Pastor Albert N. Martin expounds Luke 11:23, "He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth," setting it within the context of Christ casting out a demon and the subsequent reactions. He argues that Christ's coming creates an unavoidable spiritual divide, with no neutral ground. True blessedness, and thus being 'with Christ,' is evidenced by hearing and keeping God's Word, signifying a heart-transforming experience of grace that results in loving, believing, and obedient discipleship. Martin warns against mere external changes, likening them to a house swept clean but still empty, vulnerable to worse spiritual states, and presses all listeners—children, teenagers, and adults—to honestly assess their allegiance to Christ.
Primary Texts
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Luke 11:23This verse forms the core of the sermon, establishing the central theme of spiritual allegiance and the absence of neutrality.
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Luke 11:27-28These verses provide Christ's definition of true blessedness—hearing and keeping God's Word—which Martin uses to define what it means to be 'with Christ'.
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Luke 11:24-26These verses illustrate the danger of superficial change, emphasizing that being 'with Christ' requires more than external cleansing; it demands internal possession by the Holy Spirit.
Introduction: The Pointed Words of Christ and Their Setting0:00
The Plain Meaning: An Unavoidable Divide8:13
Your Present Duty: On Which Side of the Divide?11:03
Defining 'With Christ': Hearing and Keeping God's Word14:06
Are You With Him? A Call to Self-Examination21:29
The Danger of External Change: The Unclean Spirit's Return24:10
The Radical Demands of Keeping God's Word29:36
Final Exhortation: Judgment Day Honesty33:58
Key Quotes
“He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.”
“With me, against me, gathering, scattering, and that with reference to the great issues, not of political kingdoms which rise and fall... but with reference to the kingdom of God...”
“Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it.”
“To be with him is to enter into such a relationship of faith, of love, and of obedience that his word, his word of pardon, his word of gracious forgiveness becomes the word upon which I stake all the concerns of my sin-sick, sin-weary soul”
“But what they hear from a gospel pulpit makes its way into shoe leather, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and up to the next Sunday.”
“to be with christ is to have something more than a mere external change that leaves you unpossessed by god the holy spirit and the devil is not at all concerned to leave you as it were to leave you in the form of his own influence of some gross manifestation of immorality and wickedness and godlessness just so long as the house is empty and furnished so that he can come back with seven worse demons the demons of self-deception of self-righteousness the demons of spiritual smugness these foul things that leave us short of being truly with christ and leave us something other than the truth of the gospel than being gatherers with christ”
“there's nothing in the Bible that says God's got a kiddie hell there may be kiddie parks and kiddie rides and kiddie schools but there's no kiddie hell and some of you children need to face that realistically”
“may God help us to answer that question with judgment day honesty because in the day of judgment if we're not with him now he will not be with us then to plead our cause and you've had it”
Applications
Parents & families
Dear children, are you with Christ? Have you said, 'Lord Jesus, I want to be yours... give myself to you'?
Children, if you're not with him, flee to him and lay hold of him in his promise, believing he died for sinners like you.
All listeners
Resolve with accuracy the question: 'On which side of the divide am I? Am I truly with him and gathering with him, or am I against him and scattering?'
Ask yourself, 'Are you with him?' based on the definition of hearing and keeping God's word, staking your soul on his promises, and embracing self-denial.
Have you embraced his word demanding total abnegation of all desire to rule your own life? And have you joyfully capitulated the government of all that you are to him?
Are you with him, even if you haven't perfectly worked out the implications or flawlessly met the demands?
Press the words of Luke 11:24-26 on your conscience, considering if your change is merely external or a true possession by the Holy Spirit.
Teenagers, are you with him, facing realistically bearing the reproach of Christ and being laughed at or mocked for your identification with him?
Older men and women, are you with him? If not, you are against him.
Answer the question of your allegiance with 'judgment day honesty,' recognizing that only being with Christ now will ensure his advocacy then.
A full transcript is available on the
tab. 38 paragraphs, roughly 36 minutes.
Machine transcription
Introduction: The Pointed Words of Christ and Their Setting
This sermon was preached on Sunday evening, August 9th, 1981, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Will you turn with me in your Bibles, please, to the 11th chapter of Luke's Gospel, Luke's Gospel, Chapter 11. And for the next 30 or so minutes, I want to speak to you from the very pointed, the very terse and searching words of our Lord Jesus Christ, recorded in Luke's Gospel, Chapter 11, and verse 23. A verse so brief, so simple in the words contained in it, that I'm sure you'll be able to understand it. I'm sure we could conduct an exercise in Bible memory and have the entire congregation, from the youngest to the oldest, memorize the verse and its reference in a matter of just a minute and a half. He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.
Our blessed Lord speaking said to the multitudes, In whose presence he spoke, he that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. And I trust that the Spirit of God will so illuminate these words and our minds in the presence of these words, that we shall feel the impingement of this simple, this pointed, this terse and searching word of God, that we all may feel the pressure of it upon our own consciences. Now, first of all, notice with me the setting in which our Lord spoke these words. They were not spoken in a historical vacuum. They grew out of a very specific set of circumstances. According to verse 14, he had just cast out, a demon from a man, a demon that in its influence over this man made him unable to speak.
And when this demon was cast out of him, the text says, verse 14, that the multitudes marveled. So get the picture. In the midst of a vast throng of people, here is a man who seems to have all of the faculties with which to fall, to perform words. But when he would open his mouth to speak, and try as he would, nothing would come out.
But suddenly, streams, cataracts of words flow out of his mouth. And the multitude who had seen him, no doubt, on other occasions, and at least on this occasion, unable to speak, now with his tongue loosed, they are amazed at the mighty power that has been manifested in this act of the Lord. Well, you see, an act like that in the midst of a crowd will immediately create a reaction. And Luke tells us that there was a reaction.
On the part of some, they gave an interpretation to this mighty work, which could not have been further from the truth. They said, by Beelzebub, the prince of the demons, he is casting out demons. They said, now it's obvious that the demon, which may have been cast out, which made this man speechless, has been cast out, but the only reason Jesus has been able to do that is that he is in cahoots with the prince of the demons, and so because he's in cahoots with the prince of the demons, they recognize their prince, and they are obeying him, and the demon has left him. But now there's another group who say, no, we do not put that interpretation upon the evidence. In fact, we say the evidence is inconclusive. And so we read in the following verse, and others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven. They said, now granted a demon has been cast out, but this evidence is inconclusive as to the identity of Jesus.
And so they put into the test and say, if you will now make the moon play hopscotch, not hopscotch, but leapfrog with the sun, and if we see something, if we see some of the heavenly bodies jumping around at your word, then we believe we'll have sufficient evidence to believe that you are the Messiah. Well, our Lord reads their thoughts in all of this, according to verse 17, but he knowing their thoughts said unto them, and the first thing he does is to expose the fallacy of the first crowd, and in verses 17 and 18 he says, no, it is impossible that I should be casting out demons by the power of the demons, for a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. So in verses 17 and 18 he exposes the fallacy of the first opinion, and then in verses 20 to 22 he demonstrates the non-necessity of the second opinion. He said, and if I have done this by the power of God, then you have all the evidence you need that the kingdom of God has come among you, and you do not need a sign in the heavens. And it is in that setting that our Lord then speaks in the most graphic language of this tremendous spiritual conflict that is going on between the kingdom of God
and the kingdom of Satan, between God himself and between Satan himself, and his language comes to a climax in this description of a strong man who is armed to the teeth, and he is guarding his house, and all of his goods are safe until a man stronger than he and more powerful than he can come and conquer him and spoil his goods. And in that story our Lord is saying that what you have seen in the casting out of this demon is the activity of God's strong man, the Lord Jesus. And he says, I have come as the one stronger than the devil, and I have bound the strong man, I have spoiled his goods. In other words, the setting of the words of our text is a setting in which that ancient warfare prophesied in Genesis 3.15 comes to a very concrete expression. That warfare between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.
And here we see the Lord Jesus, the seed of the woman, as the one who is stronger than the strong man, and is spoiling his goods. And in that context he says, he that is not with me, the mighty strong man, who has come to bind that one, the devil, and spoil his goods, he that is not with me, is against me, and he that does not gather with me, scatters. So much then for the setting of the words. Now, consider briefly the plain meaning of these words of our Lord Jesus.
The Plain Meaning: An Unavoidable Divide
And the plain and obvious meaning is right there on the face of the text. Wherever and whenever Christ comes in grace, by his word and his power, a great divide is erected. And on the one hand of that divide, there are those who are with him, and who gather with him, probably the picture of Christ as the great shepherd gathering his sheep. Other sheep I have that are not of this fold, them also I must bring.
On the one hand, those who are with him, and who gather with him, and on the other hand, those who are against him, and who scatter from him. And the words given their plain sense can draw us to no other conclusion than this simple conclusion, that wherever Christ comes in grace, by his word and his power, a great divide is erected. On the one side, those who are with him, and who gather with him. On the other side, those who are against him, and those who scatter.
And therefore, in this building tonight, as surely as every single person, but one mother who is sitting a little bit right of center of the center aisle at the back of the house, with that one exception, everyone in this building is found in this right hand section, right to me and left to you. Right to you and left to me, every person in this building, barring that one woman and this preacher, are found neatly divided into the left and to the right segment. So this text says, look at it, he that is not with him, he that is not with him, he that is not with me, he that is not on the left side of the congregation, is on the right side of the congregation. He that does not gather with me, is one that scatters. Now this includes all ages, all backgrounds, all varying degrees of privilege, all varying degrees of light. Now wherever and whenever, and for some of you this may be the first time, but it is the first time, and therefore you fit the category, wherever and whenever Christ comes in grace,
Your Present Duty: On Which Side of the Divide?
by his word and his power, this divide is created. Those who are with him and gather with him, those who are against him and who scatter. Now in the light of the setting of our Lord, the setting of our Lord's words, the plain meaning of his words, consider with me what is really the heart of the exhortation for the final part of our meditation tonight, your present duty based upon these words. What is your duty sitting here tonight, as a man, a woman, a boy or a girl, someone who has been under the gracious word and power of Christ, times without number, or someone who perhaps for the first time has come under the gracious word and power of Christ in this very meeting tonight. What is your great and present duty? Well surely it is this, to resolve with accuracy this question, on which side of the divide am I? On which side of the great divide do I stand?
Am I truly with him? And am I gathering with him? Or am I against him? And do I scatter?
And there is no neutral position. Our Lord himself does not recognize anyone sitting midway in the aisle. With me, against me, gathering, scattering, and that with reference to the great issues, not of political kingdoms which rise and fall, not with reference to economic kingdoms which rise and fall, and intellectual kingdoms which rise and fall, but with reference to the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God which is eternal in its bliss and glory, and the kingdom of darkness which shall be banished with its head to the lake of fire, and all who are part of that kingdom. Oh dear children, dear men and women, friends and visitors, I say the pressing duty raised by these words is clear, and it is incumbent upon all of us to ask on which side of this divide am I? Well, you say, Pastor Martin, how can I answer that question
Defining 'With Christ': Hearing and Keeping God's Word
with the kind of accuracy commensurate with the weightiness of the issue? And thank God we need not look far for the answer, for here in this very passage the answer is given to us. To be with him is to have nothing less than a heart-transforming experience of his grace and spirit which makes you a loving, believing, obedient recipient of his word. For you will notice as the passage continues, our Lord gives this strange statement in verse 24 that we'll consider presently about an unclean spirit that goes out of a man and then comes back and finds his house all furnished and brings seven worse demons with him. But now notice verse 27. There's no break in the narrative. And it came to pass as he said these things, as he spoke these very words, he that is not with me is against me, as he said these things, a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice and said unto him, Blessed is the wound that bore you
and the breasts which you did suck. It's difficult to understand what may have been in the mind of this woman, whether it was a surface enthusiasm, whether it was a true recognition of the nobility of Mary, whatever it was, because our Lord turns aside her statement as being relatively irrelevant in terms of what he has said. He has said, He that is not with me is against me. He that gathereth not with me scattereth.
The issue is not the blessedness of the one through whom I was brought into the world as to a human vehicle. No, no. True blessedness is to be found here. But he said, Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it.
How are we to identify those who are with Christ? What does it mean to be with Christ? Does it mean to have some attachment to him in a gossamer web of sentimental, gushy, religious feelings about Jesus? Does it mean that I have some external bond to him and to his church by virtue of the fact that I was born a son or daughter in that sense of the church and of its ministry?
No, no. Our Lord says, Those who are truly blessed, those who are the recipients of the life of blessedness, that life of blessedness which I, the strong man, have come to give to needy sinners who were the slaves of the devil, is a life in which I spoil his goods. I break in them the power of ignorance that sees no glory in my person. I break in them the power of rebellion that has no desire to obey my word.
I break in them the power and the chains that bind them to their sins so that though they may hear and conscience may judge my word to be true, they are such slaves to their sin that they cannot do what I command them. Those who are blessed, he says, are those who hear the word of God and keep it. There is our Lord's blessedly simple description of what it means to be with him. It means that I have been brought by the Spirit into an attachment to the person of Jesus Christ that has made me his willing bond slave, that has given me those two great marks of his sheep. According to John 10 and verse 27, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. To be with him is to enter into such a relationship of faith, of love, and of obedience that his word, his word of pardon, his word of gracious forgiveness becomes the word upon which I stake
all the concerns of my sin-sick, sin-weary soul To be with him means that I hear his word calling me to turn my back upon every rival affection and for his sake to forsake all that I might be his loving disciple. To hear his word means that I receive not only the gracious word of pardon and stake the well-being of my soul upon it, but I hear the word of God calling me to deny myself, to take up a cross, to forsake all, and utterly, unreservedly abandon myself to him so that I am bound to him in bonds of faith and bonds of love, bonds that find constant expression in a practical obedience to his revealed will. Look again at verse 28. Blessed are those who hear the word of God and are keeping it. They do not merely hear and are temporarily moved and drop a tear or two and shake the pastor's hand and give him thanks for his ministry.
But what they hear from a gospel pulpit makes its way into shoe leather, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and up to the next Sunday. It makes its way into fingertips in terms of what channel is tuned in and when and for how long on the TV. It makes its way into fingertips that dispense money for what commodities, for what ends. Keeping the word of God, the word of God is something that touches every faculty of our redeemed humanity.
Are You With Him? A Call to Self-Examination
And Jesus said, that's what it means to be with me. Now I ask you, my friend, are you with him? If that's what it means to be with him, are you with him? I didn't ask do you believe Jesus is the Son of God.
I'm not asking do you believe he died on the cross and rose from the dead and will come again in glory and power at the last day. I hope you do believe all of that. But are you with him? Are you staking the whole weight of your sin-sick soul upon his promises of mercy to needy sinners?
In the beautiful imagery Dr. Ferguson set before us this morning, have you, like that woman that came from a pagan land, have you sought shelter under the shadow of the Almighty? Have you embraced his word demanding total abnegation of all desire to rule your own life? And have you joyfully capitulated the government of all that you are to him?
I am not asking you have you perfectly worked out the implications of being with him. I'm not asking do you flawlessly work out the demands of being with him. But I'm asking you are you with him? Are you with him?
Well if so, then Jesus assumes you gather with him. And the analogy is probably that of the influence of a life that is with Christ, being used of Christ to draw others to Christ. And you see you cannot be with him and not gather with him. He assumes that the two will always be found together.
He that is not with me is against me. He that gathereth not scattereth. And if we are with him, regardless of how non-vocal and non-visible may be the externals of our witness, there is exuded from us an influence, however imperceptible to men, that is part of the gathering process of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see to be with him is to have something more than a surface change and that's where these strange words fit in.
The Danger of External Change: The Unclean Spirit's Return
And I want to close by pressing those words on your conscience tonight. Look at the passage again. After saying he that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not scattereth. Saying that in the setting, that I may not be...
We better confess he that is not with me is against the Holy Spirit, skaily, and not crabs underitti of this great conflict between the strong man and the stronger than the strong. Our Lord says, verse 24. The unclean spirit when he is gone out of the man passes through waterless places seeking rest and finding none, He says, I will turn and go back to my house finds it swept and garnished then goeth he and takes to him seven other spirits more evil than himself and they enter in and dwell there and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first now there are mysteries in this passage which i cannot unravel and there is no doubt according to the parallel passage in matthew a peculiar reference to the generation in which our lord lived a generation that under the ministry of john the baptist went through great surface changes many of them but they fell short of a true work of grace but whatever mysteries may be here that i would not attempt to unravel whatever application or direct interpretation envisions a more exclusive reference to israel surely there is a broader principle and it is this
to be with christ is to have something more than a mere external change that leaves you unpossessed by god the holy spirit and the devil is not at all concerned to leave you as it were to leave you in the form of his own influence of some gross manifestation of immorality and wickedness and godlessness just so long as the house is empty and furnished so that he can come back with seven worse demons the demons of self-deception of self-righteousness the demons of spiritual smugness these foul things that leave us short of being truly with christ and leave us something other than the truth of the gospel than being gatherers with christ one of the most frightening realities of pastoral ministry over the long haul is to see people who seem to undergo a change as real as that man described in verse fourteen
he was dumb he couldn't talk words wouldn't come out suddenly there is a torrent of words there are those whose transformation seems to be as much is his time real use that the spirit never came to inhabit them for where he comes he in plants of principle of internal holiness hop Ziploc lightness to christ of principle of obedience supper of ansep first antes to this present age, and I fear that sitting here in Trinity Church are people who fit this description. For if I have any discernment in at least observing the patterns of your external life, you're right where you were five and ten years ago. No progress in tenderness of conscience, no real progress in hatred of the world, no real progress in conformity
to Christ, in usefulness in gathering with Christ. Could it be that out went the demon of an openly irreligious life, and in have come the demons of religious smugness and self-deception and self-satisfaction? My friend, the only evidence that you are with him is that you hear the word of God and you keep it. That word in all the freeness of its gracious promise, yes, and surely that is the foundation and the fountainhead and the mainspring of all other forms of obedience. But in the love of free grace, then we...
The Radical Demands of Keeping God's Word
keep that word that word which says he that loves son or daughter father mother more than me is not worthy of me that word which says whosoever he be of you that renounces not all that he hath cannot be my disciple that word which says love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man loved the world the love of the father is not in him know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God I leave you with that simple text tonight I press it upon your conscience he that is not with me is against me he that gathers not with me scattereth on which side of the great divide are you you dear children are you with Christ I'm not asking you are you near him near him because mommy and daddy carry you to church and sit on your bedside and read and pray with you you're near him yes but oh dear children are you with him have you said Lord Jesus I want to be yours you died for sinners like me what else can I do Lord
Jesus but give myself to you oh dear children are you with him with him with him with him not near him but with him if not you're against him you're his enemy he said it I didn't I didn't draw that line he did he drew it if you're not with him you're against him and dear children if you're against him then if he cuts you off in your present state you go to the same hell that the Hitler's and the Mussolini's go there's nothing in the Bible that says God's got a kiddie hell there may be kiddie parks and kiddie rides and kiddie schools but there's no kiddie hell and some of you children need to face that realistically are you with him are you against him no middle ground and if you're not with him then flee to him lay hold of him in his promise for he said suffer the little children to come unto me Jesus welcomes children who come as sinners Jesus welcomes children who come as sinners who come saying Lord Jesus I've got a filthy heart and I can't cleanse it of myself I've broken your law and I can't forgive myself and change the record books of
heaven but Lord Jesus I believe you died I believe you rose again I believe your promises to sinners are real Lord Jesus will you take a sinner like me and he will take you dear children and you'll be with him and then you begin to gather when you don't enter into the dirty words down at the playground and when you're determined to be honest in school and polite and respectful to mom and dad all because you love Jesus you begin to gather with him as your life speaks of the power of his grace what about you teenagers are you with him with all that pressure to conform with all that pressure upon you young people to conform are you with him have you faced realistically bearing the reproach of Christ I don't mean being recognized as a nice religious person who is a little bit overboard in your religion most of us can take that without too much trouble but to be laughed at and mocked because you're really with him identified with him going outside the camp bearing his reproach are you with him older man older woman are you with him if not
Final Exhortation: Judgment Day Honesty
you are against him may God help us to answer that question with judgment day honesty because in the day of judgment if we're not with him now he will not be with us then to plead our cause and you've had it but whoever is against us now let him try to do their thing in that day when he steps forward to say that one's mine and he claims us as his own and it's all heading to that day friend and nothing matters but what comes out in the wash then he that is not with me is against me he that gathereth not with me scattereth let us pray our father we are so thankful that our Lord Jesus though he often spoke of profound mysteries that baffle the minds of the world's most brilliant theologians we thank you that he often spoke in such simple terse plain language we thank you for this text oh write it on our hearts may it bear fruit unto everlasting life
in the hearts of many holy father seal the word to our prophet and to the praise of your beloved son we ask in his worthy name amen
This transcript was generated by automated speech recognition and may contain errors.
It is provided for study and reference only; the audio recording is the authoritative source.
Passages Expounded
Luke 11:23
This verse forms the core of the sermon, establishing the central theme of spiritual allegiance and the absence of neutrality.
Luke 11:27-28
These verses provide Christ's definition of true blessedness—hearing and keeping God's Word—which Martin uses to define what it means to be 'with Christ'.
Luke 11:24-26
These verses illustrate the danger of superficial change, emphasizing that being 'with Christ' requires more than external cleansing; it demands internal possession by the Holy Spirit.
Texts Expounded
auto_stories
This is the central text of the sermon, which Martin expounds to show the unavoidable spiritual divide created by Christ.
auto_stories
Describes the return of an unclean spirit to a swept and garnished house, illustrating the danger of mere external change without true spiritual possession by God.