No Neutrality

We’re going to look at one verse to get us started, Luke 11:23, which is the key to this section. “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” That is one of the most radical statements Jesus ever made. Jesus is saying that there is no neutrality when it comes to our spiritual relationship to God; either you’re for Him or against Him.

You might say, “Well, I’m not really for Him, but I’m not really against Him either. I just want to be left alone.” That’s being against Him. There is no neutrality; you’re either on the road to heaven or you’re on the road to hell. You’re either saved or lost. You’re either born again, or you’re not born again. You’re either a child of God, or you’re a child of the devil.

I know that sounds a bit radical, and in this day and age, we don’t like those clear-cut, black-and-white, affirming truths. But it is Biblical. You’re either on the road to heaven, or you’re on the road to destruction. Jesus said, “Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it….Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life” (Matthew 7:13-14).

Every human being on planet earth is on one of those two roads. There is no other option; either we’re on the road to heaven or on the road to hell, which means eternal damnation and separation from God. So we need to make sure we’re with Him, that we’re for Him and that we’re not scattering but gathering.

In this idea that with Jesus there is no neutrality, we’re going to study a long section which deals with the subject of the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil. It’s interesting that the context of our text is that we were 13 weeks talking about prayer. And now we move from prayer to the power of the devil. From prayer to the devil. Why? Because the best way to fight the devil is through prayer. That’s the greatest offensive weapon we have; the Word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit, and prayer. So we need to pray and learn the Word of God and use it effectively in our war against the devil.

There are three sections to this very long passage. The first section is Jesus’ miracle is rejected, verses 14-16. “And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon….” This is not referring to Satan; it is referring to a fallen angel, also called “a demon.” “…had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled” or were “in awe.” So Jesus did this mighty miracle. “But some of them said, ‘He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.’ Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.”

I want to point out three, simple things. First, in verse 14, we have the miracle; in verse 15, we have the slander; and in verse 16, we have the tempting after the miracle.

In verse 14, Jesus “was casting out a demon.” This was not the devil. There is only one devil, and he is also known as Lucifer and Satan. This was an angel, full of power and glory. Perhaps because of the worship in heaven, he was filled with pride.

One of the greatest mysteries of all mysteries is the origin of evil. If God alone existed and He is good and holy, where did sin or evil come from? The only answer we can come up with is that it came from the heart of Lucifer, the angel. He was filled with pride, the original sin, and he was kicked out of heaven. This is called “the fall of Satan.” When Lucifer fell from heaven and became the devil, he took with him other angels who had rebelled with him against God. These other angels are known as “fallen angels” or “demons.” So there is one devil and many demons.

All through our text, Jesus is affirming the personal existence of a real devil and demons. He believed in Satan, the devil, and in fallen angels or demons.

But Jesus came to deliver mankind from Satan’s power, so He is casting out demons, which is a normal thing for Him to do, to heal this man. And it says the man “was mute.” The demon wasn’t mute; it had affected the man it was inhabiting by hindering his ability to speak.

Now don’t assume from this that all physical maladies are the result of demonic possession. That is not true. We live in a fallen world. So just because someone can’t speak, that doesn’t necessarily mean they have a demon. Or someone can’t hear, so they have a demon. Or someone can’t see, so they have a demon. That’s not what’s implied here.

So when the demon was gone out of the man, the man began to speak. Can you imagine that?! They knew this man could not speak, and then all of a sudden, he’s praising God! I can see him with a big smile and hugging Jesus and listening to his own voice. “Praise the Lord! Praise God! Hallelujah!” And all the people were amazed and wondered about this.

A little footnote to this: Christ’s enemies did not attempt to deny that a miracle had been performed. They’re going to go on to slander Him and say He’s casting out demons by Satan’s power, by Beelzebub’s power. They wanted to see some kind of sign in the heavens; this miracle wasn’t sufficient for them. But they didn’t deny the power that Jesus was exercising.

They were in a real dilemma. It was obvious that a powerful miracle had taken place. So the question was, “Whose power was it? God’s power or Satan’s power?” If they said it was God’s power, then they would have to believe in and follow Jesus, which they did not want to do. They had already decided that Jesus was to be rejected.

There are none so blind as those who will not see. They suppress the truth, turn from God, believe the lie, and at this point, their minds were reprobate; they did not work. Romans 8 is about the degeneration of our society, how we end up with a reprobate mind. They “worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever” (Romans 1:25).

These people were in danger of committing the unpardonable sin. In Matthew and Mark’s accounts, which are very similar but different stories, it goes into the subject of the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit. When they attributed to Jesus that His power was demonic and Satanic, that He was doing it by the power of Beelzebub, Jesus warned them of the sin that was unforgiveable.

The unforgiveable sin I don’t believe is a single act but a continual hardening of your heart, resisting the Holy Spirit’s conviction, refusing to repent and believe, and then you get to the point where you cannot be saved. So sometimes when you choose not to believe, your heart can atrophy to the point where you cannot believe. That’s a very dangerous position to be in.

These people affirmed there was a miracle, but they didn’t want to give credit to God for this marvelous act.

The slander takes place in verse 15. “But some of them said, ‘He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.’” “Some of them” refers primarily to the religious authorities—to the Sadducees, the scribes, the high priest and the Pharisees. They were leading the charge against Christ.

“Beelzebub” is kind of a reformed way of talking about the devil. They gave Satan this name, which means “lord of the flies.” It’s a degrading term commonly used by the Jews at this time to refer to the devil, to Satan. So they’re saying that Jesus is in league with the devil. They are slandering Him. When they couldn’t logically argue against Him, they slandered Him.

Jesus Christ was God incarnate. Jesus was their promised Messiah, their promised Deliverer. They had waited years for the Messiah to come. All the way back in Genesis 3:15, it says, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” And every Jewish mother wanted to be the one to give birth to the Messiah, the Savior.

Now He has finally arrived, He’s finally in their midst and doing what the prophets foretold: delivering and liberating. When Jesus went into the synagogue in Nazareth and said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19, quoting Isaiah 61:1-2), He was doing what the promise was in Isaiah.

But they would not believe, because their hearts were so hardened. They were blind. And when you’re blind, no matter how much light you receive, it doesn’t help you. You’re blind, so you cannot see.

The hearts of these people were so hardened that they couldn’t see, so they slandered the Lord of glory. What a horrible thought that they would attribute the works of Jesus—in His mercy, His grace and His love, in His power to save and forgive and deliver—to Beelzebub, the prince or “ruler of the demons”!

And in verse 16, “Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.” This was an example of “You shall not tempt the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 6:16). They were saying, “Jesus, let’s see a sign. Let’s see the sun darken and the moon turn to blood [Joel 2:31]. Let’s see stars fall from heaven.” Jesus had done all these mighty works, all these mighty miracles, yet they still wanted to see a sign.

The point is that they didn’t need more light, they didn’t need more revelation, they didn’t need more signs; they needed a new heart and new eyes. They were blind and could not see.

So they slandered Jesus, in verse 15, and they tempted Him, in verse 16.

Now we move to the second section, from Jesus’ marvelous miracles and being rejected to Jesus’ masterful reasoning, verses 17-22. What happens is that their accusations about His miracle sets the stage. We don’t know chronologically when these verses took place. It is sometime during His Judean ministry while on His way to Jerusalem to be crucified. But He doesn’t give us a time or a place when this happened.

Now we find that Jesus masterfully begins to reason with them. And it is challenging to interpret what is going on here. There are three arguments in this section. Number one, He said that their accusations were illogical, verses 17-18. “But He, knowing their thoughts….” They may not have verbalized out loud, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” He knew their thoughts. That was another indication that Jesus was God. Jesus “said to them: ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation…’” this kingdom of Satan. He’s using an analogy that if you have a king and a kingdom and there’s a civil way in which they’re fighting against each other, it is brought to desolation. “‘…and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub.’”

First, Jesus is basically saying that this is illogical; Satan casting out Satan? That would be civil war and would be divided against himself and wouldn’t be able to stand.

Again, in verse 18, Jesus affirms the reality of Satan. The Bible teaches that there is a personal devil, or Satan. And He also shows how their accusation was illogical.

Second, their accusation or charge was self-incriminating. Verse 19, “And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?” Good question. “Therefore they will be your judges.”

The Jewish leaders believed in exorcism. They had fellow Jews who performed exorcists. And they assumed they were doing it by the power of God. Why would they assume that? Yet they said Jesus was doing it by Satan’s power. So Jesus shows how illogical and self-incriminating they were. He said, “By whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.” Their statements condemn and incriminate them. They were judging themselves.

Third, their accusation was really an admission of Jesus’ power coming from God, verses 20-22. “But if I cast out demons with the finger of God…” God doesn’t have actual fingers, but this is a figure of speech, an anthropomorphism, which is a word used to describe God in human terms. It is a reference to the power of God. When the plagues came upon the Egyptians in the Exodus story, they acknowledged that this was none other than “the finger of God” (Exodus 8:19). So they realized it was God’s power.

Verse 20, “But if I cast out demons with the finger of God…” now comes the logical conclusion “…surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.” So Jesus is saying that if He is doing this by God’s power, which was very obvious, that means that “the kingdom of God has come upon you.” You have the kingdom of the devil overtaken and liberated by the kingdom of God.

Notice verses 21-22. This is called “the parable of the strong man.” Whether or not it is a parable or just a metaphor or an analogy, we don’t really know. But many believe it is a parable. “When a strong man, fully armed…” which is a reference to the devil and his power “…guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.” So you have the kingdom of Satan. He is strong and we should never underestimate his power. It is foolish to underestimate Him. He is armed with pride, lies and evil.

“But when a stronger than he…” which I believe is a reference to our Lord Jesus Christ. So Jesus isn’t referenced in verse 21 but is referenced in verse 22. Though Satan is armed, verse 21, when Jesus comes along, He is stronger than Satan, verse 22. And I like the way He is described, in verse 22: “…comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.”

How did Jesus overcome Satan’s power? He invaded Satan’s territory. Let me give you seven ways Jesus overcame Satan’s power. First, it is by the Incarnation, which describes the birth of Jesus Christ when He became man. It wasn’t a manifestation of God; it was an Incarnation. In the womb of the Virgin Mary, sinless humanity and true deity was fused together in one person, Jesus Christ, for all eternity. Never before was this done, and never after will it be done. Very simply, Jesus Christ is fully man and fully God or true man and true God in one person. This is how He came to defeat the devil: He took on flesh.

The second way He overcame Satan’s power was by living a sinless life. One thing the devil wants us to do is sin, because “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20). And “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). So Jesus came without a sin nature. I believe in the impeccability of Christ; that He was sinless and could not sin. Yes, He “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Don’t let anyone ever tell you that Jesus either sinned or could have sinned. No so. He was the sinless, holy Son of God.

Third, Jesus overcame Satan by His miracles of healing and deliverance. Every time Jesus cast out a demon or healed the sick, He was actually ripping them out of the kingdom of darkness putting them into the kingdom of God. He was preaching God’s kingdom and healing all that were sick and afflicted by demons.

Fourth, Jesus overcame Satan by His Crucifixion. Jesus Christ went to the Cross to strip Satan of all his power. What Satan thought was his victory actually was his defeat.

Fifth, by His Resurrection, Jesus defeated Satan. If Jesus had been crucified and had not risen from the dead, He would not have conquered over Satan and his power. But Jesus did rise from the dead.

Sixth, He overcame Satan by His Ascension into heaven and His exaltation.

And seven, Jesus overcame Satan’s power by His future Second Coming. Jesus Christ is going to come again, and when He does, the first thing He’s going to do is bind the devil in the abyss for 1,000 years.

You ask, “Well, why for just 1,000 years?!” He will lose the devil for just a short time at the end of the millennium, so that those who will be born at that time will have the opportunity to choose between God and Satan. Then Satan will be rebound and thrown into the lake of fire, which is eternal hell, where he will be forever with his demons and those who followed him. That will be the end of the devil. Then we will have the new heaven and the new earth and no more devil. It will be eternal bliss with God!

So Jesus came to start the process, per the first Messianic prophecy in Genesis 3:15. Satan would bruise Jesus’ heel on the Cross, but the Seed of the woman—there’s the Incarnation—shall bruise the head, the authority and the power of the serpent. And Jesus would reverse the curse and destroy Satan’s work forever.

Getting back to our text, “a strong man,” verse 21, is the devil, but “a stronger than he” is Jesus Christ.

In the third section of this passage, verses 23-32, Jesus mercifully warns of the need to repent and believe in Him. “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” The Greek word for “scatters” here is the word for “shepherd,” some of whom scattered rather than gathered the sheep. They’re not gathering the sheep but scattering the sheep. So you’re either with Jesus or against Jesus; you’re gathering or scattering. There is no neutrality. As a believer, we want to be for Him and living for Him.

You might say, “Well, I’m kind of neutral; I’m not against Christ, but I just want to be left alone to do my own thing.” But if you’re not for Him you’re against Him. If you’re not gathering you’re scattering.

In verses 24-26, He used this picture of an unclean spirit, which is a demon. We’re now back to the subject of demon possession. “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places…” which, in the Greek is “desolate” or “desert” places “…seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’” It doesn’t say how or why he came out of the man.

It seems that demons want a body to inhabit. The Bible also says that they can even possess animals. They went into the pigs, and the pigs ran down the cliff into the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 8:32).

Verses 25-26, “And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits…” demons or fallen angels “…more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” The man first had one demon; now he has eight demons. Seven of them are more wicked than the first one. It’s bad enough you have one demon, but now he has seven more! Now eight possess this man!

This is one of the clearest, most graphic pictures of the danger of self, moral reformation without spiritual regeneration. This is the danger of thinking you are a Christian: you go to church, you don’t do bad things that you used to do, and now you want to be a Christian. You don’t smoke, you don’t chew, don’t hang out with those who do, you don’t dance, don’t go to movies, don’t cuss, don’t drink, don’t do these things, so you think you’re going to heaven. So you have an outward, external reformation.

Or you say, “I’ve been baptized, I’ve been confirmed, I’m a good person, I’m religious, I pray, I go to church,” but you haven’t been born again. You don’t have the Spirit of God living in your heart. That is a more dangerous place to be than if you had one demon, because now you have multiple demons. Very dangerous. It’s because you’re not a child of God.

A Christian is not just a person who doesn’t do bad things; a Christian is a person who has the life of God in their soul. They’re born again by the Spirit of God. So if the demon leaves, but you’re not filled with the Holy Spirit, if Jesus doesn’t fill that void, that vacuum, you’re in a very dangerous place.

Some relate verses 24-26 to the nation of Israel. They think this may be picturing the Israelites, who the Old Testament tells us were delivered from idolatry through the Babylonian captivity. Then they returned back to their land, but up until the time of Christ, fell into religiosity, formalism, pride and legalism, which shows us the picture of being inhabited by more demons even more wicked than the first. First it was idolatry, but then it was outward forms of rites and rituals. So they were in a dangerous place, even during the time of Christ.

I also think in terms of our own nation, the United States of America. Even now for us as believers, we can rejoice that maybe some of the laws are changing, that the government now may be bringing things we would like to see. But if we don’t replace the void with spiritual revival, a spiritual awakening, turning back to God in true repentance, it won’t last, it won’t change men’s hearts. You can’t change our nation by passing laws or electing a certain kind of government. There must be a spiritual renewal. There must be a spiritual regeneration. People must come to know Christ.

But the personal application is very clear. The danger is of moral, self-reformation without an inward, spiritual regeneration or being born again. Based on 2 Peter 2:22, you take a pig out of the pigpen and wash it squeaky clean, put a tuxedo on it, sprinkle it with some cologne, and what you have is a good-looking, good-smelling pig. And the minute you let that pig go, it goes right back to “wallowing in the mire,” because its nature has not been changed.

A lot of people come to church and say, “I’ll become a Christian! Okay, I’ll pray!” You should get baptized. “Okay, I’ll get baptized!” Christians sing songs. “Okay, I’ll sing songs! Okay, I’m going to read my Bible! I’m going to serve the Lord! I’m a Christian now!” But they haven’t been born again, so they’re not really a Christian. And when the time comes, they’re going to go right back to wallowing in the mire.

We see that and say, “They backslid. They lost their salvation.” They never had their salvation. 1 John 2:19 says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.” The Bible says they were like dogs returning to their vomit, or a pig “wallowing in the mire.” It’s so sad. That’s a very dangerous position to be in.

Verses 27-28 say, “And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!’” So this is obviously a reference to His mother, Mary. This woman wanted to acknowledge Mary and the place of blessing she had. And Jesus doesn’t refute her for that or condemn her for that. “But He said, ‘More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’” Yes, Mary is blessed, but more so are those who, like Mary, hear the Word of God and keep it.

By the way, in verse 28, we learn two ways to be blessed: hear the Word of God, as you are reading or hearing it today, and keeping it. “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22). So if you want a blessed life, be what Jesus described: hear the Word of God and keep it.

Now this section closes about dealing with the subject of the sign. Remember that back in verse 16, they said they wanted to see “a sign from heaven.” He first dealt with the Beelzebub accusation; now He’s going to deal with the request for a sign.

Verse 29, “And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, ‘This is an evil generation.’” This is Christ’s commentary on His generation. “‘It seeks a sign…” going back to verse 16 “…and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man…” a Messianic title for Jesus “…will be to this generation.’”

Verse 31, “The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation…” which He said was evil “…and condemn them…..” Jesus affirmed a future Resurrection, judgment and condemnation. “…for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.”

I want to mention what is going on here. In verses 29-30, where He speaks of “the sign of Jonah the prophet,” He said that will be the only sign given to this generation. He doesn’t tell us what the sign was that Jonah would be to the people of Nineveh. But the sigh was that “As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40).

Jesus believed in the story of Jonah and the whale. And I believe it. People say, “Aw, it’s just a fictitious fairy tale!” We recently heard in the news about a man who was swallowed by a whale and spit out. Amazing!

So Jesus said this whale swallowed Jonah. And the Bible says that the whale “vomited Jonah onto dry land” (Jonah 2:10). Can you imagine sitting on the beach and a whale swims up and vomits a man onto the sand?! Acids from the belly of the whale ate up all his hair, his skin is white and he says, “Repent!” You say, “Yes sir, whatever you say!” Anybody who gets barfed up on the beach—I’ll do whatever he says!

And this is why some people actually believe that Jonah had died: because Jonah was in the whale three days and three nights. But the Bible doesn’t actually say he died.

Then Jonah came out of the whale, went to Nineveh and preached and the people repented.

So Jesus was in the grave three days and three nights, and then He was resurrected. So His Resurrection would be the sign to this wicked, evil and sinful generation. Verses 29-30 was the sign of Jonah; Jesus would actually be resurrected from the dead. Jesus said, in John 2:19, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” referring to the temple of His body.

Then there is the story of “the queen of the South,” also known as the Queen of Sheba. Sheba was actually southern Arabia or modern-day Yemen. She heard about the wisdom and splendor of Solomon, so she made this long, arduous, difficult, dangerous journey to Israel. She saw his splendor and heard his wisdom. She returned to her country and said, “The half was not told me” of the splendor of Solomon (1 Kings 10:7).

Jesus said that these people would arise in condemnation with this generation, because she came all that distance, but they would not even believe in Him right there. Yet the One who is greater than Solomon is here. Jesus Christ is greater than Solomon; He is the Messiah, the Son of God.

Going back to the people of Nineveh, Jonah was sent to Nineveh, a great city, and he was reluctant to go there; it was in the Assyrian Empire, and he wanted them to be judged. But he knew God was merciful, kind and loving. The book of Jonah is not about a fish and a disgruntled prophet; it’s about the mercy and love of God. God loved even these wicked people and gave them an opportunity to repent.

Verse 32, “The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it….” Jesus believed in a future judgment for sin. Here’s the reason: “…for they repented at the preaching of Jonah….” That was a miracle of all miracles. “…and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.”

At the end of verse 31, it says, “Indeed a greater than Solomon is here.” Now verse 32 says, “A greater than Jonah is here.” Greater than Solomon and greater than Jonah.

When Jonah finally went to Nineveh after the whale spit him out and he preached to them, he wanted God to judge the Ninevites. He hated them. He didn’t want to go to them, but he went reluctantly. And his message was, “Forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (Jonah 3:4). “And God bless you and have a good week!”

Can you imagine that?! You come to church on Sunday, the preacher gets up there, opens the Bible and says, “Forty days, thus saith the Lord, and you’re all toast! Thanks for coming to church.” No prospect of forgiveness?! No prospect of hope?! Yes, there is; if you repent and turn from your wickedness, God will forgive you and save you. God loves you and will forgive you.

Just forty days and the Ninevites would all be dead; that’s what Jonah wanted. So Jonah went up on the mountain and waited for it to happen. But the people repented; even their little animals repented! (Jonah 3:8). There was a great revival, and the whole city of Nineveh was spared!

Then Jonah was mad and angry and even mad at God. He said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness. One who relents from doing harm” (Jonah 4:2).

The message here is that the people of Nineveh repented on a “maybe.” “Perhaps God will forgive us! Maybe God will have mercy on us.” But when Jesus came, it was a positive message; God loves you and can forgive you and you can be saved. But they would not repent.

And the same thing holds true today. There is no neutrality; you’re either saved or lost. You must be born again. Moral, self-reformation—rather than spiritual regeneration—will send your soul to hell.

Are you saved?

The people of Nineveh will rise in judgment with this generation. We have the full revelation of God in His Word. We have the full history of the Incarnation, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Ascension. You’ve heard the message. You know who Jesus is. Yet you have not repented. You have not believed, so you’re not truly a child of God.

Only God knows your heart. You can fool people on the outside by going through the motions. But God knows your heart. Either Christ is sitting on the throne of your heart, or He’s not. Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door [of your heart] 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” (Revelation 3:20).

If you read this message and you say, “I don’t know if I’m truly saved. I don’t know if I’m a real Christian. I don’t know if I’m going to heaven or hell,” you can know for sure.

You can decide to believe in Jesus Christ today by repenting of your sins and receiving Christ, by turning from your sin and praying a simple prayer of believing in Jesus and receiving Him as your Savior. The Bible says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

So if you say, “I don’t know if I’m for Him or against Him,” be for Him. Turn from your sin. Trust in Jesus Christ. Receive Him as your Lord and Savior.