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Teachings of Jesus (Part 17) A Clean House
Six months before Christ began His ministry, God sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for Christ. We know from the Biblical record that John the Baptist had tremendous success. People from the cities and from the country flocked to hear him. There was a revival among the Jews and many were baptized, with a baptism of repentance. But, sad to say, six months later when Christ, to whom John pointed, came on the scene, many hearts had already gone cold. They had lost that renewed experience so many not only rejected Jesus, but some of them also became His bitter enemies. In our text today Jesus told a parable which touches at the core of their problem.
I believe this teaching can help with how not to go cold as they did, and how to maintain that spiritual fervor after receiving the blessed freedom we received from God? Maybe you were excited or thrilled when you first became a Christian having received salvation from God but now you feel kind of empty or maybe you know someone who has quite literally left the faith. I hope that our study of this parable will help.
First of all, let’s look at the context. It is important to realize what Jesus had to say to the people to whom He spoke. If you look at Luke 11:14, you will discover that Jesus was casting out demons, manifesting His power over the devil. But some who saw that miracle accused Him of casting out the demons by the power of Beelzebub, who was the leader of these demon.. Luke 11:15
Then in verse 21 and 22, He tells us something very significant. He says in verse 21: “When a strong man, fully armed [referring to Satan] When he, guards his own house, his possessions are safe.”
When Satan succeeded in knocking down Adam and Eve, he took the whole world into his control. Since the fall, Satan has had man under his domination and no human being has been able to overcome the devil.
But (there is a “but” in verse 22) when one stronger than he comes, (and that is Jesus the Christ,) when Christ came, He came to defeat the enemy of souls. When Christ came, it says, “But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, He takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.”
In other words, when Jesus came, He came to set us captives free. And that’s what He did.
Unfortunately, there were some who did not accept that liberation and so Jesus makes a statement in Luke 11:23 which says, to those who had turned their backs on Him being the Messiah, “He who is not with me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.”
When Jesus died on the cross there were two thieves on crosses on each side of Him. They were both sinners. Those two thieves represented the world but the difference is that one thief accepted Christ; the other rejected Him. Jesus is saying that, “If you reject Me, you are against Me.”
You are either for Him or you are against Him. This is the context before Jesus give us a short parable.
In Luke 11:24-26 it says “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, “I will return to the house I left.” When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”
Now what is the parable saying? First of all, Jesus says, “When an evil spirit comes out of a man….”
The term “evil spirit” (or “unclean spirit” in some translations) is a Jewish expression which is synonymous with what we would call the devil. That is the term they often used for the devil.
When does the devil leave you? When one stronger than he comes and dwells in you. When you accept Jesus as your Lord and His own Holy Spirit enters and dwells in you. The devil and all sin had to leave because Jesus is stronger than the devil and He is able to clean all the sin out. See Colossians 2:11-12 Which tells us that Jesus cut away or removed those sins in the when buried in the waters of baptism.
In His parable what happened to the devil? He goes and looks for rest somewhere else. The words “arid places” is another expression which the Jews used to refer to the desert and the desert has very little to offer.
But the devil wants to find rest. When we read that expression “seeking rest,” we must not project our ideas of rest. When I seek rest I sit down in my recliner which lifts my legs, and there I just relax. That’s my idea of seeking rest. But when the devil seeks rest it means something very different. I want to give you a text to show what it means when the devil seeks rest.
In 1 Peter 5:8 the apostle Peter tells us “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
That’s Satan’s idea of seeking rest. He wants to rest in you. He wants you.He’s mad because Christ has driven him out of his abode and he cannot find rest, according to this parable. So what does he say? He says in Luke 11:24: …“I will return to the house I left.”
The word “house” is often used to refer to human beings. We are a house. God to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, not by the devil.
The devil came out of the man; but he wants to return. So he comes back and guess what he finds? Verse 25 says: “When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.”
Now what does the parable mean by that?
You see, when you come to Christ, what do you do? Well, I read in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
And in Acts 22:16 we read that Ananias told Paul, “Get up, be baptized and wash you sins away, calling on His name.” So here is a Christian who had accepted Christ, And Christ has swept away all past sin. This new Christian may have given up some bad habits; they have begun to walk a new life, and they have put their house in order with new resolutions.
And the devil comes and sees that clean house and he sees the wonderful resolutions and what does he do? He says, “I need help. This fellow is a little bit stronger than he was when I left him.”
The text says, verse 26, “Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there.”
Apparently they have degrees of wickedness among the fallen angels. But the word “seven” signifies that he comes back with full, complete force because the word “seven” means completeness. The question is, “Does he enter in?” and the parable says, “Yes.” They not only enter but they dwell there. And it says,“… the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”
Now why was the devil was able to enter in? I believe the answer is not found in Luke; it is found in Matthew Gospel. This same parable is repeated in Matthew, except in Matthew there is one more word that Matthew uses that Luke somehow omitted. In that one word I believe we have the answer to the problem.
I going to read Matthew 12:43-45 and I want you to listen very carefully. The only difference is one word.
“When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, “I will return to the house I left.” When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”
One word that Matthew adds that is not found in Luke, is the word “unoccupied.” This one word makes the world of difference.
It is swept; it is clean; it is full of promises and resolutions but it is empty. And when the devil finds that it is empty and not filled with Jesus and good and holy things, it makes it possible for him to enter in and dwell there. And when he dwells there he makes sure that he secures himself much stronger than he did in the past so that your last state is worse than the first.
Why was it empty? It’s because there is something we fail to do. Jesus said in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If …(“if is a 2 letter conditional word) If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
What’s the opposite of that statement? In other words, “Without me, you can do nothing. So we better not separate yourself from me, stay connected.”
In Romans 7, Paul talks about the reality of our problem. Even though he was an apostle of Christ he knew that he had a problem with sin and that maintaining a relationship with Jesus was the only solution for all of us. He wrote: “14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another powewithin me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. (NLT)
In Romans 8:1-2, he tells us where the power comes from, where the source of our victory is. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”
When the Christ’s Spirit dwells in me, the devil cannot touch me. I read in 1 John 4:4 that “greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.”
But we have to realize that the Holy Spirit does not work in us automatically. I read in Galatians 5:16: “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” We have to make the choice to live according to what Christ Spirit would have us do and fill the empty void of our life with those things.
But, as I mentioned, the Holy Spirit does not work in us automatically. I wish He did. All I’d have to do is press a button like I do the dishwasher and then just set back. Our relationship with Christ doesn’t work that way, rather I have to constantly keep walking with Him. As Paul said, ‘I need to pray without ceasing; I need to keep in constant contact because the Holy Spirit will do nothing against our own will. He is not a dictator.
Paul also warned about not driving Christ’s Spirit out. I read in 1 Thessalonians 5:19 “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire….”
The devil wants you. The moment you accept Jesus in and allowed Christ to come He will free you from sin and the devils control.
But that does not mean that he won’t try to work himself back into our life again. As long as you live on this good earth there will never be a time when he will not try to enter back into your life and tempt you.
I pray that when you leave here today you will leave in the power of the Spirit. Don’t leave Him behind. We need Him 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
So talk to Him as much as you can. Read His written word, be sensitive to His prompting, and do your best to obey Him and His word and find ways to serve Him. Don’t allow yourself to be unoccupied when the devil comes knocking again. Don’t give the devil a foothold in any part of your life. Rather fill yourself with Christ, and His love, and forgiveness and mercy.
When temptation come from the devil slam the door in his face and say, ‘I can’t do that now, I must be about my Father’s business.’ And the cling to God and His will for your life
Based on a Sermon by E.H. ‘Jack’ Sequeira
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