SEVEN DEADLY SPIRITS

 

Many people are familiar with, or at least have heard about, the seven deadly sins that are mentioned in Scripture. Proverbs 6:16-19 tells us:

 

These six things the Lord hates, and seven are an abomination to Him:

 

1.      A proud look

2.      A lying tongue

3.      Hands that shed innocent blood

4.      A heart that devises wicked plans

5.      Feet that are swift in running to evil

6.      A false witness who speaks lies

7.      And one who sows discord among brethren

 

We have all heard of the seven deadly sins, but where does it mention anything about there being seven deadly spirits? The crucial text is found in Luke’s gospel:

 

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.” (Luke 11:24-26 – Revised Standard Version)

 

I often wondered about the meaning of this passage of Scripture. In his Concordant Commentary on the New Testament, A.E. Knoch offers one possible explanation:

 

“Israel as a nation is here pictured as a man out of whom the unclean spirit has been cast. Ever since the Babylonian captivity they have been held back from breaking the first commandment. But freedom from idolatry has not been followed by the worship of God. The place once occupied by idols is empty. At the time of the end the unbelieving nation will be forced to worship the image of the wild beast, and their state will be far worse than their previous plight.”

 

I believe that there can be different applications, or levels of Scriptural truth. Knoch takes an historical, dispensational approach to determine the meaning of this text. Although I will not necessarily deny that this viewpoint may be correct, I believe that the spiritual person should first look inwardly in order to try and determine how a certain passage of Scripture applies to them. I will share with you a couple of examples of how this truth has played out during the course of my own lifetime.

 

A PERSONAL TESTIMONY

 

During much of my young adult life I was a victim of substance abuse. To make a long story short, I eventually came to a crossroads in my life where I became aware of my woeful condition. It was here that I saw the need to change my ways, otherwise I would either end up in jail or dead.

 

I checked myself into a drug rehabilitation center and soon learned about groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA). I also learned that they had a 12-step program of recovery, the first of which was to admit that you had a problem. Step one was an easy one for me. For those who are unfamiliar with the 12-step program, steps two and three read as follows:

 

  2) “Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”

  3) “Made a decision to turn our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.”

 

These two steps showed me the need to fill the void in my life (which was before filled with drugs) with some sort of spirituality. It was at this point that I decided to return to my childhood faith in order to build a sure spiritual foundation to help me in my recovery from substance abuse. On top of attending NA meetings 3 or 4 times a week, I rededicated my life to Christ and was baptized at a local church. I began to regularly attend church services, I studied the Bible, I watched Christian television, and I read various books that were written by Christian authors. For over two years I remained drug-free. My “house” had been swept clean and put in order. 

 

But despite the fact that everything seemed to be going so well for me for over two years, I was not able to sustain. So what happened? Why wasn’t I able to overcome and live like a ‘normal’ person? It seemed as though no matter how hard I tried, things would always come crashing down. The spirit was indeed willing, but the flesh was weak.

 

A DOG RETURNS TO HIS VOMIT

 

One of the more widely discussed subjects at substance abuse meetings is relapse. According to my dictionary, relapse is defined as such:

 

1.      The act or an instance of backsliding, worsening, or subsiding

2.      A recurrence of a disease after a period of improvement

3.      To slip or fall back into a former worse state

 

Most any drug addict or alcoholic can readily attest to the fact that after a period of relapse the condition of a person will most likely turn out to be worse than before. I can speak from personal experience that this is indeed the case, or at least it was with me. I actually went through several “clean” periods of time, only to find myself right back where I was before. After each instance where relapse had occurred, my condition (both physical, as well as spiritual) worsened. The proverb is certainly true:

 

“As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.” (Proverbs 26:11)

 

But now that I have the advantage of hindsight, I now know exactly what happened, and why. God was actually extending His grace (or showing favor) toward me!

 

“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and IT FELL. And GREAT was its fall." (Matthew 7:26,27)

 

One reason I was previously unable to overcome my addiction to substance abuse is because my “house” (or life) had no sure foundation. Despite the illusion that the foundation for my spiritual recovery was now being built upon the Rock [Christ], in reality the truth was quite different. 

 

THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH vs. THE SPIRIT OF ERROR

 

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)

 

I had always been rather puzzled as to what the above passage of Scripture is really referring. I can remember back to the time when I was a young child, even though I would have rather stayed home and watched cartoons, my mother making me and my two brothers get up and go to Sunday school every week. But even though we were raised in the church, learned about the love of Jesus as children, and were baptized at a young age, we all departed from our childhood faith when we got older, despite God’s apparent promise to the contrary. So what happened? I had to come to the inevitable conclusion that either one of two things is true: a) that God is a liar, or b) that there is something wrong with the system in which today’s youth are being raised. And you can probably guess which of the two I have decided is true.

 

Now please don’t get me wrong. I am very thankful for my upbringing; indeed, it was part of the necessary process for someone who is striving to be an overcomer, or a member of God’s chosen few. The Old Testament saga of the Jewish people is in reality an historical picture of our own spiritual journey to this “promised land.” It is an allegory, or a picture of the tribulation in which all of God’s overcoming saints must journey. 

 

“Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things that are written therein: for the time is at hand.” (Revelation 1:3 - KJV)

 

The plagues, or trials, that God puts the individual through are for the necessary purposes of breaking down self-will, disciplining, correcting, refining, and molding that person into the image of His Son. Time must be spent in “Sodom” and in “Egypt” (see Revelation 11:8), which is representative of time spent in vice and bondage. The apostle Paul testifies of this fact:

 

“For we ourselves [speaking of those who are called to be saints] were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.” (Titus 3:3)

 

In fact, one must be brought to the edge of despair, just like the multitudes who had their backs to the Red Sea, with Pharaoh’s army approaching, before God can truly reveal to them the magnificence of His salvation [For more on this, see part 2 of the “Destruction” series].  

 

There are many individuals in the church today who have gone through many of the same types of struggles I had to go through. I have in fact witnessed dozens of personal testimonies similar to mine on programs such as The 700 Club, where the broken individual comes to Christ and experiences deliverance from many of these same types of vices. Things now begin to change. The person’s “house” (or life) does indeed get swept clean and put in order. The miracle of deliverance from old habits is now a reality in the life of the individual, causing the person to fall in love with Jesus. Because of this new heart-felt affection for their Savior, they are led to do all of the things I did. They attend church, they tithe, they study the Bible, they start to watch Christian television programs, they read books by Christian authors, they listen to Christian music, etc. In fact, they do “many wonderful works” in our Lord’s name! But sadly, it is also here where “seven spirits more wicked than the first” gain entry into that person’s soul.  

 

How can this be, you may ask? After all, life in church away from the drugs, gangs, alcohol, sexual addiction and prostitution is much better than before! And I would agree, at least on the surface, that this statement is true. In other words, I agree that the person is much better off physically, but at the same time I would deny that the individual is better off spiritually. In most cases, the person is worse off than before.

 

“For God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24)

 

When a broken individual first comes to Christ, I do not doubt for one moment the person’s sincerity and genuineness of heart. The need for change, or repentance is apparent and real. I know that it was with me! But sadly, it is in the very system to which the person looks for deliverance that we are led into a more deceptive, sinister type of bondage.

 

“And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” (II Corinthians 11:14,15)

 

“Satan changes his tactics to conform to God’s administrations... He is not hideous, but beautiful. His servants stand for righteousness and pose as apostles of Christ. His work is not found in the sinks of iniquity, but in the efforts to educate and reform mankind apart from the blood of Christ. He deceives by assuming the very role which he is popularly supposed to oppose.” – Concordant Commentary on the New Testament

 

It is here in these man-made institutions where we unknowingly begin to give heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons, and begin to speak lies in hypocrisy, and we have our consciences seared with a hot iron (I Timothy 4:1,2). It is here where we learn of doctrines such as eternal torment, and become convinced that our loved ones are “lost” and in need of salvation, so we make vain attempts at evangelizing them. And when they don’t respond, we don’t understand why. “Why don’t they know that unless they invite Jesus into their hearts as their personal Savior that they will burn in hell forever?”

 

The truth of the matter is that most worldly people, who have not had the misfortune of being brainwashed by the church system, actually have a little more discernment about the love of God than do their Christian friends. Common sense tells most people that it would be out of character for a God who calls Himself Love to set up some type of a sadistic eternal torture chamber, even for the most vile of men. But the reason that most who call themselves “Christian” are unable to see it is because they have experienced a miraculous change in their own lives. Their houses have been swept clean and put in order, which to them is evidence that they are now walking in the Truth. But in reality, they have become like the Pharisees [who]:

 

“are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.” (Matthew 23:27)

 

Before, when the person was struggling with sin, the need for change, or repentance, was apparent. But now that they are clean on the outside (the old habits are now a thing of the past), they assume that they are now clean on the inside. There is no longer any reason to believe differently. In reality, the person is worse off than before. Seven more deceptive spirits have indeed taken up residence inside that house.

 

NEW LIGHT

 

The wonderful thing about God’s Word is the fact that it is alive! God is ever teaching and revealing new things to His children. As I lay in bed the other morning He showed me a deeper meaning to the previously discussed passage:

 

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)

 

As I have already pointed out, trying to reconcile this verse in regard to fallen man and his institutions can be a difficult thing to do. But what if this passage is really speaking of the one true God who is “training up His children in the way that they should go?” For in this present age, that is exactly what God is doing with His elect!

 

“For whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.” (Hebrews 12:6)

 

There are countless individuals who have been delivered from various types of vices. For many this will mean a lifetime spent in a 12-step recovery program. Many will remain in the organized church. But God is showing His favor toward me by taking me beyond these man-made institutions. And I now cling to the hope that:

 

“He who started a good work in you will carry it to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6 – New World Translation)

 

God is responsible for completing that good work in His elect. He gets ALL the glory! But the ones whom He has chosen to overcome the world and become fellow heirs of  Christ’s promises should always remember to exemplify this humble attitude:

 

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14)

 

There is a select group of individuals who are being judged now. They are learning righteousness now. They are being trained up in the way that they should go now.

 

“For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” (Isaiah 26:9)

 

They have forsaken the blessings of this life in order to focus upon the promises of the next. They have been made to walk the narrow road. For them, this life is an arduous journey to God’s promised land. But God’s saving grace will extend well beyond those whom He has chosen to be overcomers in this present wicked age:

 

“And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.” (John 10:16)

 

There is an enormously large group who will walk the wide road into the kingdom. The god of world (Satan) has blinded their eyes so they cannot presently see the glory of the gospel of Christ (II Corinthians 4:3,4) during this present wicked age. But God loves them just as much as He loves the others, and has made a provision for their salvation as well. They will also be trained up in the way that they should go; but they will get the crash course, the lake of fire. The consummation of God’s perfect plan will result in the salvation of ALL.

 

“And in this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of well-refined wines on the lees. And He will destroy on this mountain the surface covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever, and the LORD God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken. And it will be said in that day: ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.’” (Isaiah 25:6-9)