank you for Brad and Ray Ann for what they have meant to our church and the friendship that we've had with them. Lord, we ache for them as they have heard this very discouraging and disheartening news. Lord, we pray that you would put your hand upon Ray Ann, and that you would heal her, that you would restore her. But Father, most of all, we pray that you would give them a sense of your presence. Lord, as we hear news like this, oftentimes we are wondering where in the world you are. Why are you allowing such things to happen? How can a good God do such a thing? Yes, Father, we also come with great confidence because we know that even though you are sovereign and you are in control of all things, you are a God who loves his children, and that you promise when your children ask for bread, you will not give them a snake. You will not give them stones or fish, you will not give them a snake. And so you give your children what they need. And Father, we lift up Brad and Ray Ann because we know you, Father, will give them what they need. We give them the peace and the comfort. Your Word tells us that even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with us. And so we pray that you would be with them and that they would know you are with them. And Lord, just encourage them. Father, we also pray down that you would be with us as we turn our attention to your Word. I speak to us through it that we might see Jesus pray this in His name, amen. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? One thing. Now some of you may think of a physical attribute. You know what mine being 644 and muscular and a great athlete, not going to happen. Some of you may say you know I would love to be an intellectual giant. Or if you are not one by now, it is probably not going to happen. Some of you may say though I would like to change a part of my character. Now does that fit the same category as physical attributes or mental attributes? Can you change? What if you know you talked too much, you tried really hard not to talk so much. Some of us have that problem. Have you been able to change? Can that be changed? What if you find that you have a hard time telling the truth or that you boast or that you brag? Can you change? What if you find yourself in particular sin patterns? And you want to stop. Can you change? Is real change possible? That is the issue that we are going to look at this morning. Because as we look at Luke chapter 11, that is where we are going to be looking. Luke chapter 11. We are going to find that real change, meaningful change, lasting change is possible. It is possible but you can't do it on your own. You can't do it on your own. We are in a series on the kingdom of God in this morning. We are going to look at the issue of evil and its power and the power of God over that. So with me, turn with me to Luke chapter 11, beginning with verse 14. Luke chapter 11, beginning with verse 14, this is the word of God. Jesus was driving out of 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 bills above, the Prince of demons, he was driving out demons. Others tested by asking for a sign from heaven. 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 bills above. Now, if I drive out demons by bills above, 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 to you. When a strong man fully armed guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone's stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the arm in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils. He who is not with me is against me and he who does not gather with me scatters. 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 the man is worse than the first. As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called down, blessed is your mother who gave you birth and nursed you. He replied, blessed rather those who hear the word of God in obey it. This is God's word. Let me read you a clip of a sermon. The pit is prepared. The fire is made ready. The furnace is now hot, ready to receive it. The flames do now rage and glow. The glittering sword is wet and held over them and the pit has opened her mouth under them. O sinner, consider the fearful danger you are in. Inspiring, isn't it? Those words were first spoken by Jonathan Edwards in the 18th century. And when Jonathan Edwards spoke those words from his servant, sinners in the hand of an angry God, he read them in a monotony as near sight and he held them very close to his space. So it was more like the pit is prepared. The fire is made ready. And he read it like that sort of voice. But it's so terrified people that they began to faint and pass out through the crowd. And hundreds of them were converted, fleeing the wrath of God to come. Those same words are in this coming week's issue of US News and World Report. I found it online and as of yesterday it's not yet available in stores. So giving you a preview. And it comes because they have an article on hell. The cover story of US News and World Report is on hell, which I found quite interesting. But what they're saying is that today people have a whole new conception of hell. That people that fire and brimstone are no longer in vogue. Instead hell is seen as more of a psychological state. And according to one professor of a seminary, he said hell is part of an understanding the cosmos that just doesn't exist anymore. Another person said, he said this because the Pope is even redefined what hell is like. And he said, well the Pope had to, but he said because no one will take anyone, people will not take anyone seriously. A person who invokes images of hell with quote, flames and red-suited devil with a pitchfork. It's cartoonish. Okay, let's get rid of the red suit and the pitchfork. But still we have a problem don't we? To talk about the devil is rather cartoonish. Because no one takes anyone seriously who really believes in the devil. And that's a problem for us as Christians. Because here we're in a text, so you can talk about a lot about the devil. And so what do we do with this? Give or take the red suit, the pitchfork is a devil real. Well the first point we're going to see this morning is the reality of evil. The reality of evil. Today when someone talks about the devil or demons, we're kind of split on our pins about them. And since most people have no problem with that, we're attracted to things about the devil. And demons in our entertainment. Because we see the popularity of charm, buffy the vampire slayer, the exfiles. There's a sense there's a fascination with evil in the fictional realm. But if you try to talk about the devil as if he is a real person, suddenly you become a cartoon character. How many of you are old enough to remember Flip Wilson? Isn't it sad that some people didn't raise their hands? Flip Wilson, Geraldine, what did she say? The devil made me do it. Now for those of you who aren't old enough to remember Flip Wilson, there's some who aren't even old enough to remember this next one. Which is really sad. How many old enough to remember the church lady on Saturday night live? Yeah. Could it be Satan? You know? And you hear those lines and the fact that someone is, you know, it's funny that anyone would talk about Satan or the devil in a serious manner. In fact, that's fodder for comic relief. Because we don't believe in the devil. It just doesn't fit in with our worldview. And the reason is, I think for some reasons. We like the demons and the devils. We can believe in them enough to suspend belief, to get scared by a Stephen King movie, or West Ravens. But we don't want to actually believe there's something real about them. And the reason is, I think part of this, because we are people who think in a very modern way. There's a lot of stuff out about how most people today are postmodern. But in reality, most of us are modern, which means we look at the world through a scientific grid. And if science and nature can't explain it, then it doesn't exist. And so things like the devil and spiritual forces and spiritual powers are not scientific categories. And so, they're seen as being less real than that which is scientifically verifiable. So, what do we do with that as Christians? You know, because part of it is, you talk about the devil. The old days, people thought you're sick, you have the demon of sickness. Well, now we know you have the demon of the flu bug. And the demon of the flu bug just has to run its course. It's not a spiritual power, it's a virus. If you're blind, you had a demon of blindness or a demon of deafness. Or here, Jesus talks about someone who's mute and is caused by a demon. And that's in a sense embarrassing for us as Christians. I mean, come on. We know that deafness and blindness and these things aren't caused by demons. They're spiritual or psychological reasons for everything. And just about everything that happens, we can explain physical and psychological reasons for these things. And we can explain it this way. And so, to talk about demons just doesn't fit with our current worldview. And so, what we have to say is Christians is, of course, sickness and disease and even psychological disorders, you don't need a demon to explain these things. But does that mean that demons are not real at all? And does that mean their devils are not real at all? How do we deal with that? I think part of it is the whole issue of evil. In order to understand the reality of the devil, we have to first believe in the reality of evil. Now that may seem kind of naive, like the, who doesn't believe in evil. But in a sense, evil has the same problem as the devil when it comes to a naturalistic or scientific view of the world. Evil is not a scientific category. You cannot say, what is good and what is evil from science? Science cannot tell you that. If there is no God, you cannot have a definition of good and evil. It's impossible. I mean, who decides what's good and evil? You know, if a crocodile eats a person, it's not evil. It's a crocodile. That's what crocodiles do. If a person eats a person, that's evil. That's evil. But why is it evil? What makes it evil? Well, I decide I was evil by, you know, community standards. Well, you know, in some communities, we've seen this example before, but like for example in China, it is acceptable to persecute those who oppose the government. And they say, if we in the United States, when we protested about what happened to Tiananmen Square, they said we were imposing our Western values on their culture. And so their culture doesn't have these values. So values are culturally defined, then we have no right to interfere in anybody else's culture. And not only that, we all have a different culture among themselves, so nobody can tell anybody that their behavior is socially unacceptable. We say, well, you know, we know it's right and wrong by intuition. You just know, well, who's intuition? People's intuition differ. Hitler had intuition, so did Mother Teresa. But you'd say, well, they're not equally reliable. Just talk about good and evil. You have to go beyond culture. You have to go beyond your heart. There has to be a standard. Good and evil are spiritual categories. They cannot be defined naturally. And so if you're going to say this such a thing as good and evil, you have to say this such a thing as a spiritual world. If you say there's no such thing as good as a spiritual world, you have no basis for talking about good and evil. You know, life is just for those who are old enough to remember, flip Wilson, you're old enough to remember Daris Day. Kacerah, Sarah, whatever will be will be. You know, just life happens. For those of you who are all not old enough to remember Daris Day, it's in the movie Babe. You know, the way things are is the way things are. And so without God, that's how we have to define evil. But everybody here says, no, there is such a thing as evil. Well, then if there is such a thing as evil, then there's a spiritual reality. And if there's a spiritual reality, then it's not inconceivable. In fact, it almost is completely conceivable. You have to draw this conclusion that there are such a thing as spiritual beings. Now, what's interesting today, as opposed to 30 years ago, more people today believe in the spiritual reality than they did 30 years ago. That may shock some of you, but spirituality is on a comeback. But interestingly about this, if you do a survey of the American public, the vast majority, overwhelming majority will say, yes, I believe in that there's such a thing called heaven. Yes, I believe there are such beings called angels. Angels are big, and not just in the fictional realm, with such as touch by an angel. Angels, everyone believes in angels. Everybody believes in angels today. Yes, these same people, do you believe in hell, and do you believe in demons? They say no. 48% of people who have called themselves born again Christians, 48% of people who have called themselves born again Christians, said either the devil is just symbolic, or they don't know if they exist at all. Now, if that's true among those within the church, then it's probably more so we'd have to say outside of the church. Yes, it's completely illogical because how do you know there's a heaven? Does anybody here know anyone who's been to heaven and come back to tell you about it? Does anybody here have first-hand experience? How about hell? Since some husbands say, yes, over the weekend, watching the children, it was closed. Nobody here has any scientific evidence, first-hand experience with heaven or hell, and yet you say you believe in heaven and why? Well, the only way we have knowledge of heaven is from a spiritual source. It's because God says there's such a thing as heaven. Yet that same spiritual source that says there's such a thing as heaven, there's such beings as angels, that same source says there is such a place as hell, and there are beings such as demons. And if you're going to accept the Bible's testimony about heaven and angels, then you have to accept this testimony about hell and demons. There is a devil. There is a devil, or, otherwise, you have to say there's no such thing as good and evil all together, and I don't think you're willing to say that. So we all have to say there's a devil. And so with that, the reality of the devil, we see with his spiritual force, one of the questions we have then, as Christians, is, who is he, and what in the world does he have to do with me? There is a devil, but why should I care? But really, who is he? Well, a few things, just a couple of quick bullet points about who the devil is according to scripture. Number one, we see that he was not created evil, but he was an angel, a highest angel, and the evidence about the devil in scripture is sketchy, and there's debate over certain passages whether they actually refer to him, but most scholars would agree that the devil was described in Isaiah 14, or at least Ezekiel 28, as a beautiful angel. As a beautiful angel, when God had created a beauty and glory, and secondly, he was full of pride, and because of his pride, he was cast out of heaven. He wanted to usurp God's authority. And thirdly, we see that he is the serpent. You remember in the Garden of Eden, the snake, tempted, Adam and Eve, in revelation that tells us that serpent is Satan. That's who he is. He's the serpent in the Garden of Eden. John 12 tells us that he's the prince of the world. That's in John 12, John 14, and John 16. And we're going to come back to that point in a moment. Matthew 12 tells us he's the prince of demons, as does Luke 11, that we just read. And also, he holds all in bondage. That's found in Acts 26 and 2 Corinthians 4. The picture is this. The Satan is a fallen angel, who has great power, who dwell with God in heaven, who wanted to have his own power, his own kingdom. And when Adam and Eve rebelled against God, Satan became the prince of this world, as the term Jesus uses to describe him. The prince of this world. And so that he holds the whole world in his dominion. And not only does he hold the whole world in his dominion, but that every person, naturally, as born, has a citizen of his kingdom. Under the dominion of Satan, it's not just those who are Satan worshipers who are involved in the occult, who are under the power of Satan. Every single person on the planet is born under the authority of Satan, under the power of Satan. He is the prince of this world. The apostle Paul describes this as formerly children of wrath. He's described some time as before we were Christians, and Jesus tells us the Pharisees, he calls them your father, the devil. And so Satan has this kingdom. And Jesus Christ, though, came to bring a new kingdom. And in Acts 26, the kingdom is described this way. Paul is traveling around as a missionary, and he says he comes to open their eyes, the eyes of those who are in Satan's kingdom, all the Gentiles, all the people there. Open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to the power of God. Jesus Christ is bringing a new kingdom, and the purpose of his kingdom is to liberate those in the kingdom of Satan and to liberate them to bring them into the kingdom of God. With that then, let's go to the second point. What about the power of evil? We've seen the reality, and now let's look at the power. What power does Satan have? What power does evil have in our lives? Well, we've already said we're slaves. We're under his dominion naturally. That's how we were born. Luke 11, back to our story. Here's what happens. Jesus heals a man who is mute. He heals the man by casting out a demon. Once the demon leaves the man, the mute man is able to speak. The religious leaders have a problem. Jesus has just done a bonafide miracle. Besides it being a miracle, Jesus has just shown that he has incredible spiritual authority. Now, the problem is they don't like Jesus. He's not one of them. They've got to discredit Jesus, so what are they going to do? And how do they discredit him in their own minds? So they say, well, the reason Jesus has authority to tell demons what to do is because he's a demon himself. He's the prince of the demons. And so the reason demons obey him is he's their boss. He's their master. Now, Jesus says, think for a moment. That's irrational. That's illogical. If a person is in bondage to the devil, do you think other demons are going around setting them free? That doesn't make sense. A house divided against itself will not stand. Imagine this. Imagine this room as an army. And all of a sudden, this side of the army starts fighting with this side of the army. What happens with the enemy out here? Nothing. This army is going to destroy itself. If you start fighting with each other, you can't stand. Jesus is saying, is Satan fighting with himself? Then Satan's smart enough not to do that. He's not going to shoot himself. He's not going to do that. He says, therefore, if I cast out demons, I'd do it by the finger of God. And Matthew translates it to the spirit of God. I'd do it by the spirit of God. And if I cast out demons by the spirit of God, then that is proof. Solid proof that the kingdom of God has come. Notice what he says. He doesn't say the kingdom of God will come. He says the kingdom of God has come. It is a present reality. And so what Jesus is saying is, I have come to bring a new kingdom. And with my coming, there is a new kingdom here. There is a new world order coming. I'm part of the new kingdom. And so what Jesus is showing is that he's bringing a new kingdom. And because of this, he's able to plunder Satan. Now, here's the image you can't. He says, Satan is like a strong man guarding his house. If you're going to rob the strong man's house, first you have to do something about the strong man. If you're able to rob his house, then obviously you did something about him. Use a contemporary example. Let's say you want to make a withdrawal from the bank. A large withdrawal. Actually, you don't have any money in that bank, but you want to make a large withdrawal anyway. Okay, you got the picture. So you go to the bank, the vault's open. There's an arm guard who's, you know, 66280 and it's all muscle. And he has a two big guns right here. Now, you're going to go in and start loading up your pillowcase with money and start to walk out. What's the problem with that scenario? No way. Uh-uh. I'm not going to happen. If you try and rob the bank and there's that 6'6'280' must really guard with two big guns, you're not going to get very far. In order for you to rob the bank, what do you have to do first? Get rid of the guard. And so the only way you can do that is a stronger man. And this is what Jesus says, I am a stronger man. I've come in overpowered at this strong man. And he said, if you see me walking out of the bank with a bunch of money, here's something you know. The guards all tied up. If I'm leaving the bank with a whole bunch of cash, something happened to the man guarding the house. And Jesus says, since I'm able to plunder Satan's household, and I'm plundering, I'm sending people free left and right. He's free from the demon. He's free from sin. He's free from this. I'm plundering Satan's household. The only conclusion you can draw is Satan's tied up at the moment. He's all tied up. He's been bound. But Jesus is saying is that the East Communist liberated. Now the point is, it's not just those who are possessed by demons who are under Satan's power, who are in slavery. And I imagine that today we probably have very few people here today that are demon possessed. And you might want to look at your neighbor and check. But you know, probably not, right? But that doesn't mean we're all free from the slavery of sin. All of us are slaves just as much as the man who's demon possessed to sin outside of Jesus Christ. A man who's demon possessed cannot do what he wants to do. The demon has control of him. But the Bible's picture is not only those who are demon possessed, but all who sin are slaves to sin. That's not my interpretation. Jesus said that John chapter 8. All who sin are slaves to sin. All are in bondage to Satan. And this gives us a new way of looking at sin. Sin is not simply breaking a rule. Sin is slavery. Sin is slavery. When we think of sin, we think of, the Bible says, do not lie. I lied. Therefore I sinned. That's true. But sin is much deeper than that. The fact is, you lied because you are a liar. You are in bondage to sin. Another picture of it is this way. The Bible, in a sense, the picture of us is that we are sin addicts. When it comes to sin, we're junkies. And we can't kick the habit. Not on our own. Imagine that I'm a heroine addict. And somehow I'm able to function a little bit in society and I can go to work. But at night I go out partying with my friends and I go and I shoot up. And then I do this day after day. Then one day I decide the next day I'm going to get up and I'm an addict. And I say, you know, I don't like being an addict. It's destroying my life. It's destroying my family. And it's going to kill me sooner or later. I'm going to quit. And so the next day I go to work. And I go out partying with my friends. And they're shooting you up. And they pass it to me. And they say, here, what am I going to do? You know, I don't want to do it. I don't want to do it. Nobody's putting a gun to my head and making me do it. I may be able to resist once. I may be able to resist twice. I might be able to resist for a period of time. The sooner or later, unless I get help, I'm not going to be able to help myself. And that's definition of an addict, right? Sooner or later, I can't help it. I'm going to do it. Who made me shoot up? Nobody. But I'm a slave. I'm in bondage. Sin is like that. And all of us, because of sin, are under Satan's power. And we're enslaved to sin. And we're unable not to sin. We are not able not to sin. Yes, it's a proper use of a double negative. We are not able not to sin. Because we have no power over sin. Now with that, we're saying that there is such a person as the devil, that devil has power over the world, that all are naturally born as citizens of his kingdom, and under his power. And because we are in his power, and because we are under the bondage to sin, and we are slaves to sin, now the question is, is there hope? Can we change? Is this the way things have to be? Well, for that turn to our third point. Our third point is the triumph over evil. And here's what we need to remember. We need, as we look at the triumph over evil, we need revolution, not just reformation. We need revolution, not just reformation. Look at the example Jesus gives in verse 24. He says, 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 love. 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 and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. Jesus says, if you just reform, if you just solve the problem, get rid of the bad thing, but you don't do anything to change the heart, don't put anything good in there to replace it. You just create a bigger problem. The example is you've got to manage demon possessed, the demon leaves. The man doesn't put anything else in the demon's place. He's got an empty house. The demon comes back and brings seven of his friends and he's worse off. Now this applies to demons and also applies to any sort of sin. You say, OK, in fact, many of you have had this experience. In fact, or no, someone who has. You're trying to stop a bad habit and you've been successful at stopping that. But it only creates problems in other areas. You've seen this for people who are trying to quit smoking. They're quit smoking, then they start overeating. And that's what they've done. They've gotten rid of one problem, but they replaced it with another problem. And we see this in our lives all the time. Say, OK, I'm going to shape up my character but you end up being a grouch about it. I'm going to live a holy life and I'm holier than that life. And so what you've done is you've gotten rid of one demon and replaced them with seven others. You're worse off because you're just trying to do reformation. Jesus says, if you're going to see real life change, if life is really going to change, you can't just get rid of the bad you've got to put in the good. You can't just say no to something. You have to say yes to something else. And so for us, experience real life change has to be real power. Now the question is, what's one area of your life you would like to see changed? One thing about you. Now the question is, do you believe change is really possible in that area? Do you think you could really change? Now we're not talking about the physical attributes or mental attributes, but character. Do you believe your character can change? Some may say like me, say, you know, I talk too much. And right now I'm doing it. I talk too much. And I've tried really hard. I'm not going to talk much. I've tried for years, but you know, this is just the way I am. You're just going to have to love me for who I am. You know, I know I have a hot temper. I know I blow up. But you know, that's just the way I'm wired. You know, you can use this for anything. We've used those excuses. Okay, I know I'm sometimes going to be a grouch, but that's just who I am. You know, love me for who I am. And we say that what we're saying is, this is who I am. I'm not changing. I'm not going to get any better. Live with it. Deal with it. Because we don't believe real change is possible. But change is possible. Because Jesus said, he said, I have come, and I brought in a new kingdom. The kingdom of God is here. And the kingdom of God, where it comes, it brings a new power. Satan is cast out with his power, and the power of God comes in. Now, if all you do is get rid of the power of Satan, you don't bring in the power of God, you've got to mess. And that's what we usually settle for. But Jesus says there's real power for real change. I think part of this, we've looked at this in two different ways. We look at change. People have looked one at the area of reformation saying people can be reformed. People can be reformed without a revolution. And it's the mentality that up until a few years ago, that went into our penal correction system. In other words, we looked at, you put a person in prison not for punishment, but for rehabilitation. This person just killed three people. They need to be rehabilitated. Can you rehabilitate someone? It's the question. This is baseball's approach to its problems with particular people. Marge shot. Some of you remember Marge shot. You've known this since then. He read, she had quite a problem with some of the things she would say. So they said, you know, they took her out of ownership, and they put her into therapy, because she need to be reformed. John Rocker. Bud Seedley's response to that. John Rocker recently made the news for all of his discriminatory comments, and we've managed to insult thousands of millions of people in a single breath. And Bud Seedley says, you know that man is sick. He needs help. He needs therapy. And so now he's going to therapy. How many believe that therapy can change the character of a person? You don't have to raise your hands. I think we're... Now, can it help? Certainly. I'm all four counselors in therapy. Glad they're here. Glad they're here. But as far as changing the character, it doesn't happen. And we're all cynical enough to say, hey. So, and so I just got back from prison. I guess they're rehabilitated now. Would you believe that? No. You don't believe that? Because we don't believe rehabilitation is possible. On the other hand, you have people who don't believe change is possible at all. There's been no greater outspoken critic in modern day of Christianity than Ted Turner. Ted Turner says, you're a Christian, you're a loser. You later apologize for that, but that's just because he's gotten a lot of trouble. But he means it. You're a loser. And in fact, he even decided to rewrite the thing to me and that's once. That's another discussion though. And so, here's Ted Turner. Now how many of you believe? I would have believed, up until recently, Ted Turner could one day be an elder in a church. I mean, that'd be laughable. Ted Turner, elder. You know what I'm saying? You're right. Because Ted Turner's also made it to Jane Fonda. Jane Fonda is not known for her Christian heritage either. Those of you who old enough to remember Flip Wilson remember Jane Fonda and the Vietnam War and different things. And her anti-establishment point of view, and you think, you know, Jane Fonda, church lady, no way, not going to happen. Recent reports out of Atlanta, then you said that Jane Fonda has now calling herself a born-again Christian. Would you believe that a year ago? She's now going to a Black Baptist church in Atlanta. What happened was, what's really more amazing, I think, is she started feeling the need for some spiritual in her life, is she started going to a church that did not really proclaim the spiritual reality. It didn't believe in it since the gospel is what changes lives. And she was getting nothing out of it. Her life wasn't being changed. Her chauffeur says, you don't need to go there. You need to kind of my church. Took her her church. And reports are from people who know her. She is in Bible studies going to church and is really committed to life in Jesus Christ. Now, you know, I don't know Jane Fonda, but to me, that's pretty amazing. And if this is true, it's like, Jane Fonda, church lady, come on. How can this happen? People can change. Because the power of God is powerful enough to change anyone. It can change Ted Turner. If God so works, it can change Jane Fonda. And if God can change the lives of these people, then the power of God can work in my life too. And it can work in your life. And you see an area where you look and say, I can't change here. God's power is mightier than that. Because Jesus says, a strong man has come who's stronger than the strong man. Who can just, who's just armed the strong man. Who's now going into the strong man's house and he's setting everything free. He's liberating everything. And so you can have the power of God in your life because Jesus has come as the liberator. Real change is possible. But it doesn't happen through willpower. It doesn't happen because you can say, I'm going to change. I'm going to be a better person. I'm going to be a better husband. I'm going to be a better wife. I'm going to be a better parent. I'm going to clean up my language. I'm going to do this in that real change only happens to the power of God. Only happens to the power of God. Jesus said this in John chapter 8, I tell you the truth. Everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now, slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son. But a son belongs to it forever. So if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Do you know what he's saying? He's saying, he's the son. And if your slave and if the son comes to you and sets you free, you are free. And if you, as the kingdom of God has come upon you, then you are free, not only from the guilt of sin, you are free from the power of sin. You're not only free from the guilt of sin, you're forgiven, but you're also free from the power of sin because God has liberated you. And you've replaced the kingdom of evil with the kingdom of God. And so Jesus, as you look at the kingdom of God, it's often described in different ways. But one of the things Jesus always says, the kingdom of God is something you have to receive. It doesn't just conquer you. It calls us, it says, it calls us to receive the kingdom of heaven, even as little children, which means we have to receive in faith. And what that means is, we come before God and say, Lord, I know I'm a sinner, but I want to be free. I want to be free. I want you to be my king, the Lord of my life. Take away the sin from me, take away the guilt and the power, and bring me your power. You come to my life. And what we find is that the gods and his kingship begins to bring our life into order, not automatically, but through faith. As we continue to believe the gospel, the power of the gospel is unleashed in our lives. And so we say, Lord, I want to trust you more in this area of my life than the way I've been operating. I've been thinking that my way to significance maybe was in work and success, and now I realize that you're the way to significance. And so I begin to experience spiritual growth by the more I trust in Jesus Christ to be king, rather than these other things I've been trusting in. And the more I grow in faith, the more I experience the power of God over sin in my life. Does that mean that you're going to instantly be sanctified? No. Because your faith in the kingdom of heaven is something that's always growing. As your faith grows, we've been beginning to see that it begins to root out sin and brings more and more unto the Lordship of Jesus Christ. God can change you. God can change you. And whatever area that is, the power of God is greater than the power in the world. And Jesus said this, greater is He, greater is He who is in you than He who is in the world. Let's pray. Our Father, we do thank You, and we praise You, that You have sent Your kingdom through Your Son. And Lord, as we have been thinking about Your kingdom over the last few weeks, we see that it's here that the power of God is here. And Lord, we also realize that part of it is not yet, that we won't experience complete and total freedom till You come again. And because of that, we try out, Maranatha, come quickly, Lord Jesus. But we pray that You would give us power over sin, that You would enable us to experience the power that the gospel brings. Power not through our willpower, not through our own determination, but power through our humble brokenness of realizing our need for You. Or set us free so that we might be free indeed, the praise and Christ's name, Amen.