SWEPT CLEAN AND EMPTY
02/17/13 20:30
Matthew 12:43-45 43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. 44 Then he says, I will return into my house from where I came out; and when he is come, he finds it empty, swept, and garnished. 45 Then he goes, and takes with 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. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
This is an interesting passage, let’s see what it means. There was a demon residing in this host and for some reason he had to leave. Yet, the demon comes back to find it swept clean and takes up residents again, but this time, he brings his friends for a big party.
Before this passage we see the scribes and pharisee’s asking for a sign from Christ (vs 38). This story then has something to do with this event.
Then we see Christ giving a comparison to the time of Jonah and Nineveh. He states that Nineveh repented, because of Jonah’s ministry to them (finally, after being swallowed) and they preached of Jonah, yet one greater than Jonah is here. And because of this, they will judge this generation.
Then Yeshua talks about the queen of the south; He’s talking about the Queen of Sheba when she was so passionate on what Solomon’s nation was doing, and why it was so blessed, that she had to pursue this guy. So, she packed for the trip and brought all sorts of gifts, including a large sum of gold, to give to Solomon. Ok, what do these two stories have to do with this demon and the host?
The Queen of Sheba actively pursued Solomon with many of her riches, wanting what he had. We need to be actively pursuing the Son of God, with ALL that we have.
The Ninevites repented, but if they would not have gone out and preached of Jonah they would not have been a tool for the kingdom. Yet, we have one greater who, like Jonah was in the belly of the fish, was in the grave for three days and three nights and rose again to bring us to repentance, meaning a change of life. We are to be preaching to the world about this Savior.
This thing, called Christianity, is not about warming the pews, it’s not about hiding our light in the bushel of the church building and fishing for men out the windows. Yeshua said seek me FIRST, and GO out into the world.
The host of this passage in Matt 12:43-45 repented. This is why the demon had to flee and why the place was clean. But this host did not actively pursue Christ; he did not go out and preach of Christ. Therefore, he remained empty; so when this sinful demon came back, he found a nice clean place for him and his buddies to move into. This means, if we repent but do not seek diligently, do not go into the world spreading the gospel of Christ that we do not have a relationship with Yeshua and He will not dwell in us.
Exodus 20:5 (KJV) 5 ...I the LORD thy God am a jealous God,...
Too often we treat Yeshua as though He’s a prostitute. We want Him, but only when we need Him. We go to church on sunday, we watch our television, our sports, our computer screens and we don’t need Him. We live our lives and then when we need Him we call on Him. This is not how it works. He said seek me first (Matt 6:33).
Recently, in a 3.5 million dollar study at Ball State University Center, they found that an average American spends 8.5 hours per day in front of a screen, either TV, cell phone, computer, etc. An average American is exposed to 61 minutes of television ad’s per day.
In a recent Barna Poll, they found that among the Bible readers, the average amount of time spent reading the Bible during an entire week is 52 minutes. That’s less than 8 minutes a day.
This is NOT seeking Christ first. None of the programing on television is worth watching, but the most useless of it all, commercials, get’s 87% more time than seeking God’s Word; and that’s only compared to commercials.
“If you spend more time watching television then on your knee’s or in the Bible, you can’t possibly make it to Heaven” - Joe Crews
This is an interesting passage, let’s see what it means. There was a demon residing in this host and for some reason he had to leave. Yet, the demon comes back to find it swept clean and takes up residents again, but this time, he brings his friends for a big party.
Before this passage we see the scribes and pharisee’s asking for a sign from Christ (vs 38). This story then has something to do with this event.
Then we see Christ giving a comparison to the time of Jonah and Nineveh. He states that Nineveh repented, because of Jonah’s ministry to them (finally, after being swallowed) and they preached of Jonah, yet one greater than Jonah is here. And because of this, they will judge this generation.
Then Yeshua talks about the queen of the south; He’s talking about the Queen of Sheba when she was so passionate on what Solomon’s nation was doing, and why it was so blessed, that she had to pursue this guy. So, she packed for the trip and brought all sorts of gifts, including a large sum of gold, to give to Solomon. Ok, what do these two stories have to do with this demon and the host?
The Queen of Sheba actively pursued Solomon with many of her riches, wanting what he had. We need to be actively pursuing the Son of God, with ALL that we have.
The Ninevites repented, but if they would not have gone out and preached of Jonah they would not have been a tool for the kingdom. Yet, we have one greater who, like Jonah was in the belly of the fish, was in the grave for three days and three nights and rose again to bring us to repentance, meaning a change of life. We are to be preaching to the world about this Savior.
This thing, called Christianity, is not about warming the pews, it’s not about hiding our light in the bushel of the church building and fishing for men out the windows. Yeshua said seek me FIRST, and GO out into the world.
The host of this passage in Matt 12:43-45 repented. This is why the demon had to flee and why the place was clean. But this host did not actively pursue Christ; he did not go out and preach of Christ. Therefore, he remained empty; so when this sinful demon came back, he found a nice clean place for him and his buddies to move into. This means, if we repent but do not seek diligently, do not go into the world spreading the gospel of Christ that we do not have a relationship with Yeshua and He will not dwell in us.
Exodus 20:5 (KJV) 5 ...I the LORD thy God am a jealous God,...
Too often we treat Yeshua as though He’s a prostitute. We want Him, but only when we need Him. We go to church on sunday, we watch our television, our sports, our computer screens and we don’t need Him. We live our lives and then when we need Him we call on Him. This is not how it works. He said seek me first (Matt 6:33).
Recently, in a 3.5 million dollar study at Ball State University Center, they found that an average American spends 8.5 hours per day in front of a screen, either TV, cell phone, computer, etc. An average American is exposed to 61 minutes of television ad’s per day.
In a recent Barna Poll, they found that among the Bible readers, the average amount of time spent reading the Bible during an entire week is 52 minutes. That’s less than 8 minutes a day.
This is NOT seeking Christ first. None of the programing on television is worth watching, but the most useless of it all, commercials, get’s 87% more time than seeking God’s Word; and that’s only compared to commercials.
“If you spend more time watching television then on your knee’s or in the Bible, you can’t possibly make it to Heaven” - Joe Crews