[Note: This sermon expounds Matthew 12:43–45. Delivered 7 May 1978, Montreal.]
We continue our exposition of the Lord's teaching in Matthew chapter 12. The passage we come to today is verses 43 to 45. A brief word first on verses 36 and 37: the principle for understanding those verses is already given in verse 34 — "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." Men will render account for every careless word because the words express what is in the heart; "by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." Regarding verses 38 to 42, the sign of Jonah, I have already expounded that passage at Easter of 1977 and shall not repeat it today.
Now to verses 43 to 45: "When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it comes it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation." The whole context of Matthew 12 is the confrontation between the Holy Spirit and Satan — the chapter opened with the Lord Jesus being accused of casting out demons by Beelzebul. All the way through Matthew 12, the Lord has been establishing that there is no neutral ground between these two powers. You may be a vacant possession for a short time, but soon the evil spirit will come back.
The word "house" in the Bible is a common picture of a human being. When the Lord Jesus says to build your life on the rock, he is comparing your life to a house. In John 14, he says the Father and Son will come to any man who obeys and make their home in him — dwell in him as in a house. Revelation 3:20: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man opens, I will come in." Again and again in Scripture, the person is thought of as a house. The Apostle Paul even speaks of his own body as a tent: "Though this tent will be pulled down, I will have a new house in which to live." The essential point of the Lord's teaching here is therefore this: you are either the house of God, the temple of God, or you are the house of the devil — possessed by one or more of his demons. There is no neutral ground between the two.
Now, why did the evil spirit leave in the first place? He was cast out by the power of God working through the Lord Jesus. No man frees himself from the power of Satan — if we could, we would have no need of Christ, no need of the Holy Spirit working through the Lord Jesus. This person was freed because he believed in Jesus and called upon him to set him free. Confucius once said: "Respect the spirits but keep them at a distance." This sounds like good advice, but the trouble is it is not up to you to keep evil spirits at a distance — they don't want to stay at a distance from you. You may put it this way: the robber does not stay away simply because you respect him; he is interested in your possessions and will take them. Confucius himself very humbly acknowledged that he did not understand much about spiritual life, and in this he was right. The battle is between spiritual forces far greater than us; we are caught in between, and only the power of the Lord Jesus can set us free.
The evil spirit, cast out, wanders through waterless places seeking rest but finding none. The prophet Isaiah says: "There is no rest to the wicked." Where there is no water there is no life, and where there is evil there is no life. Evil is waterless, lifeless, joyless, restless — let no one tell you differently; you cannot separate righteousness from life. The evil spirit eventually decides to return to where he came from to see if he can find rest there. And when he returns, a delightful sight meets his eyes: the house is empty, swept, and put in order. The word "put in order" comes from the Greek cosmeo, from which our word "cosmetics" derives — meaning decorated, beautified, made to look attractive. Somebody has done all the cleaning and decorating for him. What troubles him is that the house is empty: a vacant possession, waiting to be occupied.
Why does the evil spirit not simply rush in? Because he was thrown out once before, and he is not going to make the same mistake twice. He goes off and finds seven spirits more evil than himself — more powerful, higher up in the hierarchy of evil — and returns with them. In the spiritual world, the greater the degree of evil, the greater the spiritual power; as the Holy Spirit, perfect in holiness, is the most powerful for good, so the most evil is the most powerful for evil. The evil spirit brings reinforcements so that if anyone tries to throw them out this time, it will be far harder. Then he and his seven companions — eight spirits in all — enter the house together. "The last state of that man becomes worse than the first." He was possessed by one spirit; now he is possessed by eight, and they are worse than the first. His condition is vastly worse, not merely eight times worse.
Now, what does this mean for us? A person who comes to Jesus only because he is weary of the restlessness and misery of sin — wanting peace, joy, freedom from the consequences of sin — and not because he has genuinely learned to hate evil and love righteousness, is a person who wants to make use of God. He wants to be freed from the oppression of Egypt, but he does not want to live under the rule of God. The whole generation of Israelites who came out of Egypt were exactly this: they wanted out of Egypt, but they did not want to live under God's authority. They were constantly grumbling, and the whole generation perished in the wilderness. So what happens today? People raise their hands at conferences, go through a process of moral reform, and for a time things genuinely improve — the house is swept clean, decorated, the old sins put away. It is God's work and we do not minimize it; there is a real change. But the one thing you must not think is that this work will remain automatically.
The doctrine of once saved, always saved is the most dangerous teaching that has come into the church in our day, and I say it comes straight from hell. I have seen people go to pieces spiritually, one after another, because they thought they were okay — because they thought that once saved they could never be lost. "When you think you stand, take heed lest you fall," Paul warns. Notice the chilling words at the end of this passage: "So shall it be also with this evil generation" — a generation that wants cosmetic Christianity, salvation that costs nothing, change that does not involve the Lordship of Christ in their lives. You want to sweep them in at conferences? To lose them with the next tide? It comes in with the tide and goes out with the tide. Not one promise of God in the Bible is unconditional. If you do not fulfill the condition, the promise will be null and void.
# Be Either the Temple of God or the House of Belial — Matthew 12:43–45 (Part B) — God's Conditional Promises; Two Steps to Salvation; Being Filled with the Spirit
[Note: This is Part B of the sermon on Matthew 12:43–45, continuing directly from Part A. Delivered 7 May 1978, Montreal.]
Not one promise of God in the Bible is unconditional. If God makes a promise to you and you do not fulfill the condition, the promise will be null and void. In 1 Samuel 2:30, God speaks to Eli the priest of Israel. God had promised Eli's house and his father's house that they should go in and out before him as priests forever. But then the Lord declares: "Far be it from me — for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed." And not only does Eli lose the eternal priesthood — his entire house is to be wiped out. "Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house forever." Eli was not a bad man, generally speaking — he was simply unfaithful. He brought up his children badly and did not perform his priestly function properly. To whom much is given, much is required; God gave Eli much, and required much in return.
This may sound severe, but you must know the Word of God. God is wonderful in his loving kindness — but his love is holy love, and he will not tolerate sin among his people. Today's churches want to sweep away holiness; we only want to talk about love and not holiness, as though these were two separate things. But God's love is holy love — he will not abide evil. The Apostle Paul warned about this again and again to the Corinthian church: "Purge out the old leaven from among you, otherwise the whole lump will be leavened." The scriptural teaching is plain: we are either God's house or we are going to be the house of Satan, one way or the other. There is no neutral ground between the two, whatever anyone may tell you.
Even if a person is currently under the power of an evil spirit, that evil spirit possesses the house — the person — but he does not possess the will. You can still call upon the Lord Jesus to set you free. But let me warn you this: when he sets you free and you allow your house to remain a vacant possession, Satan will return again, and this time with even greater power. This is why it is virtually impossible to restore a person who has once been a Christian and then turned away from God — this is the warning in Hebrews 6:4–6. To have once tasted of the kingdom, of the power of the age to come, of being a partaker of the Holy Spirit, and then to fall away — is to put yourself in the most dangerous position imaginable. The gospel does not allow us to exploit it for our own advantage as if God's grace were an insurance policy that works regardless of how we live.
There are two essential steps to salvation, and you must take both of them. The first step is by faith to be set free from sin and from the power of Satan — to be swept clean, to have your house restored and redecorated. This is God's work, and we praise God for it. Now, the person in this parable was set free; was he saved or not? On the definition of the word "saved," you have to say yes — he was freed from the power of Satan, saved from the unclean spirit. But the fact that he was freed did not mean he remained free. The first step alone is not enough.
The second step is that the house must not be left empty. Once you have been freed from Satan, you must let the Spirit of God fill you — you must become the temple of God. This is not a second or higher stage of the Christian life for special Christians, as some preach today; it is absolutely fundamental to salvation. Romans 8 says: "He that has not the Spirit of Christ is none of his." And the Holy Spirit either comes in fully or does not come in at all — you cannot have half a Holy Spirit. He is a person; he does not fill a quarter of your life or half your life like water in a cup. Either the Holy Spirit fills your life or he does not, and it is as clear and as simple as that.
When you are filled with the Spirit of God, Jesus is Lord in your life — he has control. Acts 5:32 states plainly: "God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey him." If you crown Jesus Lord in your life, you have the fullness of the Spirit. If Jesus is not Lord in your life, you do not have the fullness of the Spirit. This is why we are so careful in this church about accepting anyone for baptism — it is not to make things hard for you, but out of sheer love for you. If I accept you for baptism now and you fall away, your last state will be worse than your first. I would rather wait until you are truly clear before God and I am clear before God that you are ready. We are not here to build up numbers; we are here to build with gold, silver, and precious stones — with people who are genuinely filled with God's life — not with wood, hay, and straw.
Ask yourself right now: which stage are you at? Stage one — freed from sin, the house swept clean — is a wonderful thing, and if you are there, praise God. But have you also come to stage two — filled with the Spirit of God, with Jesus as Lord in your life, with the house occupied and not vacant? Because unless you come to stage two, the Lord's warning stands: the evil spirit will return with seven more powerful spirits, and your last state will be worse than your first. Only when Jesus fills your life by his Spirit will you be truly secure against the attack of the evil one — only then. Think carefully on these things. Let us be quiet before God in prayer.