Return of an Unclean Spirit – Luke 11:24-26

Introduction

Luke 11:24-26 ESV  “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’  (25)  And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order.  (26)  Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

• We are on the heals of Jewish scholars and religious leaders insisting that Jesus cast out demons in the name of Satan.
  • Jesus firmly rebuked them, teaching that a house divided can not stand.
  • And last week we learned that a Kingdom Divided can not stand, a Church Divided can not stand, and a person divided can not stand.
• Here today Jesus continues with that line of thinking by sharing this wide sweeping example.
  • If you kick a demon out of a house and it returns to find the house empty, it will come back with seven other spirits even more evil than itself!

Show Title Slide

• Once again, this term house can refer to so many things, a person, a nation, a church… but today what the Lord has stirred on my heart is to talk about two specific areas where this teaching applies…
  • First I want to talk politically, I want to talk about America, I want to talk about the state of our nation and our church, the American church.
  • Second I want to make it more personal, I think this teaching is going to bring some major healing in people this morning who have been struggling to find victory in repentance… it’s going to be awesome church, so let’s get into it!

Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray

Point One – Without Jesus Things Get Worse

Luke 11:24-26 ESV  “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’  (25)  And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order.  (26)  Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

• Many commentators believe that Jesus was making a wide sweeping political statement here.
  • The Jewish nation had struggled with a demon of Idolatry, but through Captivity and God’s grace that demon was swept out.
  • The nation had been freed from this demon, and now one has come… not demonic, but holy, He has come to occupy the throne of Israel… and if Israel would only let Him on that throne, no demon would dare come near to them…
    • But they rejected Him, didn’t they?
    • Jesus knew it, they knew it, and God put it in His Word so we could know it too.
  • The King of the Jews, Jesus Christ, was rejected by His own house.
• The end result is not great… Jesus prophecies what will happen in John 5:43

John 5:43 ESV  I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.

• Revelation expands on this topic showing that much of the Jewish nation will accept the Antichrist as God, a much more worse form of idolatry then ever before.
  • Now of course this is not what God desires, the Jewish people are HIS people, but God is not one to force His will on others, so if they chose to reject there King, so be it, the consequences will be on them.
• But what about America, what happens when we reject our King?
• Let’s get political church…
  • And I am not talking about Conservative vs Progressive.
  • I am not talking about democrat or republican or libertarian… or whatever…
  • I am not talking about how great America needs to be made or not…
  • And I am certainly not talking about President Trump, or Obama, or Bush, or the elections coming up.
• What I am talking about is YOU church, Christians living in America.
• Listen to me church… YOU HAVE LIVING INSIDE OF YOU SOMETHING FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN A VOTE ON A BALLET.
  • You have the living God inside of you, and He wants far more from you than a vote for a particular party or person.
• He want’s to be your King regardless of who is your president, He want’s to be AMERICA’S KING.
• Yet so often we focus on ridding America of evil by the way in which we vote that we forget about inviting the King in… Why do the nations rage when the King is on the throne…
  • Before we continue, let us allow Psalm 2 to preach God’s word for a moment…

Psalms 2:1-12 ESV  Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?  (2)  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,  (3)  “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”  (4)  He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.  (5)  Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,  (6)  “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”  (7)  I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.  (8)  Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.  (9)  You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”  (10)  Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.  (11)  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.  (12)  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

• Republicans and conservatives in this room, listen to me. If president Trump is not re-elected… it will be ok… God is still on the throne!
• Democrats and progressives… listen to me. If president Trump is re-elected… it will be ok… God is still on the throne.
• Ok, do we understand that? Good, now here’s the practical part were I beat y’all up a little bit, ready?
  • If you are passionate about voting in, passing, and enforcing laws that ban evil things…
    • IF YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT VOTING AGAINST EVIL AND ENFORCING LAWS AGAINST EVIL… BUT YOU ARE NOT PASSONATE ABOUT FILLING HEARTS WITH JESUS CHRIST…
    • THEN YOU HAVE MADE THE SAME MISTAKE AS THE PEOPLE WHO ENDED UP KILLING JESUS.
  • Listen church… the Jewish leaders had a law to ban ever even remotely evil looking thing. There legal code would make even the most hardcore conservative blush…
  • AND THEY KILLED JESUS! The one who came to save them!
• There is no way that American law will EVER be as conservative as Jewish law, and what good did it do for them?
  • They kicked out evil and replaced it with something far worse!
• Church the reason our nation is in the state that it is in is NOT because of the political leaders who have been elected.
  • It is not because of presidents, congressmen, senators, or Supreme Court Justices…
• I will tell you instead what the problem is…
  • The problem is pulpits that lack backbone across the nations…
  • The problem is churches that excel in serving others but not in serving God.
  • The problem is converts who never become disciples…
  • The problem is that God gave us a weapon to fight evil… the Sword of The Spirt, God’s Word, sharper than any double edged sword… He gave us a weapon, the Bible, and we as a nation have laid down our arms!
  • We have surrender our double edged swords and replaced them with a paper ballet in the voting both.
• Church the ONLY way we are going to defeat evil in this nation, the only way we are going to see revival in this nation is if we pick up our weapon and train with it.
  • If we passionately love others SO much that we are willing to die for them…
  • That we are willing to pray for them…
  • That we are willing to share Jesus with them…
  • That we are willing to disciple them.
• And when disciples start making disciples who make disciples who make disciples… then it doesn’t matter what the Supreme Court says is or is not ok… because our nation will have a New King, a New Ruler, and evil will not be able to stand the sight of Him!
  • Please, be passionate about politics, vote how the Bible would have you vote… but do not focus on casting out evil if you are not ALSO focused on inviting in Jesus! Amen?!
• That brings us nicely to point two this morning, let’s move away from politics and move into personal growth…

Point Two – Replace What is Bad with What is Holy

Luke 11:24-26 ESV  “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’  (25)  And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order.  (26)  Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

• There are people in this church, listening right now… people on the livestream… people watching on YouTube… there are people listening to me who are striving to be free from sin… but they just can’t seem to get over it… let me talk directly to you…
  • I get it, because I have been there many times… It’s like a rollercoaster ride of holiness… some seasons you are so successful at repenting from sin…
    • You fight, you push, you pray, you fast… you work so hard to rid your life of that sin… whatever it is, whatever dark part of your Christian Life that just keeps clinging on.
    • You fight and get higher and higher… only to, in the blink of the eye, fall right back down into the pit….
    • Then you climb back out, and you push and work and fight…
    • Then crash back down…
    • Over and over again… and it’s not getting better…
  • Why? Has God forsaken you? NO! Absolutely not, but maybe, just maybe, you have forsaken Him and you don’t even know it.
  • Maybe you have been so FOCUSED on getting rid of the evil that you forgot about focusing on inviting in Jesus.
• I want to tell you an old folk tell, (and by old, I mean I just made it up, but roll with me here for a moment).
  • There once was an old maid who was very afraid of the dark.
  • She lived in a cobblestone cottage on top of a hill next to beautiful fields, and valleys and orchards.
  • Every night as it got dark she would shut all of her windows and doors tight to try to keep the darkness out… when that didn’t work, as it never did, she would sigh and grab her broom and began working tirelessly to brush and beat and sweep the darkness out of her home… she would open the door and try to sweep out the darkness that way, open the window and try to shew the darkness out… it always took such a long time…
  • After hours and hours of working, sometimes taking up to 12 hours… finally she would clear the room of darkness, just as the sun rose.
  • By then the woman was so tired that she would fall asleep, waking just around sunset to start the task all over again.
    • In her delusion she never got to see the glory of the light of day, because she was so focused on getting rid of the darkness of night.
  • Until one evening, as she began to try to clean her home of this stubborn thing called darkness, a traveling lamp salesman came by.
  • He watched for a moment, confused, then went into her house and lit a lamp, instantly the darkness was gone.
  • The woman stood amazed, in a moments notice this man had cast out all of the darkness, not by striving and fighting for it, but simply by bringing in a bit of light.
• Some of you are in a season of trying to beat out darkness with a broom…
  • Your goal is admirable, to live a Holy life… we should all strive for this!
  • But your approach is fundamentally broken.
• You must invite in the Light.
  • If you are on the rollercoaster ride I described earlier, then let this verse, as I conclude, minister to you…

Conclusion

Philippians 4:4-8 ESV  Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
Stop, before you do anything else, rejoice in the Lord… and if you missed what I said, let me say it again, REJOICE IN THE LORD.
  (5)  Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;  (6)  do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
In my walk as a pastor I have seen so many people anxious about there own sin, there own holiness… but the Bible says be anxious about nothing, you are more than a conqueror, you will conquer this sin with Jesus’ help!
 (7)  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  
Your heart is struggling with sin, your mind is struggling with sin, you hate it, it disguists you, you don’t understand it… it keeps coming up… God has a peace for you, one that surpasses all understanding, God has a peace for you, but it doesn’t come automatically, you need to be in prayer over it all, and then obey verse eight…
(8)  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Stop focusing on YOUR SIN. Instead focus on your savior. This is not to say ignore your sin, not at all, but it is to say that the best, and only way, to get rid of that darkness is to invite in the light. Focus on the good church, the lovely, the commendable and excellence, the praise worthy.

• If you are struggling on the rollercoaster of repentance, it’s time to shake things up.
  • Start reading your bible more, and take breaks, and talk to God.
  • Don’t let a morning go by without focusing on Him.
  • Spend more time with people at church.
  • Replace secular music with Godly music.
  • Spend less and less time with godless friends and spend more and more time with godly influences…
  • Replace the Bad with the Good.
  • Replace Evil with God.
  • Stop just trying to get rid of evil, and instead, replace evil with Holiness.

Alter Call