Why do unclean spirits return?

Automatic Transcript Generated:

Speaker 1

Alright, so Padrak is asking why do unclean spirits return with seven spirits to possess a person? The translated question.

Speaker 2

So Shedlock bokois. I didn’t hear the rest of it in French, so I will say this first in English and then I’ll say it in French really quick. So thank you Shadrak, for your question. I would love to answer in French, I think that would be really cool. But because this is an English show, I will answer it in English. But we are going to email you the answer in French. So let me just say that really quick. If you’re listening and you only speak French, is principle Elisabo infose. Okay, dico. All right. So I’ll say the answer in English, even though I would love to use my high school French and, and share that with you, but I want everybody to understand. So it’s like the gift of tongues, you know, it’s better for everybody to understand rather than, you know, just for me to say something that nobody can or at least not 90% of our viewers can understand. All right, and like I said, we’ll send you an email in French. Shudrek. Okay, so to answer this question, why do seven evil spirits return to a man that had an evil spirit cast out of him?

Speaker 2

Well, basically what you’re referring to is two places in the Bible and one is in Matthew chapter twelve, and the other is Luke, chapter eleven. But I’m going to just focus in Matthew chapter twelve to answer this. And so if you’ll go with me to Matthew twelve and verses 38 and 39. So that’s kind of getting some context here about kind of what the situation was that Jesus would say. Such an interesting quote. So basically, the context of it is, before Jesus says all this, in this chapter, there’s actually a man who was possessed by a devil and he was blind and he couldn’t speak. And they bring him to Jesus, and Jesus heals him, not just by casting out the devil, but he also heals his blindness, and he gives him the ability to speak. And that’s in verse 22 of Matthew twelve. So everybody is wondering going, wow, look at what Jesus did, you know? And so the religious leaders getting jealous because they were super jealous of Jesus, as you can read throughout the gospels, they started murmuring against Jesus, of course, and they didn’t like it. And so they said that, oh, Jesus cast out this devil by the alzheibubub.

Speaker 2

And so Jesus rebukes them basically and says, house divided cannot stand. That’s not true, I definitely did it. And he’s like, basically Jesus goes into buy their fruits, you’ll know them, he’s like, look at my life, look at what I do. Do I act like somebody who conjures with spirits do I look like that? Like by their fruits, you’ll know them? And so Jesus obviously silences them. And so they combat Jesus with basically saying in verse 38 and 39, so this is like kind of the bulk of where we’ll be. It says in verse 38, then certain of the scribes and the Pharisees answered, saying, master, we would see a sign from you. But Jesus answered and says, an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there shall no sign be given but the prophet Jonah. And so basically what Jesus is saying here is like, first of all, you need a sign to believe what I’m saying is true. I just gave you a sign like you just saw me heal somebody, cast out a demon and heal his blindness and his inability to speak. Why are you asking, oh, we need a sign from you, Jesus, to verify that what you’re saying is true.

Speaker 2

It’s ridiculous. And so Jesus goes on to basically rebuke them for a little while, but then he says something very interesting. And this is where you’re asking this question. And basically Jesus says a parable in verses 43 to 45. And that’s the context of this, of of the verses you’re sharing. It says jesus says, when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through dry places seeking rest and finds none. Then he says, So the evil spirit says, I will return to my house from once I came out. And when he has come, he finds it empty, swept and garnished, which is very interesting. And I’ll say why? In just a second, it says, then goes he, and takes with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first even. So shall it be unto this wicked generation. And so what Jesus is saying here basically, is he’s giving a parable. Jesus isn’t saying a direct doctrine like this is exactly what’s going to happen. But what Jesus is saying is a parable. And what he’s saying is this, that many people, they might be living a life that’s not quite right, and they’ll have the one bad thing leave them, one evil spirit leave them.

Speaker 2

And they’ll think, wow, I’m pretty good. And maybe they become religious or that sort of thing, which was what kind of the Pharisees were like. They were like, oh, well, we’ve given up being a glutton or We’ve given up saying bad words, or We’ve decided to go to church regularly. We pay our tithes, we pay our offerings. And so they get a sense of like, oh, look how good we are. And Jesus says something very interesting in verse 44. He says, that evil spirit comes back and sees that person’s house empty, swept and garnished. And so basically, even though they’ve cleaned up their life, so it seems on the outside, on the inside, they’re empty. They have no Holy Spirit, they have no love of God. And the thing is, when you look at what is the fruit of the Spirit, go with me to Galatians, chapter five, because again, Jesus says directly to them by their fruits, you’re going to you will know them. And so what are the fruits of having basically God’s Holy Spirit in you? And it says in Galatians five, verses 22 to 23, it says, the fruit of the Spirit is love.

Speaker 2

The first fruit you will see in somebody who has God’s spirit in them is love. And then joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, faith, meekness, temperance, all against such there is no law. So basically Jesus is saying that if you have God’s spirit in you, you’re going to demonstrate these fruits and by their fruit you will know them. And so it’s not enough to just clean up your life by your own efforts on the outside. It’s more than that. You need to be filled with God’s spirit on the inside. Otherwise, yes, like this man, the evil spirits say, oh, this evil spirit says, oh, I can’t bother this man anymore in this area. Let me go find some other sins. Because it’s not that the devil, this one little devil goes and says, hey, that guy’s like, I bet you guys want to live in this house. It’s more like the devil, first of all, is an enemy. That’s why his name is Satan. It literally means enemy. And the devil is very smart. And the devil is trying to kill, steal and destroy you. Look at John Ten. That is the purpose of the devil.

Speaker 2

He wants to kill, steal and destroy you and keep you from going to heaven because he’s angry at God. And the one way he knows that he can get revenge against God is to hurt his children, which is you and I. I know if somebody wanted to hurt me, they could beat me up. I don’t care. But try and hurt my, you know, my family, it’s a different story. And that’s true of, you know, I think anybody. And so that’s why the devil was so adamant about persecuting Jesus when he came, because he wanted to hurt God the Father, you know, for basically what he did. And he wanted to hurt Jesus too, because he was angry at him, too. But he knows that, you know, he can’t touch God, so he touches these, you know, are us, basically God’s people. And so here we see that this evil spirit goes and gets seven demons worse than himself and then enters into that man and his end state is worse than the beginning. And so I think what he’s saying here is basically that when somebody might have the evil spirit thrown out of them and they look cleaned up on the outside, but they’re empty on the inside.

Speaker 2

The devil is not stupid. He knows exactly what this looks like. He knows what a fake religious person is, and he goes, and that person might put away one sin. Like, okay, now this person doesn’t smoke or they don’t say bad words or they give up drugs or something like that, which is good for them to give up. That’s good to put away any kind of sin. But then they get filled with seven worst sins. And let me tell you, the worst of those is pride. And that’s the first thing that God hates. He says, There are seven things I hate. And the first thing he says is a proud look. And so really and truly and you see this sadly, I’ve seen this in many churches where people are like, oh, I don’t do this. I’m so active in the church, and they’re so puffed up and full of themselves and just like, oh, I did this, and my child is on the choir and blah, blah, blah. And it’s all about themself, and it’s all about pride. And that’s a much worse sin to be in rather than, like, say, somebody who comes to church and they know they’re struggling with something, and they know they’re struggling with smoking or bad words or whatever it is, they know they’re struggling and they recognize they need a savior.

Speaker 2

But whereas somebody who’s religious and thinks that they are so perfect, they are really in dangerous territory because they think that they’re fine. They think that they don’t need a savior. They think everything they’re doing is great, and they have no idea that they are completely destitute of God’s Holy Spirit and his love and his kindness and all those things that make us ready to go to heaven. And I think that’s why it’s so important, because you look at Jesus, what he says in Matthew, chapter seven, and we’ll just go back there really quick and I’ll close here because I think this is so important. As far as what Jesus is saying, is it’s not necessarily literally seven demons. Seven is a number of completion. That’s why it’s a seven day week. That was a complete week of creation there’s. You know, like, you look in the Book of Revelation, there’s seven trumpets, seven horns, seven there’s a lot of sevens. And it just means complete. And it actually is funny because it actually says there are seven spirits of God that are before the throne in Revelation, chapter one. And it’s not that there is I don’t think it literally means a literal seven separate spirits of God.

Speaker 2

I think the fullness of God’s Holy Spirit is in the throat or is in heaven. So anyways, I think it just means a completeness of this person being filled with evil. And the worst evil you can have is being proud and thinking you’re great and thinking you’re right with God and thinking you’re righteous when you’re not. And again, Jesus is something very profound. Like I said, in Matthew chapter seven, in verse 20 and actually this is where Jesus says whereby their fruits you shall know them. And in verse 21 he says not everyone that says to me lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. And he says in verse 22 many will say to me in that day lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? And have we not cast out devils in thy name? Have we not done wonderful words? And in verse 23 Jesus says and I will profess into them, I never knew you depart from me, ye that work iniquity. And the thing is, it’s so dead serious because I think this is the most dangerous territory we can be in.

Speaker 2

And I think so many people are completely oblivious to the fact that this can happen to them. I think it’s so easy to think, well, I’m doing all these things for the Lord. Like of course I’m saved, of course I’m right with God. But they’re not coming to a point where they’re willing to admit that there’s something wrong possibly in their heart. And they need to come to the Lord humbly and asking God for his mercy. Because our righteousness, what we do, that’s just filthy rags, it’s meaningless. The only way we can have salvation is through Jesus and through his mercy we are saved by grace, through faith, not of works, lest any man should boast. And so I really think that it’s not literally saying like a devil goes out of somebody and brings seven back. It’s saying that there are people who maybe give up one bad thing or surface bad things and try to make themselves look good on the outside, look religious especially. And yet on the inside they’re empty, they don’t have God’s Holy Spirit and they get filled with these other evil spirits, the other seven bad spirits, which are evil things that are more internal, things like pride, things like hatred, things like selfishness, these are much worse sins than something that’s just kind of external.

Speaker 2

And so again, I think that’s more the principal message of what Jesus is trying to say here to these pharisees, these religious leaders who were absolutely on the outside trying to look super holy, but on the inside they had no love whatsoever. And to the point where they were the ones that put Jesus to death and crucified the Son of God. And I think we have to be so careful because even if we’re not literally crucifying Jesus, we are crucifying Him afresh as we claim to be Christians, and yet we don’t have God’s Spirit in us and we don’t demonstrate his love and his character to the world around us. So anyways, I hope that answers your question. Shadrack. And I pray that the Lord blesses you as you continue to study his word.

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In His Service
BibleAsk Team