The scripture this morning comes from the Gospel of Luke. Luke Chapter 11 in the pew Bibles it would be page 903.

Luke Chapter 11, we'll start with verse 14.

Now he was casting out a demon that was dumb.

And when the demon had gone out, the dumb man spoke, and the people marveled. But some of them said he casts out demons by Beelzebel, the prince of demons,

while others to test him, sought from him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them,

every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his

kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by be eligible, but if I cast out demons by be Elsable, but if I cast out demons by be Elsable, by whom do your sons cast them out?

Therefore they shall be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast

out demons and the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully

armed guards his own palace, his goods are in peace, but when one stronger than he assails him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.

Last week, the main point was that the kingdom of God has broken into the present time and is in the coming of Jesus Christ present. And the second point was that this kingdom of this world, this age, goes on.

So that there is a sense in which the kingdom is already here

in Jesus Christ, and there's a sense in which it's not yet here but will come at the consummation at the last day at the second coming and that this period of time in which we live is a mystery. It's called the mystery of the kingdom.

And the mystery is that the kingdom has already arrived in two stages it's coming.

First with the coming of Jesus, second with the second coming of Jesus,

and this first coming is like a mustard seed, not a military coup.

That's what threw everybody off.

The mystery of the kingdom is where we live here with the

kingdom already having come in partial fulfillment but waiting to come in complete

consummation. First the king comes on a donkey with a branch of peace and

amnesty for all the rebel subjects, and only later will he come on a great white horse with a sort of judgment in his hand.

And so the consummation awaits and the blessings are here in part, but not in full

...