Matthew 12:43-45
43 “Now when the unclean spirit goes
out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not
find it. 44 “Then it says, ‘I will return to
my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied,
swept, and put in order. 45 “Then it goes and takes along with
it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there;
and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it
will also be with this evil generation.”
The spirit world one about which we have very limited knowledge
and even less access. It is a real world
that has significant impact on the events of this earth and our lives but there
are many things about it that are hidden from us. The Scriptures tell us all we need to know
about angels and daemons. We are
instructed to pray concerning this spiritual warfare. There are examples from Scripture of Jesus
and the Apostles casting daemons out of people.
However, we are not given clear instructions that require us to follow
these examples. Today’s text gives us a
brief insight into the dangers of daemons in the lives of those who are not
saved and inhabited by the Holy Spirit.
Our protection from daemons is through salvation from our sin by
trusting Jesus.
THE DANGER OF LIBERATION WITHOUT SALVATION: In this story, a
man is liberated from a daemon. We are not
told how this liberation took place, but we can presume from the context that
Jesus was referring to a daemon that had been cast out of a man. This provides great relief to the person but
does not provide permanent protection.
From the passage, it appears that daemons are not comfortable in an
unattached state. This daemon, at least,
seems desperate to find “rest” in another person. Unfortunately, the person from whom the
daemon was cast in this illustration, does not trust in Jesus. His life has been cleaned up but his heart is
still unoccupied. This leaves that man
vulnerable to the daemon’s return. The
key to being protected from daemons is faith in the cross of Christ which
allows the Holy Spirit to enter our lives and keep our hearts occupied. Jesus performed many miracles including the
casting out of daemons; but many men continued to doubt him and refused to
recognize Him as Messiah. This left
these people, like all people without Christ, vulnerable to daemons.
THE DANGER OF MULTIPLICATION WITHOUT SALVATION: The only
thing worse that being possessed by a daemon is to be possessed by multiple
daemons. Jesus warns that those who are
liberated from a daemon but refuse to trust in Him for salvation are at risk of
the multiplication of daemons in their lives.
The first daemon decides to see if it can return to its original “home”
and finds that it is still unoccupied so he then goes and invites other daemons
to possess that person with him. Apparently,
he rationalizes that while he was alone he was week and could be cast out; so
now he decides to invite other daemons more powerful than he to come and join
him in the process of destroying this person.
Satan is striving to erase the image of God on the face of the
earth. Since men are created in God’s
image; Satan would like nothing more than to see all men destroyed. Fortunately, there are holy angels at work to
prevent the destruction of men. The Holy
Spirit is more powerful than Satan and all the daemons of the world. He is the One in whom we must trust and in
whom we can rest assured of protection He affords.
APPLICATION: Trust in Jesus Christ for salvation from sin so
that we can be forgiven of sin and have protection from Satan and his
daemons. Don’t dabble in the spirit
world apart from proclaiming the Gospel; casting out daemons without
proclaiming the Gospel leaves the person vulnerable to worse attacks. Pray for the advance of the Gospel in the
world and thank God for His protection in our lives.
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