NO
VACANCY, SATAN
January 20, 2012
MF Blume
Matthew 12:22-30 Then was brought unto him one possessed
with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the
blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and
said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees
heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out
devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their
thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is
brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself
shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against
himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast
out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore
they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of
God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one
enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first
bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. He that is not
with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth
abroad.
Matthew 12:38-45 Then certain of the scribes and of the
Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But
he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation
seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the
sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and
three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh
shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it:
because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater
than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall
rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for
she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of
Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. When
the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry
places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 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. 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.
Notice the demon possessed man was made BLIND AND DUMB.
· He could not SEE NOR SPEAK.
· We will find some amazing things associated
with these two afflictions caused by the devil as we continue reading.
Jesus was attacked by critics for the deliverance.
“And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of
David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said,
This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the
prince of the devils.”
Jesus explained satan would destroy his own kingdom if his power was
casting his own devils out of people.
· It was obviously a greater opposite force
than the devil was overcoming the devil’s kingdom.
· Then He said those who were not with Jesus
were against Him.
· In other words, those critics will go down
with the devil if they fight Jesus.
Then they ask a sign to prove He is one whom they can trust.
· And he says ONE SIGN WILL BE GIVEN.
· THINGS GET INTERESTING HERE.
“Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said
unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and
there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's
belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the
heart of the earth.”
HE EXPLAINS WHAT HAPPENED IN JONAH’S DAY.
“The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation,
and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas;
and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.”
The people alive in the days of Jesus were referred to as that
GENERATION.
· Jesus compared that generation with Ninevah,
the people to whom Jonah preached.
· He said Ninevah would actually SHAME them
because they repented at Jonah’s preaching and Israel would not
repent with someone GREATER THAN JONAH.
Compare Jesus with Jonah.
Both endured a three days and three nights experience.
· But the difference in the REASON Jonah was
in the whale that long was because JONAH DID NOT WANT TO PREACH TO
NINEVAH.
· God used the whale incident to FORCE Jonah
to preach to them.
· Recall that Jonah FLED when God told him to
preach to the city, and God sent a whale to swallow him.
· It was a REBUKE and CORRECTION from God.
Read Jonah’s shocking admission:
Jonah 3:10-4:2 And God saw their works, that they turned
from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said
that he would do unto them; and he did it not. But it
displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. And he prayed unto
the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my
saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto
Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and
merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of
the evil.
Ninevah was so wicked that JONAH DID NOT WANT THEM TO REPENT.
· He knew God would destroy them in 40 days
unless they repented.
· Jonah figured that if he did not preach
repentance to them, then God would destroy them.
WHY WAS JESUS IN THE EARTH THREE DAYS AND NIGHTS?
· Jesus GAVE HIMSELF in death BECAUSE HE
WANTED ISRAEL TO REPENT.
· He did it willingly, while Jonah did it due
to unwillingness.
Everything About JESUS compared to JONAH was GREATER!
Jonah did NOT CARE, so endured a 3 days and nights.
JESUS CARED!
Jonah was a miserable prophet with no burden for the lost.
Jesus was GOD MANIFEST IN FLESH and a PROPHET like unto Moses.
Jonah dreaded their repentance.
Jesus said all angels rejoice over one soul that repents.
Jonah actually had more pity on a GOURD – a plant – than
souls in Ninevah.
Jonah 4:10-11 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the
gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow;
which came up in a night, and perished in a night: And should not I
spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand
persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left
hand; and also much cattle?
That was the last words of the book of Jonah.
Ninevah REPENTED at that.
Israel would not repent for the SON OF GOD.
SOLOMON’S DAY.
“The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment
with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the
uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and,
behold, a greater than Solomon is here.”
1 Kings 10 refers to the Queen of Sheba traveling from the end of the
then-known world to see Solomon’s glory.
Israel had no distance to travel to see Jesus, and they refused.
And Jesus was greater than Solomon!
She saw the glory of the HOUSE of SOLOMON.
· Everything about Jesus was greater than
Solomon.
· Jesus’ HOUSE IS THE CHURCH!
· Sheba saw the servants of Solomon in more
glory than most KINGS, themselves!
· JESUS CAST OUT DEMONS AND RAISED THE DEAD.
· How far would Sheba have travelled to see
Jesus if she came as far as she did to see the lesser glory of Solomon?
THEN JESUS SAYS SEEMINGLY UNRELATED THINGS.
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through
dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 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. 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.
But it is related!
He speaks of a demon cast out of a man and wandering in dry places
seeking rest.
· It returns.
· Why say this?
Recall the whole story started with Jesus casting out a demon that made
a man BLIND AND MUTE.
· Could not SEE NOR SPEAK.
· He speaks of THAT GENERATION being wicked.
· He ends by speaking of the GENERATION like a
DEMON POSSESSED MAN FREED from a devil that seeks to return with seven
more to make the last state worse.
Something about NINEVAH’S REPENTANCE stands out.
Jonah 3:5-8 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and
proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even
to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he
arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and
covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused
[it] to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of
the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor
flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man
and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God:
yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence
that is in their hands.
SPEAK!!!
The DEMON caused the possessed man to NOT SPEAK.
SOLOMON:
1Kings 10:4-7 And when the queen of Sheba had
seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built, And
the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the
attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and
his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the LORD; there was no
more spirit in her. And she said to the king, It was a true report that
I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I
believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had
seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and
prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.
The DEMON CAUSED THE MAN TO NOT SEE!
The reason the demon could RETURN and make the last state worse than
the state at the start, WE BECAUSE THERE WAS VACANCY in the man.
· Apply that to the blindness and dumbness.
· THE DEVIL COULD MAKE THE PERSON BLIND AND
DUMB AGAIN.
JESUS OPENED OUR EYES TO SEE.
HE GAVE US PRAISE TO SPEAK!
LET’S ALWAYS LOOK FOR HIS GLORY AND SHOUT HIS PRAISE!
CRY MIGHTILY!
Let His glory forever LEAVE NO SPIRIT IN YOU!
Israel would not SPEAK HIS GLORY FORTH nor LOOK AT HIS GLORY!
· And they became worse than at first.
· Rome destroyed the city to the ground after
Jesus wept knowing he could have protected them.
