603. Gospel of Luke - Chapter 11 (#5) - If an Unclean Spirit Leaves, He may come back with his friends. - July 24, 2024

[00:00:06] Welcome to Wisdom Today. My name is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. In this podcast we will be exploring the book of Proverbs. Let's open and prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today.

[00:00:27] Lord, I pray you give everyone ears to hear and a heart to receive everything. You have in store for them today. I ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. This is Proverbs 24, beginning in verse 1.

[00:00:42] Do not be envious of evil men nor desire to be with them for their heart, devises violence and their lips, talk of trouble making. Through wisdom a house is built and by understanding it is established.

[00:01:00] By knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is strong. Yes, a man of knowledge increases strength. For by wise counsel you will wage your own war and in a multitude of counselors there is safety.

[00:01:23] Wisdom is too lofty for a fool. He does not open his mouth in the gate. He who plots to do evil will be called a schemer.

[00:01:34] The devising of foolishness is sin and the scoffer is an abomination to men. If you faint in the day of adversity your strength is small. Deliver those who are drawn toward death and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.

[00:01:56] If you say surely we did not know this does not he who wades the hearts consider it. He who keeps your soul does he not know it

[00:02:08] and will he not render to each man according to his deeds. My son eat honey because it is good and the honey comb which is sweet to your taste.

[00:02:21] So shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul. If you have found it there is a prospect and your hope will not be cut off.

[00:02:33] Do not lie in weight a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous. Do not plunder his resting place for a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.

[00:02:52] Do not rejoice when your enemy falls and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles. Lest the Lord see it and it displays him and he turn away his wrath from him.

[00:03:08] Do not fret because of evil doors nor be envious of the wicked. For there will be no prospect for the evil man, the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

[00:03:22] My son fear the Lord and the King do not associate with those given to change for their calamity will rise suddenly and who knows the ruin those two can bring.

[00:03:38] These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to show partiality and judgment. He who says to the wicked you are righteous him, the people will curse.

[00:03:53] The actions will abhor him, but those who review the wicked will have delight and a good blessing will come upon them. He who gives a right answer kisses the lips.

[00:04:08] Prepare your outside work, make it fit for yourself in the field and afterward build your house. Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause for what you deceive with your lips.

[00:04:25] Do not say I will do to him just as he has done to me. I will render to the man according to his work.

[00:04:35] I went by the field of the lazy man and by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding and there it was all overgrown with thorns.

[00:04:48] It's surface was covered with necks. It stone wall was broken down. When I saw it, I considered it well. I looked on it and received instruction a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest.

[00:05:07] So show your poverty come like a prowler and you need like an armed man. Friends, we will take a closer look at those two verses prior to closing today. But what I'd like to do is to begin this podcast exactly where we left off on Monday's podcast.

[00:05:56] And Monday's podcast was entitled a house divided against itself. Cannot stand. I went into detail how this was the theme of one of Abraham Lincoln's favorite speeches back when he was running for Senator in the state of Illinois in the year 1858.

[00:06:22] But we are going to pick up today in chapter 11 of Luke beginning in verse 24. When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places seeking rest and finding none, he says, I will return to my house from which I came.

[00:06:47] So friends, my first point is this an unclean spirit may return. So when I say may return, I mean he may come back to the house and ordinarily in this case the house is a human body.

[00:07:08] Now friends, we are all spirit beings. But the thing about spirit beings is that in order for them to live, there has to be a human body present for them to be in.

[00:07:24] Now one thing I will mention about verse 24, it doesn't say why this unclean spirit left in the first place. Now did it leave on its own and I would be willing to suggest that ordinarily that does not happen.

[00:07:44] There are people who have unclean spirits living inside of them. We hear several occurrences in the Bible where that's the case, but ordinarily those spirits did not leave on their own accord.

[00:08:04] And in the Bible Jesus delivered these individual bodies of the spirit that had taken residence inside that human body. But in this particular case we are not told that that happened. So I'm suggesting that we asked that why did it leave in the first place.

[00:08:29] But if I'm really thinking about it, it doesn't matter why it left. What we're going to find out today is it makes the decision that it's going to come back. Let's look at verse 25.

[00:08:46] And when he comes, he finds its swept and put in order. Now friends, I am reading out of the Nelson study Bible and I'd really like to go over the commentary for that verse 25.

[00:09:05] And the word swept, what does the author mean when he wrote that? And it says the exercise person becomes like a clean house. Although empty if God is not present and still exposed to spiritual danger.

[00:09:29] Friends, I do want to bring up something that some of you may not even be considering. And the thing is this, friends prior to receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

[00:09:45] Now I often suggest that that is the most important decision anyone can ever make in their life. And that is because that decision impacts eternity. And the decision will basically determine whether you end up eternally in hell, meaning absent of Jesus in heaven.

[00:10:16] Or for those who make the logical decision. And the right one may I add are those who choose to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

[00:10:29] And basically, are ensuring their place in heaven and eternity with Jesus at the ready. In other words, you will have access to him or you will see him and be praising him on a regular basis.

[00:10:47] Point that I want to bring up is this. If you have just received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, it is a very precarious situation or at least it can be if people who have led you in the sinner's prayer do not check up on you and make sure that you're doing well.

[00:11:12] I often say on this podcast that right away immediately, you need to join a local church. You need to surround yourself with like-minded individuals who are all so Christians.

[00:11:26] You need to help you and guide you through this new walk with God. And if no one is available to do that, or if you don't go to a church or if you do not follow up and make friends of people who are Christians, Satan will and can devour you.

[00:11:50] He will come back in and Satan is basically the greatest on clean spirit. He will tell you that you did not want to become a Christian, that you didn't mean to do that and that you don't need to do that.

[00:12:09] Jesus is happening here, let's go to verse 26 and it says then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself. And they enter and well there and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

[00:12:33] So friends, my second point today is that unclean spirit may bring his friends with him and come back and basically haunt you.

[00:12:48] Now, I don't want to be the bearer of bad news. I don't and I don't really want to bring this up but I am suggesting that it's important that you are aware of this.

[00:13:03] And I'm talking about the importance of having good solid Christian friends that you can have access to that you can talk to spiritual matters about and have questions answered once you receive Jesus. Let's now look at the commentary for verse 26. The last state is worse.

[00:13:31] Jesus' point is that experiencing God's blessing and then ignoring it leaves one callous towards the work of God and exposed to the control of demonic forces.

[00:13:49] Now, first Peter chapter 5 tells us that Satan or our adversary the devil goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

[00:14:05] And friends, if you are either a brand new Christian or if you don't ever read the Bible, if you're unaware of what the Bible tells you.

[00:14:18] Friends, we need to be very well versed in the Bible in order to counteract the fact that Satan is going to come and tickle us in our ears and say, listen to this. Listen to this.

[00:14:35] And boy, you can be overwhelmed if you don't have an answer for what he tells you. I know some people don't want to hear that but that is the spiritual reality we need to be strong if we are going to make Satan null and void in our life.

[00:14:57] In the book of James chapter 4 verse 6 it says, submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Friends, we have the power to kick Satan out of our lives.

[00:15:15] When he comes to us and he talks to us and speaks to us and tells us lie after lie, do not give in to him. But instead kick him in the teeth, but we have to be submitted to God in order for that to happen.

[00:15:35] Before we close today, let's go back to our verse of the day and today is the 24th of July and we were talking about verses 1 and 2. Let's revisit those verses right now.

[00:15:50] Do not be envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them for their heart, devises, violence and their lips talk of trouble making.

[00:16:04] Now friends, let me read the commentary in my Bible for those two verses. In proper 23 you verses 17 and 18 tell us about the future to discourage envy of the wicked. This set of verses simply points out how unworthy the wicked are of any admiration at all.

[00:16:33] Now friends, the reason I picked these two verses today is they go hand in hand for our lesson of the day today. Today we're talking about an individual who had an evil spirit living on the side of him and friends may I plant a seed in your heart that if you have an evil spirit living on the inside of you,

[00:17:02] there is a very good chance that you will be one of these evil men mentioned in verse 1 of proper 24. That we are not to be with evil men and we're not to be an evil man. So if you have anything that resembles an evil spirit inside of you, we need to get rid of it.

[00:17:30] You need to kick the devil in the mouth and say no, no, no, you have no place inside my body. And we have the authority to do that. It says for their heart, devises, violence and their lips talk of trouble making.

[00:17:48] Friends, evil people think, evenly. Good people think good things. Friends, it is so vital that we make a distinction between good and evil people in our lives.

[00:18:08] We need to follow the example given in Psalm 1. And I would suggest that if anyone is not familiar with Psalm 1, that you listen and read those six verses in Psalm 1,

[00:18:24] and really characterize and discern who you are going to be spending your time with and who you are going to seek counsel from.

[00:18:38] So my call to action is this, how careful are you every single day with the people you talk with, how careful are you in discerning who you seek counsel from and who you don't.

[00:18:59] Friends, I will never end a podcast without giving anyone an opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. If there is anyone listening today, you've never taken that step. I invite you to repeat a simple prayer after me today.

[00:19:17] Father God, I thank you that you sent Jesus to earth. Jesus, thank you that you were willing to come to earth and die on a cross for everyone listening to this podcast today.

[00:19:32] I believe that you are the Son of God. I believe that you were willing to die on that cross for the sins of all of mankind for all time.

[00:19:44] By doing that, you have forgiven anyone listening to this podcast of all of their sins and yet I still need your help. I ask you come into my heart. I ask that you lead me and guide me from this point forward. I make you my Lord and Savior.

[00:20:06] Friends, may the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord makes a state shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord liftoff his countenance upon you and give you peace. Friends, please join me again tomorrow as we further explore wisdom today.