Matthew 12:43-45 - Lasting Change.
Matthew 12:43-45 (NLT) When an evil
spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert,
seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, I
will return to the person I came from. So it
returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and
in order. Then the spirit finds seven other
spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter
the person and live there. And so that person is
worse off than before. That will be the experience
of this evil generation.
INTRODUCTION
Jesus was describing the attitude of the
nation of Israel and the religious leaders in
particular. Just cleaning up one's life without filling
it with God leaves plenty of room for Satan to
enter. The book of Ezra records how the people rid
themselves of idolatry but failed to replace it with
love for God and obedience to him. Ridding our
life of sin is the first step. We must also take
the second step: filling our life with God's
Word and the Holy Spirit. Unfilled and complacent
people are easy targets for Satan. [Life
Application SB]
COMMENTARY PEARL
There are people who try to make changes
in their lives, who try to do a spiritual or
moral housecleaning. They know that things
arent the way they ought to be, and they want to
get things right.
But the irony is that some people, in
their attempts to clean up their lives, end up in
a worse state than where they began.
Jesus talked about how we can make
lasting changes in our lives as we undertake a
thorough housecleaning. He was speaking to the
Pharisees, who were the religious, moral, and outwardly
upright people of the day. Yet Jesus had warned this
group about committing the unpardonable sin, which
was blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
He said this because they had attributed
the works of God that He was doing to the devil.
Specifically, they accused Jesus of casting out demons by
the power of the devil. So He warned them of
going too far and actually blaspheming the Holy
Spirit.
He was saying that knowledge brings
responsibility.
Jesus went on to explain, When an evil
spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert,
seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, I
will return to the person I came from. So it
returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and
in order. Then the spirit finds seven other
spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter
the person and live there. And so that person is
worse off than before. That will be the experience
of this evil generation (Matthew 12:43-45
NLT).
Jesus was referring to demonic powers in
this passage. Demons are both real and powerful.
And in this passage, it appears that the person
who once was possessed by this unclean spirit
had a housecleaning. Things were put in order to
some degree. It would appear the person had made
some kind of moral change.
To understand this in context, we must
remember that Jesus was speaking to moral, religious
people who didnt really know God. Jesus was
comparing the human life and heart to a house. And He
was saying that morality wont save us.
Religion wont save us.
Jesus was giving us a picture of those
who make moral changes in their lives but
dont get to the root of their problem, which is
the absence of God in their lives. The sins they
commit are but symptoms of a deeper problem: the
lack of Jesus Christ living inside them.
People will make changes in their lives
for many reasons. Sometimes when they face a
crisis, they begin to evaluate their priorities and
take stock of their lives. They determine what
needs to change.
But often the same people end up going
back to their old ways. Why? Because the house is
swept and put in order, but its still empty.
We must not lose sight of the basic truth
that morality, in itself, will not bring a right
relationship with God. Morality never will bring
spirituality. But true spirituality always will bring
morality. [Greg Laurie from Harvest Ministries;
https://www.harvestdaily.com]
COMMENTARY
It is not God that blinds the eyes of men
or hardens their hearts. He sends them light to
correct their errors, and to lead them in safe
paths; it is by the rejection of this light that
the eyes are blinded and the heart hardened.
Often the process is gradual, and almost
imperceptible. Light comes to the soul through Gods
word, through His servants, or by the direct
agency of His Spirit; but when one ray of light is
disregarded, there is a partial benumbing of the
spiritual perceptions, and the second revealing of
light is less clearly discerned. So the darkness
increases, until it is night in the soul. Thus it had
been with these Jewish leaders. They were
convinced that a divine power attended Christ, but in
order to resist the truth, they attributed the
work of the Holy Spirit to Satan. In doing this
they deliberately chose deception; they yielded
themselves to Satan, and henceforth they were
controlled by his power.
Closely connected with Christs warning
in regard to the sin against the Holy Spirit is
a warning against idle and evil words. The
words are an indication of that which is in the
heart. Out of the abundance of the heart the
mouth speaketh. But the words are more than an
indication of character; they have power to react on
the character. Men are influenced by their own
words. Often under a momentary impulse, prompted by
Satan, they give utterance to jealousy or evil
surmising, expressing that which they do not really
believe; but the expression reacts on the thoughts.
They are deceived by their words, and come to
believe that true which was spoken at Satans
instigation. Having once expressed an opinion or
decision, they are often too proud to retract it, and
try to prove themselves in the right, until they
come to believe that they are. It is dangerous to
utter a word of doubt, dangerous to question and
criticize divine light. The habit of careless and
irreverent criticism reacts upon the character, in
fostering irreverence and unbelief. Many a man
indulging this habit has gone on unconscious of
danger, until he was ready to criticize and reject
the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said,
Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall
give account thereof in the day of judgment. For
by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by
thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Then He added a warning to those who had
been impressed by His words, who had heard Him
gladly, but who had not surrendered themselves for
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is not
only by resistance but by neglect that the soul
is destroyed. When the unclean spirit is
gone out of a man, said Jesus, he walketh
through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
Then he saith, I will return into my house from
whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth
it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he,
and taketh with himself seven other spirits more
wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell
there.
There were many in Christs day, as
there are today, over whom the control of Satan
for the time seemed broken; through the grace of
God they were set free from the evil spirits
that had held dominion over the soul. They
rejoiced in the love of God; but, like the
stony-ground hearers of the parable, they did not abide
in His love. They did not surrender themselves
to God daily, that Christ might dwell in the
heart; and when the evil spirit returned, with
seven other spirits more wicked than himself,
they were wholly dominated by the power of evil.
When the soul surrenders itself to
Christ, a new power takes possession of the new
heart. A change is wrought which man can never
accomplish for himself. It is a supernatural work,
bringing a supernatural element into human nature.
The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His
own fortress, which He holds in a revolted
world, and He intends that no authority shall be
known in it but His own. A soul thus kept in
possession by the heavenly agencies is impregnable to
the assaults of Satan. But unless we do yield
ourselves to the control of Christ, we shall be
dominated by the wicked one. We must inevitably be
under the control of the one or the other of the
two great powers that are contending for the
supremacy of the world. It is not necessary for us
deliberately to choose the service of the kingdom of
darkness in order to come under its dominion. We have
only to neglect to ally ourselves with the
kingdom of light. If we do not co-operate with the
heavenly agencies, Satan will take possession of the
heart, and will make it his abiding place. The only
defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in
the heart through faith in His righteousness.
Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can
never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love,
self-indulgence, and temptation to sin. We may leave off many
bad habits, for the time we may part company
with Satan; but without a vital connection with
God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him
moment by moment, we shall be overcome. Without a
personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual
communion, we are at the mercy of the enemy, and shall
do his bidding in the end.
The last state of that man is worse
than the first. Even so, said Jesus, shall
it be also unto this wicked generation.
There are none so hardened as those who have
slighted the invitation of mercy, and done despite to
the Spirit of grace. The most common
manifestation of the sin against the Holy Spirit is in
persistently slighting Heavens invitation to repent.
Every step in the rejection of Christ is a step
toward the rejection of salvation, and toward the
sin against the Holy Spirit.
In rejecting Christ the Jewish people
committed the unpardonable sin; and by refusing the
invitation of mercy, we may commit the same error. We
offer insult to the Prince of life, and put Him to
shame before the synagogue of Satan and before the
heavenly universe when we refuse to listen to His
delegated messengers, and instead listen to the agents
of Satan, who would draw the soul away from
Christ. So long as one does this, he can find no
hope or pardon, and he will finally lose all
desire to be reconciled to God. DA323-324
LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY
2 Peter 2:20 - We Must Keep Focused On Jesus
Or Sin Will Certainly Ensnare Us.
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2001/20011205-0000.html
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
https://abible.com/links/
