- [Narrator] What Jesus said about unclean spirits.
Jesus gave us an insight into unclean spirits
when the authorities challenged him.
An unclean spirit is a New Testament synonym for a demon,
a more illustrative Jewish term.
The terms unclean spirit and demon
seem to be interchangeable in scripture
and there is no discernible difference
between their meanings.
Some translations call them impure spirits.
Matthew 12:22-45.
"Then a demon possessed man who was blind and mute
was brought to Jesus and he healed him
so that the mute man both spoke and saw.
All the people wandered in amazement,
and said, 'Could this be the son of David, the Messiah?'
But the Pharisees heard it and said,
'This man casts out demons only by the help of Beelzebub,
Satan, the prince of the demons.'
Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them,
'Any kingdom that is divided against itself
is being laid waste,
and no city or house divided against itself
will continue to stand.
If Satan casts out Satan, that is, his demons,
he has become divided against himself and disunited.
How then will his kingdom stand?
If I cast out the demons by the help of Beelzebub, Satan,
by whom do your sons drive them out?
For this reason, they will be your judges.
But if it is by the spirit of God
that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God
has come upon you before you expected it.
Or how can anyone go into a strong man's house
and steal his property unless he first overpowers
and ties up the strong man?
Then he will ransack and rob his house.
He who is not with me, once and for all on my side,
is against me,
and he who does not unequivocally gather with me scatters.
Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy,
every evil, abusive, injurious speaking,
or indignity against sacred things will be forgiven people,
but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man
will be forgiven,
but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit
by attributing the miracles done by me to Satan
will not be forgiven
either in this age or in the age to come.
Either make the tree good and its fruit good
or make the tree bad and its fruit bad,
for the tree is recognized and judged by its fruit.
You brood of vipers,
how can you speak good things when you are evil?
For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
The good man, from his inner good treasure,
brings out good things,
and the evil man from his inner evil treasure,
brings out evil things.
But I tell you on the day of judgment,
people will have to give an accounting
for every careless or useless word they speak.
For by your words, reflecting your spiritual condition,
you will be justified and acquitted of the guilt of sin.
And by your words, rejecting me,
you will be condemned and sentenced.'
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him,
'Teacher, we want to see a sign, attesting miracle from you,
proving that you are what you claim to be.'
But he replied and said to them,
'An evil and adulterous generation
that is morally unfaithful to God
craves and demands a miraculous sign,
but no sign will be given to it
except the sign of the prophet Jonah,
for just as Jonah was three days and three nights
in the belly of the sea monster,
so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights
in the heart of the earth.
The men of Nineveh will stand up as witnesses
as the judgment against this generation and will condemn it,
because they repented at the preaching of Jonah,
and now, something greater than Jonah is here.
The queen of the South, Sheba, will stand up as a witness
of the judgment against this generation and will condemn it,
because she came from the ends of the earth
to listen to the wisdom of Solomon,
and now, something greater than Solomon is here.
Now when the unclean spirit has gone out of man,
it roams through waterless, dry,
arid places in search of rest, but it does not find it.
Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'
And when it arrives, it finds the place unoccupied,
swept, and put in order.
Then it goes and brings with it
seven other spirits more wicked than itself,
and they go in and make their home there
and the last condition of that man
becomes worse than the first.
So will it also be with this wicked generation.'"
When an unclean spirit goes out of a man.
In this particular setting,
the primary focus of Jesus' teachings
was not only the principles behind demonic possession.
He went on to emphasize how grave it would be to reject him
in the same way that the religious authorities had done.
They would be in a much worse position
than they had ever been before
as a result of rejecting and opposing Jesus.
This corrupt generation
symbolized by the religious authorities
who were rejecting Jesus
would realize that their last state
would be worse than the first one they were in.
Jesus was not sufficiently messianic enough for their tastes
in the sense of becoming a political and military Messiah.
This was a primary factor
in their decision to reject Jesus as the promised savior.
"If there had been no reality in demoniacal possessions,
our Lord would've scarcely appealed
to a case of this kind here
to point out the real state of the Jewish people
and the desolation which was coming upon me."
Clarke.
We read, when an unclean spirit goes out of a man,
he goes through dry places, seeking rest and finds none.
It would appear that demons or at least some of them
wish to possess a human host
and search for a location among the vacant,
viewing this as an open invitation to do so.
This lets us know that in this world, we must make a choice.
It would be wise to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
"The devil cannot be at rest where he hath no mischief
to do to men."
Poole.
We then read, "I will return to my house."
"The foul fiend calls the man, 'my house'.
His audacity is amazing.
He did not build or buy that house,
and he has no right to it."
Spurgeon.
A devil can only occupy someone if he finds it empty,
that is, without Jesus Christ's indwelling spirit.
Whether it is empty, the demon doesn't care
if it is also swept and put in order.
If we are filled with Jesus,
being born again by the spirit of God,
then we cannot be empty and therefore inhabited by demons.
Though he shake his chain at us,
he cannot fasten his fangs in us."
Trapp.
And the last state of that man is worse than the first.
Because of this, it is more important than ever
to have the spirit of Jesus Christ fill you up.
To be filled with the spirit of Jesus Christ
is to answer to such anguish.
There is no other way.
There are many demons, not just one.
Here are some of the hazardous traits of demons
that Christians should be aware of.
In Ephesians 6:10-12, we are told to stay strong,
because we are not dealing with the flesh
or tangible and visible beings like humans.
Instead, we are against the rulers, authorities,
and powers of the dark world.
Satan has control over all demons,
and their goal is to be an army to defeat God.
Hence, we as children of God,
need to put on the armor of God.
Taking a demon off a person has risks.
In relation to being demonized,
is it possible for a person to be cleansed of demonization?
Yes.
However, there are risks.
Expelling a demon is analogous
to clearing a bad skin infection.
If it is not done correctly,
using the required method and cleanliness requirements,
the infection will worsen.
In the same way, Matthew 12:45
tells us that without proper spiritual care,
a demonized person can be more demonized.
Cleaning up your life without filling it with God's word
allows Satan and his demons to refill that empty space,
making your life seven times worse.
Do not let yourself be a target for Satan.
The major mission of demons,
according to Christian demonology,
the study of demons, is to cause humans to sin.
The more we sin, the further we are from God,
because it is impossible to attack something
in the presence of the Lord.
The devils want us to be separated from God's presence
so that they might attack with ease.
Evil spirits work against God,
but the Bible also tells us that in His sovereignty,
God can choose to use evil spirits
to carry out His plans and purposes,
demonstrating that He is the supreme ruler of the universe.
While evil spirits exist as part of the hierarchy of evil
with Satan as their leader,
they lack the ability to completely reject God's rule.
Ephesians 6:12,
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
contending only with physical opponents,
but against the rulers, against the powers,
against the world forces of this present darkness,
against the spiritual forces of wickedness
in the heavenly, supernatural places."
God does not create evil,
but He can allow evil powers under his control
to bring about certain outcomes in accordance with His plan.
Jesus Christ cast out evil spirits
from people who were possessed by them,
and gave his disciples the authority to do the same
in his name.
Jesus also faced a demoniac.
The demon inhabiting this man,
like previous demons Jesus dealt with,
recognized Jesus for who he truly is,
the son of the most high God.
Furthermore, he acknowledged Jesus' power and authority.
Despite the fact that the son of God
wanted the demon to leave, the demon begged.
'Don't torment me'.
Because Jesus demanded to know the demon's name,
we can conclude that the demon who was speaking
was merely a spokesman.
He wasn't by himself.
"Legion is my name, because we are numerous."
To put it another way, his demonic aunts, uncles, cousins,
and others had moved in with him.
They pleaded with Jesus to allow them
to relocate to a new home, a herd of pigs.
So Jesus allowed unclean spirits to enter unclean animals,
which promptly rushed into the sea and drowned.
Matthew 10:1.
"Jesus summoned his 12 disciples
and gave them authority and power over unclean spirits
to cast them out and to heal every kind of disease
and every kind of sickness."
Evil spirits know who Jesus is
and that he will judge and condemn them in the future.
Matthew 8:29, "And they screamed out,
'What business do we have in common with each other,
son of God?
Have you come to torment us
before the appointed time of judgment?'"
Many people will be duped by evil spirits
and the false teachings they inspire in the end times.
1 Timothy 4:1,
"But the Holy Spirit explicitly and unmistakably declares
that in later times, some will turn away from the faith,
paying attention instead to deceitful and seductive spirits
and doctrines of demons."
According to the book of Revelation,
deceptive evil spirits
will play a significant role in the last days.
"And I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs
leap from the mouths of the dragon,
the beast, and the false prophet.
They are demonic spirits who work miracles
and go out to all the rulers of the world
to gather them for battle against the Lord
on that great judgment day of God, the Almighty.
Look, I will come as unexpectedly as a thief.
Blessed are all who are watching for me,
who keep their clothing ready,
so they will not have to walk around naked and ashamed.
And the demonic spirits gathered all the rulers
and their armies to a place
with the Hebrew name Armageddon."
Revelation 16:13-16.
In Luke 11:24-26,
we find an example of evil spirits
associated with moral evil.
Jesus uses a parable to demonstrate that defeating Satan
and casting out demons
is not the ultimate goal of the Christian's life.
True disciples must do more
than just sweep away evil spirits.
To keep evil from setting up camp in our spiritual homes,
we must fill our lives with the good things of God
and His kingdom.
Evil spirits should never be regarded in a neutral manner.
They are members of Satan's dark forces,
and they are enemies of God and His people.
Corruption, malice,
and depravity are promoted by evil spirits
in the world and in humans.
They are diametrically opposed to God's holiness,
goodness, righteousness, light, and love.
Evil spirits as the antithesis of the Holy Spirit
represent the polar opposite of God's character,
nature, and will.
They are hostile to God's and Jesus Christ's work,
and believers must always resist them.
"Be alert and of sober mind.
Your enemy, the devil, prowls around
like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Resist him, standing firm in the faith."
1 Peter 5:8-9.
Paul tells the Ephesians over and over, "Stand."
In other words, remain in the area
where victory has been won while protected by God's armor.
Standing under an umbrella does not stop the rain.
However, it prevents you from getting wet.
In this thing called the Christian life,
you have to dress for success.
When your number is called
and you are under a full frontal satanic attack
on an evil day, you must be wearing the full armor of God.