#92 Lu. 11:24-26 A WARNING FROM JESUS ABOUT EVIL SPIRITS

Introduction:

    In our previous text Jesus cast a demon spirit out of a man
whom Luke says was dumb.  That is, the man could not speak.
Matthew said that the man was both blind and dumb.  In this man's
case these conditions were not brought about by natural causes.
They were caused by the demon spirit that indwelt the man.  When
Jesus cast the demon spirit out of him, he was immediately able
both to see and to speak.  The demon which caused his afflictions
was gone and he was able to see and speak.
    In our text today Jesus issues a warning that not only applied
to that man, but it to the whole generation of His day.  It is
also a warning that many today would do well to heed.

I.  The warning about demons returning

    V. 24, "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man..."  The
unclean spirit spoken of here is not the man's spirit, although
the spirit of every unsaved man is unclean.  Man has both a body
and a spirit.  When God created Adam God gave him a clean spirit.
But when Adam ate the forbidden fruit his spirit became unclean.
It became depraved, sinful.  But I repeat:  The unclean spirit
which is spoken of here in this text is not the unclean spirit of
the man himself.  When a man's spirit leaves him he is dead and
that spirit will not return to his body until the resurrection.
But what Jesus is talking about in this verse is a man who
continues to live on after the unclean spirit leaves him.  Then
later the unclean spirit returns to that man.
    Therefore, the kind of unclean spirit that Jesus is talking
about here is the same kind of unclean spirit that He had just
cast out of the man who was blind and dumb.  He was talking about
a demon spirit.  All demon spirits are unclean.  They are
spiritually and morally unclean.
    Jesus warned that there is the danger that the demon might
return and re-enter the man whom he has left.  (V.  24), "...he
walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he
saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out."  We learn
from this statement that a wicked spirit can exist on earth
without indwelling either man or beast.  But they prefer to
indwell man.  When they do indwell man, they are able to exercise
their most damaging influence on the human race.
    V. 25, "And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and
garnished."  In this statement Jesus describes the condition of
the man after the demon left him.  The man is compared to a house
that has been swept and garnished.  That it, it has been
thoroughly cleaned and beautifully decorated.  In the life of the
man this speaks of a reformed condition.  He has turned over a new
leaf.  He has stopped his bad habits.  He has cleaned up his
speech.  He has cleaned up his act.  He has started doing good
things instead of wicked things.  He may have even become active
in church.
    However, that good clean condition will not last very long
after the demon returns.  V. 26, "Then goeth he, and taketh to him
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."

II.  A warning to the man from whom the demon had been cast

    That this statement of Jesus was first a warning to the man
from whom Jesus cast the demon.  Jesus was warning this man that
his need went far beyond just merely having the demon cast out so
that he could see and speak.  He needed to be born again.  He
needed to be saved.  It was good that the demon was gone.  It was
good that he was now able to see.  It was good that he was now
able to speak.  It was good that as a result of this great
experience that he would be able to clean up his life and start
living better.  All that was good, but it was not good enough.
    This man was still guilty of sin before God and he needed to
repent of his sin and place his trust in Jesus Christ for the
salvation of his soul.  He needed to be born again.  Jesus said on
another occasion that except a man be born again he could not
enter into the kingdom of God.  When one is born again he is born
by the Holy Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit comes to indwell his
soul.  This is the change that the man needed.  He needed to be
born again so that if the demon spirit should return and seek to
re-enter the man that he would find a new tenant dwelling therein.
He would find the Holy Spirit dwelling within and there would be
no way that the demon spirit would be able to move back in.
    It seems that Jesus is warning this man that unless he repents
of his sin and is born again so that the Holy Spirit would indwell
him that Jesus would allow the demon to return and to bring with
him seven other spirits more evil than himself making the
condition of that man worse than the first.  .
    So the man from whom the demon was cast now had a choice to
make.  He could either repent of his sins and be saved or else he
would wind up in far worse condition than he was before the demon
was cast out.

III.  A warning to the whole nation of Israel

    According to Matthew, Jesus was not only warning the man from
whom the demon was cast, but He was warning the whole generation
of Jews who lived at that time.  He was warning that they needed
to repent and be saved.  If we look back upon the nation of Israel
prior to the time when they went into Babylonian captivity, we see
the whole nation as though they were possessed by a demon spirit.
The house of Israel was filled with idolatry and all manner of
immorality and sin.
    Then the nation was carried away into captivity to Babylon and
under the pressure of severe suffering, the entire nation cleaned
up their act and got rid of their idolatry.  They also cleaned up
their act as far as morals was concerned.  It was as though the
demon which had produced all this corruption and sin had departed
from them.  If that demon should ever return he would find that
the house of Israel had been swept clean and was garnished with
good conduct.  But Israel was right at that very moment in history
at a very crucial point.  The Christ had been born and was right
living right there among them.  They could open up their hearts to
the Christ and trust in Him and be born again.  On the other hand
they could reject the Christ and let the demon which had once
affected them back in.  The Pharisees and Sadducees had already
made their choice.  They had already made their decision to put
the Christ to death.  Now the people, the masses of people must
make their choice.  They could follow the leadership of the
scribes and Pharisees and reject Jesus or they could yield to the
Holy Spirit of God and receive Jesus.  If they should make the
wrong choice they would soon find that the spiritual state of
their nation would be worse than it was before they were ever
cleansed from their idolatry.

IV.  A warning to all who seek to go to heaven by reformation

    Through this record in the Holy Scriptures Jesus is also
giving warning to those of every generation who try to get to
heaven by merely cleaning up their lives.  A man can make the
decision to clean up his act and start doing better and actually
be successful in doing so.  He can stop his bad habits.  He can
start going to church.  He can stop his cursing and stop telling
the dirty jokes.  He can stop stretching the truth and start
adhering strictly to the truth as far as he knows it.  He can
start living by a strict moral code.  He can start tithing at
church.  He can start giving to the poor about him.  He can start
living good in every way that he can think of.  But if this is all
that he does he will still wind up in a worse condition than ever.
He will wind up in the fires of hell.
    A demon will leave a man alone for a spell when that man is on
a "clean-up-my-life" kick.  Demons do not like clean living.  So
they will leave that fellow alone for a while.  But if that person
never repents of his sin and never trusts in Jesus for salvation,
the demon will come back.  If that person is never born again so
that he becomes indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God then the demon
will come back.
    Then when he does return he will not return alone.  He will
return with seven other demons.  He will return with demons that
are more wicked than himself.  The result is that the last state
of that man is that he is in worse condition than he was ever in
before he reformed.
    Listen.  What people need most is not to be reformed, but to
be reborn.  They must be born again.  They must to be saved.  They
must have regeneration instead of reformation.  If one has only
turned over a new leaf it is just a matter of time until the new
leaf will be dirty.  It will be just as dirty as the old.  It will
be dirtier than the old!  If one has only turned over a new leaf
he still has the old dirty leaf plus a new leaf that is dirtier
than the old.  If one has merely turned over a new leaf, he will
wind up in the fires of hell and will suffer there forever and
forever.
    On the other hand, if one will repent of his sins and trust in
Jesus Christ for salvation, all of his sins will be washed away.
He will be forgiven of every sin.  There will not be one sin
left against him to require him to suffer in hell.  When he trusts
in Jesus Christ as his Savior his inner spirit will be born by the
Holy Spirit of God.  The Holy Spirit nature will be born into his
soul and from that moment forward the very Holy Spirit of God will
always be present within his soul.  The Holy Spirit which
continues to dwell within will then help that person to make the
changes in his conduct that he ought to make.  The Holy Spirit
will help him to clean up his life.  Demons may return and tempt
him in many ways, but no demon will ever again indwell him.  That
man, woman, boy or girl will be able to live his life here on
earth for the honor and glory of God.  Then when he dies he will
spend eternity with God in glory.

    Conclusion:

    Come today and trust Jesus Christ to save your soul.  Then let
the Holy Spirit who dwells within help you to make the changes
that ought to be made in your life.  Do not try to change all on
your own.  Let the Lord Jesus Christ save you and let the Holy
Spirit of God change you.