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."
We saw in our last message that though the Pharisees claimed to be loyal only to the One True God, their loyal was really only to themselves. Jesus handed down the strong indictment they were an evil and adulterous generation because they rejected all the proof that Jesus is the Messiah and asked for a sign from heaven. He told them there would be no sign given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet.
I believe that it is unlikely that the Pharisees, the crowd, or even Jesus' disciples understood with any real clarity what's Jesus was saying. Thankfully, due to the benefit of hindsight, we understand that Jesus was speaking of His resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was the most spectacular event in of all history, proving that Jesus is indeed the Messiah. But Jesus was warning the Pharisees and all who oppose Him about the witnesses who will testify against them on judgment day. I am always intrigued by the unbelieving world, who exists simply to gratify their earthly lusts and desires of the flesh. I have no doubt that they deserve whatever punishment God chooses to give them for their rejection of Christ. I imagine their punishment will be as personal as their rejection.
This explains why so many false satanic religions attack the resurrection of Christ. Satan has always worked hard to cast doubt on the works of God.
This man in attempting to clean up his spiritual house, got rid of some evil, sinful vices. It could have been an individual whom our Lord had cast out this demon who did not receive salvation, so the demon returned. For example, of the ten lepers that Jesus healed, only one came back redeemed. We don't know the specific circumstances, but obviously He is illustrating an external approach to cleaning up your act, rather than an internal transformation. When John the Baptist came preaching repentance, people were confessing their sins, repenting, and being baptized. But when the Jesus Christ came, the Messiah they had been anticipating, the majority wouldn't even listen. They refused to let Christ come in to fill the empty place. The key word here is "empty," a superficial, external morality without Christ leaves no room for the Holy Spirit, and it creates a spiritual vacuum. That is why simply changing ones behavior is never enough, there's no internal transformation of the heart. The heart of the problem is the heart.
In verse 45, He says "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." Jesus is pointing out that an external cleansing is more dangerous than immorality, by externally cleaning up your act, your leaving that space empty, making you an even greater victim of Satan. So instead of just having one unclean spirit, you get eight back. Now you have a worse problem than you had before. When a person becomes self-righteous and moral, believing they've dealt with the issue, living under the illusion of morality they become demon-infested. It is always better to acknowledge your sin, face the immorality and receive Christ, allowing that empty space to be filled by the Spirit of God. Such was the case with the self-righteous, externally moral Pharisees, by learning all the loopholes, they became fearless about the condition of their evil, corrupt hearts, making them sons of hell.
That's why Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?" Only God can uproot the deep-seated sins of our hearts and transform the heart. A relationship through regeneration, that's what's needed. And Mark chapter 7, verses 21 through 23 says, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man." Mere religion, or reformation can not save. True lasting change can only come through an authentic, personal relationship with Christ through regeneration, by receiving Christ into your heart. The more you are subscribed to self-righteous morality, the more you intensify your hellish relationship.
In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Paul says "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."
That's why in Psalms 51, David prayed "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You.
And in 2 Corinthians 5, he says "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
I believe this is a message for the church today. Jesus didn’t preach morality; He preached salvation, repentance from sin. I believe God has called us to do the same, preach the gospel, that's better than morality. All that preaching morality will do is give them a false sense of security, like the scribes and Pharisees. Allow me to point out that is wasn't the immoral people who cried out for Christ’s crucifixion, it was the self-righteous, religious leaders, who were deceived by Satan about their being confident they were holy. That's how Satan's deception works, to draw people away from the true conviction that can bring them to salvation that can only come through Jesus Christ. By attempting to clean up your act apart from Christ, transform through the Holy Spirit, you only end up becoming worse than you were before, falling under greater judgment.
In 2 Peter chapter 2, Peter says "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority."
And in verses 20-22, he says "For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "A dog returns to its own vomit," and, "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire."
Jesus is warning the multitudes of people listening "Don’t follow the moral path of the Pharisees or your end is going to be worse than your beginning." Because of their self-righteous morality their eternal souls are lost in hell forever. Reformation is not salvation. That's the point of His powerful indictment. I don't care how many self-help books you read, you cannot save yourself. True change only comes through your relationship with Jesus Christ. That is the beginning of a truly changed life. After genuine conversion, you will begin to experience an unavoidable change in sensitivity to sin so you can make behavioral modifications through sanctification by the Holy Spirit. The benefits of Christ’s atonement that justifies a sinner before God is only received by God's grace through faith alone. True saving faith is always be characterized by a humble repentance and turning away from sin. In order to receive true redemption and true regeneration, there must be a right relationship.
Look at verse 46 "While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him." It doesn’t tell us why they were there, but we can assume they were concerned about Him giving these terrifying rebukes to the religious leaders. In verse 47, "Someone said to Him, "Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You." Though His brothers didn't believe He was the Messiah, they no doubt cared about Him. In fact, it wasn't until after the resurrection that they really believed Him.
We know Mary loved Him, she was probably worried He'd taken all of this business of blistering rebuke against the Pharisees too far. She probably sensed the imminence of His death and called His brothers to act in sort of a rescue mission. But Jesus, being the master of every occasion, isn't having any part of it. This was not the time for their intervention, He was seizing an opportunity, He was in the middle of preaching a message that desperately needed to be preached.
Listen to what He says in verse 48 "But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?" We can assume their reaction to His question, "What? He doesn’t even know His own family, surely He has gone off the deep end!" We know He loved His family, especially Mary. While He hung on the cross, He said to His disciple John "Behold, your mother!" From that hour the disciple took her into his own household." What He was really asking is "Who having intimacy with Me can put demands on Me in regard to responsibility and fellowship?"
In verse 49, He answers His own question. "And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, "Behold My mother and My brothers!" In a very real sense, Jesus was saying "These people are My family, relationship to Me, is not a physical issue, it's a spiritual issue." I believe He was including Mary and His brothers in that statement. Because Mary had to be redeemed just like everybody else, as well as His brothers, which they were, though His brothers weren't until after the cross. But the finally did believe.
That brings us to verse 50, where He simplifies it, "For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother." So what is God’s will? That people would acknowledge Jesus Christ as His Son, and accept Him as Lord and Savior, that none should perish but that all should come to repentance. That is the will of our Father who is in heaven. After all, that is the purpose for which He came, that the sin of men would be forgiven and they would be reconciled to God, and receive eternal life with Him in His Kingdom, right?
In Closing..
Today, many believe in Christ but aren’t going to be saved. Jesus tells us that in Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter." So we know it's not an issue of knowing Jesus, or believing in Jesus, the issue then, is His Lordship in your life. Receiving Christ and His Lordship in your life, allowing the Holy Spirit to "clean up your act, from the inside." A right relationship with Jesus is the only way to true salvation, transformed and maintained by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. Doing the will of our Father begins with repentance and devotion to Jesus Christ. And, in doing so, we can live as sons and daughters of the one true God, whose hearts should be far from evil.
Have you ever truly submitted your heart to Jesus Christ? If not, I would like to encourage you to do so today. Ask Him to come into your heart, to have His way in your life. Don't wait and allow your heart to be hardened, like the religious leaders of Jesus' day, who had the Son of God standing in the midst, right in front of them and yet, refused to believe, forever condemning the souls to eternal hell. If your heart is moved by this message, I beseech you to do it now, today, while there's still time!
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen