Luke 11:26

THE LAST STATE

‘The last state of that man is worse than the first.’

Luke 11:26

‘When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest … and the last state of that man is worse than the first.’ This short parable is one of the most terrible in the whole Bible.

It has a twofold application; first, to the Jewish nation; second, to individual souls of men.

I. Application to the Jewish nation.—Israel’s besetting sin was idolatry. For this, retribution had followed them over and over again. At last, they were carried away captive, and ‘by the waters of Babylon they sat down and wept.’ A deep impression had been made, and thenceforth their idolatry ceased to exist. But the Temple was only swept clear of a few gross violations of God’s law. It was garnished with a magnificent ritual; but it was empty, and untenanted by the Spirit of God; the unclean spirit of idolatry, which had been watching for re-entrance, returned in another guise, with sevenfold power, and blindness of heart, hypocrisy, pride, envy, jealousy, self-righteousness, and formality entered in, and ‘the last state of that nation was worse than the first.’

II. The words have an individual application.—‘The last state of that man was worse than the first.’ ‘Growing worse’—a difficult truth to realise—in respect to ourselves. We believe it of others; we say it of others; we mark the increase of their failings; but we take it for granted that if there is any change in ourselves, it must be for the better. We may unconsciously grow worse in three ways—

(a) By a gradual declension. We all start in life with certain faults. We each have a besetting sin; and a man gets worse as his graver personal faults develop; they grow with his growth, and he becomes a worse man.

(b) By the return of an old sin. The master-passion has been evicted; we are free from temptation; we are partially converted, convinced that our past course of life has been wrong; but there has been no true reformation. Alas! a man’s weak point will always be his weak point, even after conversion. The old spirit is ever hovering about, seeking readmission; our temple has been swept and garnished, but, alas! it is empty; nothing to take place of old passion; no strong resolutions, no strong prayers, no careful watchings, no resort to the means of grace—all unguarded, and so the foul spirit returns with sevenfold power, and ‘the last state of that man is worse than the first.’ Beware of any lull in temptation! Beware of the danger of ‘relapse’ in the spiritual life; the ‘fallingback’ into the old sins.

III. Remember that God alone can cast out devils.—No amount of education, no amount of atheistical philosophy, no high aspirations, can do this; God alone can cast them out and keep them out. And if, by His mercy, you have got rid of some sin, remember it is not enough for your soul to be swept and garnished—empty. A negative religion is well-nigh useless. We must ask that God’s Holy Spirit in all the plenitude of His power will occupy the vacant throne.

—Rev. Prebendary J. Storrs.

Illustration

‘The charge that Christ had cast out the devil by the power of the prince of devils caused Him great pain, and drew from Him an indignant answer and a terrible warning. But His reply is confessedly a difficult one. He assumes the existence of two kingdoms, each highly organised under its own ruler; the kingdom of Evil and the kingdom of Good. Between these there is an irreconcilable hostility. Each is working for its own interests and preservation, and the absolute destruction of the other. Now it is plain that absolute oneness is essential for the existence of any kingdom. There may be divisions, parties, but such differences may, and often do, conduce to the advancement of its interests; but there must be absolute oneness in relations to other kingdoms, or its very existence is imperilled. If one begins to aid and abet the designs of another, it must certainly compass its own destruction. Hence we see that whatever anarchy and divisions there may be in the kingdom of Evil, in its relation to the kingdom of Good, it must be at perfect unity. “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against itself falleth. If Satan be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? Because ye say, that I cast out devils by Beelzebub.” It might possibly be objected that Satan, in order to advance his sway, may assume the garb of the Son of Man and cast out a devil himself. Certainly, but his aim would be to further sin, and not righteousness; and so our Lord does not refer to this as an isolated case. He teaches: “The whole tenor of My work, each act, word, is part of a grand scheme for which I came into the world—viz. to destroy the works of the devil; My whole life and teaching is opposed to Satan. If, therefore, I am casting out devils by the power of Satan, then Satan is divided against himself. He is casting out himself; his unity is broken; his kingdom cannot stand; he is compassing his own destruction.” ’

(SECOND OUTLINE)

THE RETURN OF THE DEVIL

This incident tells us what will happen to us if we do not resist the devil. It tells us plainly that if we do not resist him, if we still leave our hearts open to him, he will come back again, worse than before, and we shall be made worse and more wicked than if Christ had never set us free from him.

I. Set free.—All Christian people have been set free from the devil. He is turned out of the heart of every Christian. Christ turns him out of the heart of every one of us when we are baptized. He is outside of all of us after that, and if we do as we ought, and live Christian lives, we may keep him out. He comes to us and tempts us, and tries to make us let him in. Our business is to say continually, ‘Get thee hence, Satan. And now you may see why Confirmation comes when it does in a young person’s life. It comes just as a young person is growing out of childhood, and when the devil is coming to it with a number of fresh temptations it had not had before. So Confirmation comes in that the young person may receive more help from God against the devil. And then, after Confirmation, you come to Holy Communion, and in Holy Communion Christ Himself comes and abides with you and in you, and if only you keep Him there the devil cannot gain an entrance. Christ will be there always, saying, ‘Get thee hence, Satan,’ so long as you keep saying, ‘Abide with me.’

II. If you have fallen away.—The same rule tells you what you are to expect, and how you are to go on, if any of you have fallen into bad ways and are now mending. It is no use to think that merely leaving off the bad ways will do. If you only leave off the bad ways it will never last. You must grow into good ways, so that the goodness you grow into may keep out the bad ways you have broken off. And you cannot grow into goodness of your own selves. God only can make you do that. God only can make you really like goodness. But God can do this, and He will do it for every one of us if we ask Him.