For He Who is not Against You is For You
Luke 9:50
FBC, Chester Mike Fogerson, Pastor
Introduction
A There are a lot of things done in Jesus’ name that He has nothing to do with.
1 Jim Jones, David Koresh...actions of church people, too.
2 Not all church splits, policies, attitudes, spirit glorifies God
3 Jesus’ name is used, but He’s no where around.
B Other times, God’s moving/blessing/anointing us, & we discount the move/blessing/anointing because it doesn’t have a particular brand on it
1 God only moves with/blesses/anoints Baptists!
2 Sadly, many Lutherans, Catholics, Methodists, Assembly of God, non-denominational, Pentecostals probably believe the same thing (God only blesses their group).
a Feel threatened by perceived competition
b Maybe feel a sense of self-importance brought on by spiritual arrogance (intellectuals vs. emotionals)
3 14 "Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. Gen 6:14
When I read [Genesis 6:14, about rooms in Noah’s ark] I thought it would serve for a point in the parable… Those who lived in one room did not stand or sit with those who lived in another, but they were on the same ark. So I have sometimes thought, there are our Wesleyan friends, some of them love the Lord; I have no doubt they are in the ark, though they do not occupy the same apartment as we do. There are our Baptist friends, who love the Lord; we welcome them in our room. Then there are our Independent friends, those also love the Lord; they are in another room. And our Presbyterian and Episcopalian bretheren—in all these various sections are some who are called of God and brought into the ark, though they are in different rooms. But, beloved, they are all in one ark.
C A similar thing happened with Jesus’ disciples.
1 And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. 2 And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. Luke 9:1-2 (NASB)
Given authority & power over all demons & to heal.
a If demons still exist, would Jesus give His followers any fewer weapons to battle the enemy today?
b I believe if you are following Jesus, that anointing/power/ authority over demons & disease is still a weapon against the enemy today.
2 In 9:28, Jesus takes 3 disciples up the mountain & leaves 9 at a base camp (remember what He gave them: authority & power over demons & disease).
Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. Luke 9:28 (NASB)
a The 3 had a moment with God (Transfiguration), the 9 had a fight with each other (pride, greatest, most important, top dog, running the show).
b I believe they were so busy with pride, they couldn’t operate in the authority, blessing, power, Jesus had given them.
c After Jesus & the 3 come down from the mountain, a man told on the disciples!
aa And a man from the crowd shouted, saying, "Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my only boy, 39 and a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth; and only with difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves. 40 "I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not." Luke 9:38-40 (NASB)
bb The boy’s need is to be released (obviously), the father’s need is to get his son healthy.
cc Your people couldn’t do anything for me! Why?
I believe there are two reasons (transitional sentence)
I Out of focus
A Jesus healed the boy & the people were amazed at the greatness of God. And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. Luke 9:43 (NASB)
1 What an atmosphere for revival, evangelistic harvest
a Jesus tells His disciples about the cross.
"Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men." Luke 9:44 (NASB)
b It should have driven them to their knees, humbled, stirred them-NO!
c Arguing about which of them was the greatest.
2 They were so worried about where they ranked & so unconcerned about how to serve others who needed God (out-of-focus).
a Inward focus (them, maintaining their spot)
b No outward or upward focus
B Instead of focusing on the greatness of God, “Aren’t we great?”
II Spiritually arrogant (John, no 3rd string disciple, speaks in v. 49).
John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow along with us." Luke 9:49 (NASB)
A If anyone had a right to be spiritually arrogant, it’s John! But not even John had that right.
1 The man casting out demons wasn’t “one of the twelve.”
a In John’s mind; “not fit for ministry”, “not qualified”, “not one of us.”
b No kidding, if he was he’d been there arguing about who was the greatest instead of meeting people’s needs in Jesus’ name.
2 But Jesus said to him, "Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you." Luke 9:50 (NASB) Jesus said not to get in his way.
a I like the way he’s ministering (casting out demons) much more than how you’re not casting them out.
b I just talked to this dad who had a son you couldn’t help...
c “Whoever is not against you is for you”
aa Not against doesn’t mean neutral, undecided-in Jesus’ name!
bb He’s on the team
B Church, we don’t have a lot of friends in this world.
1 A lot of enemies, adversaries-few friends
a It does us/Kingdom/cause of Christ no good when we make brothers & sisters in Christ out to be enemies just because they don’t follow with us.
b They’re going to be in heaven, too, so you’d better start loving them here.
2 When you believe our group (Southern Baptists) is the only group God recognizes or blesses, you are in for a rude awakening when you hit heaven.
a Spiritual arrogance limits what God will do through His people.
b Don’t hinder (by word or deed) what others are doing just because they don’t follow with you.
Conclusion
A Being much concerned about the rise of denominations in the church, John Wesley tells of a dream he had. In the dream, he was ushered to the gates of Hell. There he asked, “Are there any Presbyterians here?” “Yes!”, came the answer. Then he asked, “Are there any Baptists? Any Episcopalians? Any Methodists?” The answer was “Yes!” each time. Much distressed, Wesley was then ushered to the gates of Heaven. There he asked the same question, and the answer was “No!” “No?” To this, Wesley asked, “Who then is inside?” The answer came back, “There are only Christians here.” (Source unknown)
B Let God search your heart...
1 Out of focus: what need can you meet in someone’s life this week in Jesus’ name?
2 Spiritual arrogance: repent of hindering other believers who don’t follow with you.
Notice to Sermon Central Users:
My name is Mike Fogerson, and I pastor a Southern Baptist Church in Chester, Illinois. I have been a long-time user of Sermon Central and truly appreciate its content and contributors. Some of the best sermons I’ve ever preached have been reworked material from this website. As you use the material from my sermon bank, understand that it is work that has been done from not just myself, but from hundreds of other pastors as well. If you see part of your message, or a bunch of your message with my name on it and this upsets you, please email me and I will quickly respond and cite you as the main source. My intent is not to claim someone’s work as my own. I am disclaiming up front that I use the resources from Sermon Central and appreciate the tool. I simply want all those who use my work to know that some of these messages were inspired by the Holy Spirit working through other pastors. Because I do use the messages of other pastors I waive all claims of originality or origin of creativity for the messages posted under my messages. I pray God blesses your preaching ministry for the glory of His Kingdom.
Respectfully,
Mike Fogerson
