Filled with Good

Background Scripture: Luke 11
Lesson Scripture: Luke 11:14-26

Introduction

God intends that his children will be filled with his goodness. Jesus likened it to overflowing with living water. He said, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). Jeremiah taught that our own efforts at filling will only result in emptiness. “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jer. 2:13). Let us abandon our cisterns and seek the source of living water.

Key Verse

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost (Rom. 15:13).

Lesson Scripture

Studying the Lesson

Because of their pride and self-justification, the scribes and Pharisees did not believe in Jesus. Because of their unbelief, they condemned Him and criticized his work. When Jesus delivered a person from the power of the devil, they reacted according to their unbelief. They said, “He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.” It was evident how entrenched they were in their own understanding. They rejected the obvious works of God by asking for a sign. Apparently, they were trying to subject God to their own test.

Jesus answered the accusations against Him for the benefit of those who were seeking. He first pointed out that Satan would be hurting his own kingdom by throwing himself out. He also showed them the partiality of their own hearts. Because they despised Jesus, they despised his good works. If their own sons would have worked miracles, no doubt they would have heaped praise upon them.

Then Jesus made a powerful analogy of Satan being a strong-armed man keeping his goods safe in his palace. Under Satan’s absolute rule, sinners can be quite untroubled in their perdition. But if a person turns toward Jesus, that “peace” is destroyed. The heart becomes deeply troubled with guilt. Jesus has the power to come in, overthrow Satan, and scatter his evil fruits. When Jesus is received in the heart, Satan’s defeat is complete. A person’s self-defenses and excuses are gone, and the peace of God reigns.

Jesus explained to the people what can happen after He casts Satan out of a heart. If the one delivered does not continue to obey his new Lord and seek to be filled with his goodness, his heart will be empty. Though the Holy Spirit continually seeks to develop a relationship with the believer and reminds him to read the Word and to pray, choices are made every day. If a person continually neglects God, Jesus finally withdraws. He will not guard an empty heart. In the meantime, the restless devil has been seeking a dwelling place. In his wanderings, he keeps checking back at his old possession. As soon as he finds that a heart is unguarded by Jesus, he reenters and becomes more established than ever. “The last state of that man is worse than the first.”

Practical Truths for Today

Our hearts are like the fertile soil in a garden waiting to be filled with good plants. Our garden is possessed by someone—the King who created it or the impostor who rules the world. If Satan is the strong man ruling our heart, he tries to fill us with whatever our flesh desires. If we want religion, he has many to offer. If we look for righteousness, he offers self-justification. For freedom, he offers willful independence. His substitutes are endless. But Satan is cursed by God and unable to give anything that will bear good fruit. Under his control our gardens become choked with noxious weeds despite our best efforts. “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matt. 7:20).

In this condition, although our soul longs for God, our heart is hard and not able to absorb and appreciate the goodness of God. If our sin is pointed out to us, we try to justify ourselves or even ascribe it the devil. We ignore God’s “goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth . . . to repentance” (Rom. 2:4).

The universal grace of God is his undeserved mercy and favor upon humanity. To the extent a person follows God’s law, he will experience his blessings. This is God’s common grace. “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves” (Rom. 2:14). We are thankful that because of this grace there are many caring people in the world. However, that is not to say that these peoples’ hearts are “filled with good” but only that they are following some godly principles. Only in the new birth does God move into our heart.

When God quietly shows a person his utter depravity, that person faces a choice. Being confronted by the Holy Spirit, he finds himself in a battle. He cries for help from the depths of his heart. As he repents and swings his heart’s door open, Jesus enters and throws out Satan. The strong man’s fortress has crumbled. This is the grace of God unto salvation.

Now that the cursed one has been evicted, God fills the one with the changed heart with good things as he is devoted to his new Master. “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree” (Isa. 55:13). Faith in God enables us to receive God’s nourishment through the Spirit, the Word, and the church. In obedience we put that nourishment to use. “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight” (1 John 3:22).

Under the provision of God, the church nurtures those who have a changed heart. The spiritual and emotional needs of God’s children are satisfied within the body of Christ. Paul expresses this wonderful filling of God in his letter to the Ephesians. He says God “hath put all things under [Jesus’s] feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:22-23). The satisfying goodness of Christ is manifested in the working of the church. Enthusiastically living for Jesus from the heart within the church is a full life—a full life for every believer, not a select few. God has promised to fill everyone—none are exempt—and to fill the heart to the brim and overflowing. Satan has no room to enter a full heart.

After being freed from sin, we may begin to allow our carnal desires to displace our spiritual freedom. Or perhaps we begin to trust our own understanding, and so we begin to discount or neglect the guidance we receive from the Holy Spirit. Our desire for God’s nourishment diminishes, and we become selective about what we will accept from Him. Although God is patient, the Good Master will quietly withdraw if we continue to ignore his entreaties. Although we might maintain a “swept and garnished” appearance, an empty heart is open for repossession by the devil. Let us take heed and accept whatever God gives us and obediently follow his guidance. Our eternal security depends on our being filled with God’s goodness.

Questions

1. Do we humbly accept anything from God, regardless of how it is brought?
2. What happens when we seek spiritual blessings without acknowledging what God has already given?
3. If we are enthusiastic about reading the Bible and going to church, are we assured our heart will be filled with good things?
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Source: COGICM Daily Bible Readings (Daily Bible Readings, PO Box 124, Glenn, CA 95943).