Notes on Mat 12:43-45
Luke 11:24-26
Introduction: These verses are listed twice
in the Gospel. In studying the bible things begin to stand out
in importance if they are repeated more than once. Some Groups
(denominations) use theses verses as a
source to prove the finished work of God leaves the believer
insecure in their Salvation.
They try to show they have an understanding man can do something
which will cause man to lose their salvation.
If this were true, Salvation of man’s soul would have to include
the works of man.
It is good the be water baptized. Mat
3:16; Eze 33:13 This is a work
of righteousness. His (man’s righteousness).
Only God’s righteousness is good enough to save. If then it
is a work solely of God. Then God can save to the uttermost. Heb
7:25.
As one looks at this verses some things
should be noted.
Who is the unclean spirit?
Where, if can be known is the dry places?
What is the house? Did he leave of his own accord?
Why were the words empty, swept, and garnished put in the order
they were?
What kind of House was this?
Who did the House belong?
Does one need to look at verses before and after theses?
Are verses 43-45 stand along verses?
Who was speaking? Christ is doing the teaching.
The use of several translations is for a purpose
in trying to understand better the Word of God.
The use of commentaries should be used to see if someone else sees
the same thing you see in the scriptures.
The numbers one rule of bible study is to read the word. Not every
one can read the original.
Both commentaries and translations have a certain amount of man's
ideas, thoughts in them.
Some of the most accurate word for word
translations are the one’s people dislike most.
Everyone is looking for a translation or commentaries which says
what they want it to say.
Further in the text we will try to answer some of these
question. Some the reader can answer, the
meaning is so obvious.
Mat 12:43 KJV When the unclean
spirit is gone out of a man,
he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence
I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and
garnished.
45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked
than himself,
and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse
than the first.
Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
Luke 11:24 KJV When the unclean spirit is
gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest;
and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.
25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.
26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more
wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there:
and the last state of that man is worse than the first.
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge)
1769.
[Bible in Basic English] (Matthew 12:43)
43 But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of a man, goes through
dry places looking for rest,
and getting it not.
44 Then he says, I will go back into my house from which I came out;
and when he comes, he sees that there is no one in it,
but that it has been made fair and clean.
45 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits worse than himself,
and they go in and make it their living-place:
and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.
Even so will it be with this evil generation.
Mat 12:43-45 CEV
Return of an Evil Spirit
43 When an evil spirit leaves a person, it travels through the
desert, looking for a place to rest. But when the demon doesn’t find a
place,
44 it says, “I will go back to the home I left.” When it gets
there and finds the place empty, clean, and fixed up,
45 it goes off and finds seven other evil spirits even worse
than itself. They all come and make their home there, and the person
ends up in worse shape than before. That’s how it will be
with you evil people of today.
The Contemporary English
[computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System,
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1995 by the American Bible Society.
Mat 12:43-45 NIV
43 "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places
seeking rest and does not find it.
44 Then it says, `I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives,
it finds the house unoccupied,
swept clean and put in order.
45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than
itself, and they go in and live there.
And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.
That is how it will be with this wicked generation."
Excerpted from Compton's
Interactive Bible NIV
Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved
Mat 12:43-45 NLT
43 “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking
rest but finding none.
44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’
So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and clean.
45 Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself,
and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person
is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers,
Inc.) 1996.
Some times when studying one needs to look at the verses before the ones
in question. Everything needs to be in context.
Mat 12:18-23 CEV
18 If Satan fights against himself, how can his kingdom last?
Yet you say that I force out demons by the power of Beelzebul.
19 If I use his power to force out demons, whose power do your
own followers use to force them out? They are the ones who will judge you.
20 But if I use God’s power to force out demons, it proves that God’s kingdom
has already come to you.
21 When a strong man arms himself and guards his home, everything
he owns is safe.
22 But if a stronger man comes and defeats him, he will carry off
the weapons in which the strong man trusted.
Then he will divide with others what he has taken.
23 If you are not on my side, you are against me. If you don’t gather in
the crop with me, you scatter it.
The Contemporary English [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library
System,
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1995 by the American Bible Society.
From Collins Bible Dictionary
Unclean spirit ,
an evil spirit that took hold of and controlled a person thereafter demoniac:
such a
person was not though to be wicked but
he was considered ceremonially unclean and contact with him
was forbidden. Mat
10:1; Mark 3:11; Luke 4:36.
Uncleanness== (Ceremonially speaking) These
verses tell the consequences of being unclean.
Lev 5:2-3;
Lev 7:20-21; Lev 17:15; Lev 21:1-15; Lev 22:2-8; .
There are many, if one uses scriptures to explain
a subject which get upset. False prophets and
preacher schools have taught thing so long that when they read the
verses, they read into to the verses
what is not there.
I have given the definition of unclean
spirit. Yes mans spirit is by nature unclean, sinful on its own.
There is nothing man by himself can do to improve his (man's) righteousness.
To save man and to make
man in God eyes righteous there has to be the finished work of Christ
on the cross. Christ had to be rised
from the grave the third day. 1 Cor 15:1-11
.
The evil Spirit ( not the spirit of man ) went into the desert. A
place where there was nothing.
He could find no place to rest. For the demons to have power
they have to be in an animal or man.
Mat 8:31-32; Mark 5:11-16; Luke 8:32-33.
In the KJV in Mat
7:22 translates the Greek daimonia devils
there is only one devil. Demons
would be a correct translation as the demons are so numerous that
it appears to make Satan’s
power practically ubiquitous. Mark 5:9.
Demons are not to be confused with the angels mention
in 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6
1
First demons are spirits 12:43-45.
2
They are Satan’s agents. Mat 12:26-27
3
Demons are many, enough to give the effect that The Devil is everywhere.
Mark
5:9
4
Can enter and control both men and animals. Mark
5:2-5; Mark 5:11-15
5
They readily seek to be in a body. Mark 12:43-44;
Mark 5:10-12.
6
Demon possession and opossession seems the be mention mostly in the N.
T.
Mat 4:24; Mat 8:16, 28, 33; Mat 9:32; Mat 12:22;
Mark 1:32; Mark 5:15-16,18;
Luke 8:36; Acts 8:7; Acts 16:16
7
They are unclean, sullen, violent, and malicious. Mat
8:28; Mat 9:33; Mat 10:1;
Mat 12:43; Marl 1:23; Mark 5:3-5; Mark 9:17-20; Luke 6:16; Luke 9:39.
8 Jesus Christ is known by them as Most High God. They recognize all power
and authority
is given to Christ. Mat 8:31-32; Mark 1:23-24; Acts
19:15; James 2:19.
9
Their eternal fate is known to them as one of torment. Mat
8:29; Luke 8:31.
10 What ever
they control they inflict physical damages.
Mat 12:22; Mat 17:15-18; Luke 13:16.
11 Mental
disease difference from disorder of the mind due the demoniacal control.
12 Religious
asceticism ( one who renounces worldly matters ) can give demon influence
a chance to manifest itself by decline into uncleanness. 1
Tim 4:1-3
13 Signs of demons
in religion is the religion leaving the faith. Departure from the truth.
1 Tim 4:1
14 Demons
constantly are in conflict with Believers who are spiritual or would be
spiritual.
Eph 6:12; 1 Tim 4:1-3.
15 Believers
weapons are prayer and body control. Mat 7:21; Heb
4:12.
The whole armour of God. Eph 6:13-18
16 All unsaved
are subject to demon possession Eph 2:2
17 Paul calls the
evil spirit out in the name (Authority ) of Jesus Acts
16:18.
18 Rev
9:1-11, 20 tells of the demons coming out of the abyss.
The demon seems to have come out of this person
on the demon's own. It is suggested that evil spirits abode
in the desert. In Mat 4:1 Christ was
lead into to wilderness to be tested by the Devil.
Mat 4:1 NIV
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the
devil.
Excerpted from Compton's
Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996
SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved
Dry Places, things animal or plant can not grow without water.
One of the reasons the space people have
not put people on the moon, ECT. Is because of the lack of
water.
One of the keys to owning one business or managing
one successfully is you can never forget what
caused you to be successful. One always has to know your roots.
The evil spirit left this person to find rest. The evil spirit could
not find rest in the dry place.
In the KJV he calls it my house. Implying the
evil had control. Most likely the house was run down
and had became unclean or the demon was not evil enough to completely
control the house.
Now the spirit ( not the spirit of man, nor the Spirit of God )
decides to return. He finds the house in
better shape. The house represents man’s heart.
The house (man) was not saved and is now not saved. It was empty,
Clean ( The Holy Spirit had never
moved in. This allowed the demon to move in and out at will.
Many a soul which will not commit to Jesus Christ
as Lord and Master may become salve to the Devil or one of his demons.
A believer in
Jesus Christ that is saved is a servant not a slave.
Webster’s Dictionary
Slave== a
human being held in bondage; serf; drudge; one under the power or influence
of another;
to work like a slave; toil or drudge.
Servant== one
who serves, or is in the service of another; a domestic; subordinate; an
expression of civility
1 Cor 3:16-17 CEV
16 All of you surely know that you are God’s temple and that his Spirit
lives in you.
17 Together you are God’s holy temple, and God will destroy anyone who
destroys his temple.
The Contemporary English
[computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System,
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1995 by the American Bible Society.
Empty is the first term mention. No one has move
in. The term is use as if a person. It the Holy Spirit
had been there the house would not be empty. In every church there
will be souls that know who Christ is.
They pray to the Father in Jesus name, these people have said
the sinners prayer. It may even be so
where they have meet Jesus, but there never has been that
personally accepting Christ work on the cross.
They have never accepted the Gospel. 1
Cor 15:1-11; John 14:6; John 5:24.
The demon left the house for some unknown reason.
Maybe the house had become run down.
The house has been repaired, renewed enough too support seven evil
spirits worse than he.
Why did he need to have evil spirits worse than him? Are there nicer
and wicker evil spirits?
Once I visited a man in his home. Asked him about
Christ and the church. His statement was
Typical “I tried it once”.
First one never tries it once. You either
get saved by the blood of Christ or you reject Christ.
Oh for a preach that cared more about souls than preaching. Oh for
a Sunday School that cares
for the souls more than their place as teacher. Oh for a pastor
that listens to the needs of dear souls.
Than being scared that some one is telling the pastor what to do.
Most pastors take those Comments
the wrong way. They need to listen. Some thing is wrong. The
first place is to look at our own heart openly.
In doing so we must get self out of the picture.
When I was a mechanic and later service manager.
From there I managed an auto parts store.
All of the Jobs I have had in my life have been public work. A job
that required me to deal and interact
with the public. There has always been one rule.
The
one rule was two part. First the customer would not be there if they did
not have a problem (need).
I have heard mechanics say they just want something for nothing
or she is just a women.
If they come into a place of business I worked to spend their time
and / or money. They had a need.
I always listen.
One case I remember I was given a Lincoln town car
to fix the ignition switch. The complaint was the igntion
was hard to turn on. The key was on the column, locking steering
wheel. You always have to verify the
complaint. I tried everything, tilted the steering wheel. Lubed
the lock and cylinder.
Finally I went to the service writer and asked if the owner of the
car was here. She was in the waiting room.
She was an elder lady in her sixties looked healthy except
for her right arm was in a sling. She had had
Surgery on her shoulder.
I asked her if she would mind showing how she
started her car. This lady was happy to show me. The way
she started the car was with her left arm up, over, and around
the steering column.
She was short about 5ft 3 inches. The muscles in her arm were stretched
as far as they could.
Try this yourself some time.
She had a problem She needed a fix. I explain to her
what was happening. Told her to be sure to put the Lincoln
town car in park and set the parking brake. Then she moved
to the right side of the front seat and stretched her
left arm straight out. In this position she could start her car.
This lady was very happy. I had even let her try some other cars
in the shop.
When I had my own repair business a man brought me
his wife’s car. They had the car at the Ford dealer.
The car originally had a bucking when it shifted into overdrive.
The dealer's mechanic had adjusted the
throttle cable ( passing cable ) so tight that when the car down
shifted coming to a stop it really caused
her back problems. Verify the complaint. Listen or read correctly.
I adjusted the throttle cable and replaced
the spark plugs, under a load in overdrive they shorted to the outside
of the
spark plugs causing a miss fire.
I worked with a man in Memphis TN., Wayne could
calm any customer that a service writer made mad,
not on purpose. Wayne only did one thing. He would Listen first
and let the man get through talking. In the end, He would still tell the
customer the same fix the service writer or shop foreman had told the customer
at first.
There was only one thing Wayne did difference.
Wayne would completely listened to what
the customer had to say. When the customer would stop
talking Wayne simply asked if he was through telling about the problem.
If he was finished Wayne
would tell the customer what we could do and could not do. If the
man was not through Wayne let
him continue talking.
This day and time people have a need to
be heard. The other fact souls need is to feel like they belong
to a church. People like to talk to their pastors. The pastor
is an undershepherd. It is biblical.
Jesus told the disciples to feed my sheep. John
21:15-17. Christ repeated this three times.
Very important. Before one can feed the cows or sheep they have
to be gather together. When they are not
there at feeding time you can not feed them. If you care anything
about them the person that has the care over
them will go find them.
If this man (house) had been visited by a soul winner the evil spirit might
not have had a empty
house with the front door open.
There are many very good pastors that the
church members hold them back in their ministry.
Then what is very sad some pastors have such an ego that they themselves
will not feed the flock.
Oh they tell everone they are. But how can they if they don’t visit
and know the needs of the flock.
It is sad when a pastor can not drive to the home of the members
of the flock God has given him.
My wife and I, in fact my whole family
are dog lovers. At the present a eight-five percent white wolf,
a Golden retriever, and Two small dogs. If I put them outside never
went out there except for the
barking I would never know they got hungry never know if they were
sick.
The fact I visit with our dogs every day
I know their needs. When they need to be groomed.
When they are sick. When they need exercise. A shepherd sleeps with
his flock. Every time he hires a
hiring the sheep get into trouble.
I visited a family the pastor had been at his
church for eight years. The person I was visiting was one
of the youth workers, has two teenagers himself. The pastor
did not know where he lived.
The church is in a rural Area Hardy AR. One hundred to two hundred
in Sunday church. How can a pastor
know what food the flock needs if he doesn’t mix and make
himself available to the sheep.
Back to our verses of God's word.
This man ( house ) was never saved. The Devil and the Holy Spirit
( God ) can not live in the same house.
If you are saved Christ lives in you through the Holy Spirit.
1
Cor 1:30.
The one evil spirit must have though this is a good place so he brings
his friends.
You can not act like you are saved. One has the accept the finished
work. The Gospel of Christ.
God does the saving, God does the keeping.
If man had a part, works, Baptism, church membership,
man could lose their salvation. We can be Glad that God through
Jesus Christ saves our soul.
Had a pastor say he didn’t baptize into the local church. He baptized
into the Lord’s church.
What does the bible say.
Acts 2:47 KJV Praising God, and having favour with
all the people.
And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
Acts 2:46-47 NIV
46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.
They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere
hearts,
47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.
And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Excerpted from Compton's
Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996
SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved
[Bible in Basic English] (Acts 2:47)
47 Giving praise to God, and having the approval of all the people;
and every day the number of those who had salvation was increased by the
Lord.
I believe that it was the Lord which gave the increase. If Baptism,
adds to or is part of the salvation of man’s
soul it would not be the Lord adding. The Baptizer would be
doing the adding.
This is on the line of False teachers. Gal 2:4
[Bible in Basic English] (2 Peter 2:1)
But there were false prophets among the people,
as there will be
false teachers among you, who will secretly put forward
wrong teachings for your destruction, even turning away
from the Lord who gave himself for them; whose destruction
will come quickly, and they themselves will be the cause of it.
[Bible in Basic English] (2 Corinthians
11:13)
For such men are false Apostles, workers of making themselves
seem like Apostles of Christ.
Verses not foot noted came from
SwordSearcher
Version 3.4
Copyright 1999 Brandon Staggs, PO Box 3217, Lihue,
HI 96766
Website: http://swordsearcher.com
Email: bstaggs@swordsearcher.com
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