The Unclean Spirit Returns Home

Transcript

anyway we're going to uh be looking at x this passage here Matthew chapter 12 x verses 43 and 45. in my Bible it says an x unclean Spirit returns x um x so I'm just going to read it and we're x I'm sure we're all very familiar with x this it says when an unclean Spirit goes x out of a man x he goes through Dry places seeking rest x and finds none then he says I will x return to my house from which I came and x when he comes he finds it empty swept x and put in order x then he goes and takes with him seven x other Spirits more wicked than himself x and they enter and dwell there x and the last state of that man is worse x than the first so shall it also be with x this wicked generation x and I would I would think uh x traditionally at least from my x experience the way I've always taken x this parable of Christ is x um x there are certain things in our lives x that we want to get out of our Lives it x might be a habit uh it might be x um an addiction it might be a behavior x and we want to get that out of our lives x and we might go quite a stretch where x we've been able to remove it from our x lives you know whether it's anger or x drinking x um x but we've always sort of take I've x always taken this Parable as if we don't x put something into our lives x um x that habit or behavior is going to come x back and it's going to come back with x full force and it's going to be worse x than it was at the beginning and I don't x know if that's the way you've taken it x but that's the way I've always thought x of this passage x um and I think that's I think there is x that lesson there I think that's a good x lesson to learn and I think there's a x truth there but I also think that x there's much more x to this Parable that Jesus speaks x and so x um x let's just look at the context of this x Parable and and just like so much of x scripture there's there's all these x layers to it x and I think that description I gave of x the way I've traditionally looked at x this that's an example of one layer and x and as I said there's there's truth x there x but then we peel back some of those x layers and I think what Christ was x getting at was was much deeper and it x not only reached the audience who was in x front of him but it was also a message x for us today and a much more powerful x message x so just the context of chapter 12 where x Jesus gives this Parable and you can see x throughout Matthew chapter 12 Jesus is x wrestling with the Pharisees x so just open up your Bibles to to x Matthew 12. x and it starts off with that story we x know that x um in verse 1 at that time Jesus went x through the grain fields on the Sabbath x and his disciples were hungry and began x to pluck heads of grain and to eat x and when the Pharisees sought they said x to him look your disciples are doing x what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath x and so the Pharisees are upset you know x the Sabbath laws are being broken there x they're grinding that grain in their x hands they're doing work on the Sabbath x and they're looking at Jesus and they're x saying you've got to do something about x this these are your disciples x and of course Jesus responds to them x and he gives them some lessons and some x examples and he's really working with x the Pharisees x you know that's one of the beautiful x things and we'll see about the Pharisees x is that Jesus doesn't give up on them x you know he's working with them for x three years and probably before that as x well because they were close they were x so close and some of them as we know did x accept Jesus x um x but there's the first example of him x wrestling with the Pharisees in this x chapter the next one is in verses 9 x through 14. x where it says uh starting verse 9. now x when he had departed from there he went x into their synagogue x and behold there was a man who had a x withered hand x and they asked him saying is it lawful x to heal on the Sabbath that they might x accuse him x and of course Jesus once again gives x them a lesson about this and he works x with them and he heals on the Sabbath x and so once again the Pharisees are x upset you're working on the Sabbath what x are you doing x you're breaking all the laws x um and it would have been very difficult x and you could see the the Pharisees were x wrestling with it as well x here's this man he can do things that no x one else can do x he clearly has a power x um x but he's he's going against what we we x believe is true what we what they would x say what we know is true x and so what do they do uh in verse 22 x they say well he's got these Powers it x must be an evil power it must be from x Beelzebub that's allowing him to do x these things we can't deny he just x healed someone but maybe the motives are x evil x um we see that in verse 22. x then one was brought to him who was x demon-possessed blind and mute and he x healed him so that the Blind and mute x man both spoke and saw x and all the multitudes were amazed and x said could this be the son of David x now in the Pharisees heard it they said x this fellow does not cast out demons x except by Beelzebub the ruler of demons x and once again Jesus and we're not x getting into how we dis dismantles their x arguments x uh because that's not the point but we x see that he works with them again and he x he really does take their argument and x show that it's completely foolish x so he continues to wrestle with the x Pharisees and they continue to wrestle x with him and then we get to uh verse 38 x it says then some of the scribes and x Pharisees answered saying teacher we x want to see a sign from you x okay they want to see a sign and and x that's quite interesting what he tells x them he tells them about Jonah and and x the men of Nineveh and he says in verse x 41 he says the men of Nineveh will rise x up in the Judgment with this generation x and condemn it x because they repented at the preaching x of Jonah x okay so there's a lesson he's teaching x the Pharisees x you want to sign x look to the men of Nineveh they repented x okay that's that's a lesson right there x for the Pharisees that he's trying to x get across the second one comes in verse x 42 because he gives another example you x want to sign x verse 42 the queen of the South will x rise up in the Judgment with this x generation and condemn it for she came x from the ends of the Earth to hear the x wisdom of Solomon x so I think with the another lesson for x the Pharisees as he's wrestling with x them and they're wrestling with him he x says the men of Nineveh repented x and secondly the queen of the South x thirsted to be filled with wisdom from x the ends of the Earth she came she x wanted to be filled with the wisdom you x know Godly wisdom righteousness x and then he gets into this parable x okay so I believe that this is a parable x that was directed to the Pharisees but x also there's a lesson for us x and what sort of caught my attention x uh back in I think it was January when x we were doing the readings is this x statement at the very end of it x where he says and the last state of that x man is worse than the first so shall it x also be with this x Wicked generation x so this Parable he's giving he's talking x to this generation and in the context of x chapter 12 as we've seen x he's working with the Pharisees x he's wrestling with him he's trying to x bring them into the light x and so what I want to do is look at this x little passage and what was what was he x saying to the Pharisees what was he x trying to get them to realize x okay x um x so let's just let's just take a pause x from from that for a second x um and let's think if you were a Jew x living around the time of Jesus maybe x before Jesus maybe during him or just x after x um and you were in history class and x they were you know you're in high school x and x you're paying attention and you're x learning about the history of the Jews x I think there's two things that would x stand out about your history number one x you have a very troubled history and so x I've just listed some of the things on x that slide you know they're in the x wilderness and there was there was all x that rebellion and they ended up 40 x years in the wilderness x there was the judges the cycle of x oppressors and then there'd be a judge x that came along but then there'd be x another oppressor and then there was the x Assyrians and then the Babylonians and x then the medes and the Persians and the x Greeks and now the Romans x and they might ask like why why is our x past so troubled x why do we keep getting x sent out and then we end up sort of x coming back and then we get sent out x again and why are we so oppressed what's x going on here so that's one thing you x would probably take away from your x history lesson the other is x guys we're still around like this is a x miracle that the Jewish people are still x around x um x but I think that question would be x important you know why such a troubled x history and so they go to their Bibles x and try to find out the answers x and I've written down a number of x passages there we're just going to look x at two we could turn to Isaiah 5. x um x you know why is our our past so troubled x clearly because we're still around we're x a blessed people God obviously has his x eyes on us like go back and and look at x those the Assyrians the Babylonians the x medes the Persians the Greeks the Romans x and then we can continue on but how come x they have not been able to either x assimilate us so they there's no sign of x us around or absolutely destroy us why x is that x but why do we also have such a troubled x history and I think the answer that they x would come to is in Matthew Chapter 5 or x I mean Isaiah chapter five sorry x um verse this is just one example verse x 24. x through 26 where it says therefore as x the fire devours the stubble and the x Flames consume the cha so their root x will be as rottenness and their Blossom x will Ascend like dust because here's the x why because they have rejected the law x of the Lord of hosts and despised the x word of the Holy One of Israel x therefore the anger of the Lord is x aroused against his people he is x stretched out his hand against them and x stricken them and the hills tremble in x their their carcasses were as refuge in x the midst of the streets x for all his anger is not turned away but x his hand is stretched out still x and so they look at this troubled past x and they say oh it's x because we've rejected Our God we've x rejected his law x and in Deuteronomy chapter just one x other passage we'll look at is that x bottom one Deuteronomy chapter 28 and x God told them early on x uh what the curses would be if they were x disobedient x um x Deuteronomy 28 x verse 15 but it shall come to pass if x you do not obey the voice of the Lord x your God to observe carefully as x Commandments and his statutes which I x command you today that all these curses x will come upon you and overtake you x then when you read through the curses x you know being scattered was one of them x okay x so x go back to the time of Jesus and you're x a Pharisee x what would be your response x to realizing the reason we're having x this troubled history is we keep x abandoning God's laws we we cast them x aside we don't consider them we don't x live them x well I think their response is well if x the problem has been rejecting the law x the Pharisees would become the strict x observers of the law x and if we do that if we can be very x strict observers of the law x because that's been the problem then x we'll be blessed x and when we're blessed Messiah will come x and we won't be cast out the Romans will x be cast out x and I think this is the the thinking x that's going on x um and there was different groups and I x think I was listening to a podcast that x Jason Hensley was the podcast is a x little faith x um and he's talking about a book that he x just wrote and in it he said you know x the Pharisees for people living at that x time if you were trying to be a god x believer the Pharisees were probably x your best option x um zealots well if you're into violence x you could be a zealot a herodian if x you're into sort of going with the x culture and and living it up you know x maybe the herodians x um the essenes if you're okay with x living in a cave off in the desert maybe x that's your best choice but really the x Pharisees x you know we're we're trying x to to to deal with the problem that kept x this troubled history uh from continuing x so their thought thinking was obedience x this is the key will be strict obedient x strictly obedient x and so what was it so if we go back to x the that Parable that Jesus is is giving x he says an unclean Spirit goes out of a x man x he goes through Dry places seeking rest x and finds none so what was that spirit x that spirit that that was causing all x these problems that the Pharisees x removed so hopefully you're still in x Isaiah chapter 5. we read verses 24 x through 25. x but right before it x um Isaiah gives seven woes x we're gonna go through those seven woes x because I think these are the woes the x Pharisees look back x and they said the problem is x disobedience x um we read that in Isaiah 5 and we also x see what the character that God was x upset with x so here is in Isaiah 5. we'll go through x these fairly quickly in verse 8 the x first woe woe to those who join house to x house they add field to field Till There x is no place where they may dwell alone x in the midst of the land and it goes on x a little bit but basically you have the x spirit of greed x um you know I have a note in my Bible x there was no Jubilee restoration things x didn't go back to their x the rightful heirs they just kept adding x to themselves x uh verse 11. x woe to those who rise early in the x morning that they may follow x intoxicating drink who continue until x night so wine inflames them the harp and x the strings and the so you get this idea x of drunkards of of indulgence of x partying x and so this is another thing the x Pharisees I think we're x eager x to to rid themselves of x if we go down to verse 18 woe to those x who draw iniquity with cords of vanity x and sin as as if with a cart rope x let that say let him make speed and x hasten his work that we may see it and x let the Council of the Holy One of x Israel draw near and come that we may x know it x and I remember I gave a Bible class in x Boston x and I for some reason when I thought of x it I thought of it as this x self-deception that these people x genuinely thought you know what let's x let's bring the Messiah because x everything's going away can't wait till x the Messiah comes and they were they x were x self-deceived I now look at it as a x little bit different I look at it as x more scoffing x you know this this greediness this x drunkard the this Indulgence and they're x sort of unrepentant and they're like x yeah sort of like and Peter says x scoffers will come in the end days oh x yeah bran you know let them make speed x hasten his work so I read it with a bit x of mocking and sarcasm x you know let the Council of the Holy One x of Israel draw near x okay so so here's another spirit that x they wanted to get rid of in verse 20 x woe to those who call evil good and good x evil who put Darkness for light and x light for Darkness bitter for sweet and x Sweet for bitter so there's this x corruption there they're twisting truths x uh verse 21. x woe to those who are wise in their own x eyes and prudent in their own sight so x there's a pride about them and then x verse 22 there's two woes there woe to x men Mighty at drinking wine woe to men x Valiant for mixing intoxicating drink x who justify the wicked for a bride and x take away the Justice from the righteous x man so there's this this drunkenness x this lack of discernment and it it's x mixed with this uh un uh being unjust x um x and so I believe x that the Pharisees looking back x saying okay our history is is troubled x because we're disobedient to God and x there's this Spirit of disobedience x and the Pharisees were adamant I believe x and strict about getting rid of that x unclean spirit x so then Along Comes Jesus x and the Pharisees are noticing some x things about Jesus you know he's getting x quite a following uh around him x but he seems to have this disregard for x the law from their perspective x um he has this disregard for Sabbath x you know it mentions that he they notice x he's associating with Sinners and with x tax collectors x uh in Luke 7 verse 34 they they comment x that he's a glutton you know an x excessive drinker x think about the spirit in Isaiah 5 that x they are trying to remove from their x lives and there from their perspective x they're looking at Jesus x and from as I say from their perspective x they're saying everything we're trying x to to remove from our lives this man x seems to be you know cozying up to it x and we see in John Chapter 11 x sort of their thinking here x in John chapter 11 verse 45 through 48. x it says the many of the Jews who had x come to Mary x um x sorry x yeah I'm the right spot many of the Jews x who had come to Mary and had seen the x things Jesus did believed in him x okay so that's causing some concern with x the Pharisees but some of them went away x to the Pharisees and told them the x things Jesus did x then the chief priests and the Pharisees x gathered to counsel and said what shall x we do for this man Works many signs if x we let him alone like this everyone will x believe in him and the Romans will come x and take away both our place and our x nation we'll be back where we started x you know that that history of that x troubled history of being cast out and x being you know rejecting God's laws and x we're trying to follow his laws so that x Messiah will come and this man's x wrecking it x they saw this Spirit of Disobedience x they felt it was in Christ x and they thought they'd be crushed again x Okay so x back in Matthew x chapter 12. x so Jesus says in verse 43 when an x unclean Spirit goes out of a man so he's x saying to the Pharisees you remove that x unclean spirit x right it went out of a man and it goes x through Dry places seeking rest and x finds none x then he says I will return to my house x from which I came x and when he comes he finds it empty x swept and put in order x and I think this is one of these x situations where Jesus is giving this x this Parable to them x and later on in Matthew 23 we're going x to see some of these things come up x again and it's going to Echo their minds x hopefully back to this little parable x and once again like I say he's working x with the Pharisees he's trying to x connect the dots for them but just a x couple of of words that come up he says x I will return to my house and that that x word is Oikos and uh x in Matthew 23 and we'll go there in a x little bit x um and he's at the temple I believe he x says see your house is Left To You x desolate x you know that Spirit went back and the x house was desolate x it also uses the word empty scolazo x which which can mean void of Labor x and it's interesting in Matthew 23 when x he's talking about the Pharisees x he says but they themselves will not x move he talks about them loading up x other people with with x um x uh maybe I get the right words he says x for they bind heavy burdens hard to bear x and lay them on men's shoulders but they x themselves will not move them with one x of their fingers you know just this this x absence of Labor they're making x everybody else work hard but they x themselves would not work x and so this house is empty of Labor x and he also mentions that it was put in x order I think the King James says it was x garnished that right and that's the word x cosmia which x is x referred to uh in the temple when the x disciples are looking at the huge stones x and he says look at the temple how it x was adorned with beautiful stone stones x that word adorned is the same word put x in order x um cosmeo so I think Jesus is trying to x link them x um x that your house x your temple the things that you're x trying to clean out of an unclean spirit x it's empty there's nothing here you're x not working and I I was sort of thinking x it in the context of x the Pharisees seemed to focus on x sin management x now let's manage the sin x instead of working on character x development x and I think about that when I'm teaching x you know I'm so busy about okay you x can't do this and you can't do that and x I'm always trying to manage disobedience x in the class you know and having rules x for everything and I never really am x able to take a lot of time to develop x character x you know these are the characters we x want to employ these are the characters x we want to display we want to live x and I can spend you know so much time on x sort of sin Management in my classroom x but it's devoid of building anything and x I think that's the situation the x Pharisees got themselves in they're so x busy with rules and laws and and x traditions that they had to follow that x they weren't really building anything x the house was empty x everything looked good it was adorned x but there wasn't any growth x I Think Jesus is trying to get them to x that point x but then we get to verse 45 x and the spirit comes back x it's empty it's swept whether we look at x that as the temple or their lives put in x order x then he goes and takes with them seven x other spirits x more wicked than himself and they enter x and dwell there x and the last state of that man is worse x than the first so what is this talking x about he goes and takes with him seven x other spirits x well I think this is where we go to x Matthew chapter 23. x where Jesus gives just like Isaiah gave x seven woes x Jesus gives x seven woes in Matthew chapter 23. x seven with an asterisk which I will x explain in a second x so let's go through these in Matthew x chapter 23 because yes the Pharisees did x seem to remove a certain type of spirit x but eventually because they weren't x developing character x they weren't developing The Godly x character x worse things entered in and the first we x see in verse 13 of Matthew 23 but woe to x you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites x for you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven x against men for you neither go in x yourselves nor do you allow those who x are entering to go in so that's the x first one they're blind Gatekeepers so x you know a gatekeeper has a lot of power x they get to decide who comes in and who x doesn't come in x and so Jesus is saying that there's this x abuse of power they were abusing the x power that they had x now x some versions have verse 14. x woe to you scribes and Pharisees x Hypocrites for you devour widow's houses x and for a pretense make long prayers x therefore you will receive greater x condemnation x now it was funny because then when I was x studying this some would say there were x seven woes some would say there's eight x and it all depends on verse 14 if you x include it or you don't include it x so it's not in any of the earlier x manuscript manuscripts which is why some x versions will leave it out x but some versions do say well it's in x later ones so they put it in x so x here's the two ways you could take it x there's seven woes in in Isaiah x and if there's eight what was here you x could say well Jesus did say that that x Spirit came back with seven so there's x eight now so you could you could play x the math that way x or you could just say well you know x these are seven new and they make up a x new spirit x but I'm going to leave it out we're x going to go to the verse 15. x where it says woe to you scribes and x Pharisees Hypocrites for you travel Land x and Sea to win one proselyte and when he x is one you make himself twice as much a x son of hell as yourselves x okay so we have these blind instructors x you know these empty teachings they x weren't as we've mentioned a couple x times now developing anything in people x they were just developing people who x could okay can't do this can't do that x don't touch this don't touch that this x day we don't do anything and there x wasn't any development of character x uh verse 16. x woe to you blind guy to say whoever x swears by the temple is nothing but x whoever swears by the gold of the temple x he's obliged to perform it x fools and blind which is greater the x gold or the temple that sanctifies the x gold x and whoever swears by the altar it is x nothing but whoever swears by the gift x that is on it he is obliged to perform x it x and he can continues on but it seems x like they had this system x where they could they could manipulate x situations by what they swore on well I x don't have to keep that oath because I x actually swore on this and I don't have x to give uh you know that the gift to the x parents korbon because I've already x devoted it to this and you know it's all x just this manipulation and so it was x self-serving x and verse 23 woe to you scribes and x Pharisees Hypocrites for you pay tithe x of mint and ANSI and cumin and have x neglected the weightier matters of the x law Justice and mercy and faith x so you see he's saying he's going x through and he's listing all these x spirits that have entered in now x in verse 25 x woe to you scribes and Pharisees x Hypocrites for you cleanse the outside x of the cup and dish but inside they are x full of extortion and self-indulgence x blind Pharisee first cleanse the inside x of the cup and dish that the outside of x them may be clean also x just this inward corruption but this x outward look of righteousness x in verse 27 woe two scribes and x Pharisees Hypocrites for you were like x whitewashed tombs which indeed appear x beautiful outwardly but inside are full x of dead men's bones and all uncleanness x even so you also outwardly appear x righteous to men but inside you are full x of hypocrisy and lawlessness x so that once again this outward x righteousness but full of death x in the seventh well in verse 29 woe to x you scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites x because you build the tombs of the x prophets and Adorn The Monuments of the x righteous and say if we had lived in the x days of our fathers we would not have x been partakers with them in the blood of x the prophets x so just this idea that we're of a x different Spirit we got rid of that x Spirit we wouldn't have done those x things x um x and so x these seven new Spirits which were worse x than the first x um x uh come along and he mentions over and x over hypocrites x which x the word means a play actor you know x you're playing the part x you know and you think of acting and x they play the part but inwardly they x don't actually change so if they play a x certain part it's not like they're x developing their character to become x that person it's just it's just a x performance x and that's what he saw the Pharisees as x being empty of character x okay and so as Jesus says in that x Parable and they enter and dwell there x and the last state of that man is worse x than the first x so the old Spirit the one we read of uh x in Isaiah 5. x this this Spirit of disobedience x of just almost the flippant x you know casting aside the laws of God x the Commandments the statutes just x saying you know what we're not x interested in that we're interested in x getting what we can for ourselves we're x interested in in drunkenness and pride x and mocking and scoffing those who are x trying to be righteous there was this x unrepentant attitude x and then Jesus in Matthew chapter 23 is x showing the seven spirits that came in x because they didn't do anything when x they had emptied everything out x and this new spirit I'd call it x self-righteousness x and in a way x it's all the old x you know it's still a spirit of x disobedience x but it's more deceptive I think this is x why it's worse than the first it's x deceptive it has an appearance of x godliness x but it's still a spirit of disobedience x and so what what I want to look at oh x and then of course he ties it up Matthew x 23 verse 36. x at the end of those seven woes he says x surely I say to you all these things x will come upon this generation x and maybe that would have echoed in x their minds back to that Parable he gave x in Matthew chapter 12. x where he says so shall it also be with x this wicked generation x um x and so what I wanted to look at just x because I I don't think it was just a x lesson he wasn't just trying to get to x the Pharisees and and sort of shaking x them by the shoulders x saying you know x yes x you emptied out a certain type of spirit x but you let something in that's far x worse x I think he's saying the same things to x us x beware of self-righteousness because it x I don't know I I personally find it can x seep in in so many ways and you don't x even know you're doing it sometimes x you know quite often in school x uh we'll be sitting in the staff room x and we'll be talking about a student and x some of the things that maybe we see in x their lunch or some of the behaviors and x we we say things about the parents and x it's like x just this self-righteousness like we x don't know what those parents are going x through x we don't know what their past has been x like x the things that they've had to go x through what their parents were like the x poverty they might be enduring they x abuse they like it's just it's so easy x to fall into x um and so just a couple of ways x that self-righteousness is so dangerous x uh number one it tricks us into thinking x we're healthy when really we're sick and x we see that in Luke 5 verse 31 to 32 x where Jesus answered and said to them x those who are well have no need of a x physician but those who are sick x I have not come to call the righteous x but Sinners to repentance x okay and and as I mentioned one of those x messages that Jesus had for them was the x men of Nineveh will rise up in the x Judgment with this generation and x condemn it because they repented x right and the Pharisees x in their self-righteousness wouldn't x come to repentance we're healthy we x don't need a physician x uh and it can happen to us as well we x get to a point where we sometimes fail x to recognize how sick we are x another danger of self-righteousness x is that it prevents us from Desiring x God's righteousness right we become full x of ourselves x uh we rely on the Flesh and that's what x Paul talks about Philippians 3 verse 9. x he says not having my own righteousness x which is from the law but that which is x through faith in Christ the x righteousness x which is from God through faith this is x what he was Desiring x um just in context I believe that x in Philippians 3 he's just gone through x you know I had a I had a righteousness x that came through the flesh x um x where he talks about x um x verse 3 for we are the circumcision who x worship God in the spirit rejoice in x Christ Jesus and have no confidence in x the flesh the Y also might have x confidence in the flesh if anyone thinks x he may have confidence in the flesh I am x more so circumcised The Eighth Day the x stock of Israel of The Tribe of Benjamin x a Hebrew of the Hebrews concerning the x law of Pharisee concerning Zeal x persecuting the church x it's like I I had x Leslie righteousness righteousness of my x own and he's saying it's worthless x but if we have self-righteousness we x fail to see that we need God's x righteousness x um x we failed to desire it x just the Third Way and there are many x others I don't want to go on too long x but just x self-righteousness creates condemnation x instead of compassion x and I sort of gave that example of of x when we're in the staff room and some of x the conversations that go on and it can x happen in our meetings it can happen in x our families at the dinner table x if if we're cutting people down that's a x sure sign where we're x suffering from self-righteousness x right it's it just makes it easy to x lower people below ourselves x and when Jesus in Luke chapter 7 went x into the Pharisees house x says now in the Pharisee I believe it x was Simon when the Pharisee who had x invited him saw this he spoke to himself x saying this man if he were a prophet x would know who and what manner of woman x this is who is touching him for she's a x sinner x so instead of having compassion for her x you know and seeing that she and now has x an opportunity to be with Christ it was x a it was a spirit of condemnation of x lowering people x and so those are just three examples of x how that that x those seven spirits that came in after x were much more dangerous x having a x a x look of being righteous of being Godly x but far from it x so what type of spirit is desired x and Jesus leaves No Doubt and what is x desired and so I I just stuck in the x Book of Luke and I came up with seven x because we seem to have a pattern of x seven here the seven woes of Isaiah x seven woes in Matthew 23. x well how about seven blessings right and x so x here's what we need to develop and x there's more than seven but this is just x what I came up with the obedience x of the Builder on the Rock and Luke 6. x The Compassion of the Good Samaritan x the faithfulness of the good servant x uh in Luke 12 the humility of the guest x at the lowest table x the Gratitude of the leper giving glory x to God remember the one leper who came x back x the persistence and prayer of the Widow x the generosity of the Widow with two x mites like Jesus leaves no doubt of what x we should be filling ourselves with and x do you notice x it's all character development x you know developing obedience and x compassion and faithfulness and humility x and gratitude and persistence in prayer x and generosity when I was discussing the x Bible classes with Rachel she suggested x that we go to Galatians 5. you know this x is the fruit of that kind of a spirit x that God desires you know love joy peace x long-suffering kindness goodness x faithfulness gentleness self-control x now these are the things that that we x want to develop and if we develop this x kind of a spirit we don't have to worry x about Sin management so much do we x because no longer do we want to do those x things you know we don't need a lot for x that that's the furthest thing from my x mind x uh and I think that's what uh Jesus was x getting at x so hopefully x um when you read verses 43 to 45 we can x peel back a few more layers and see that x Jesus's message x was much more powerful for the Pharisee x if they were able to listen to it x you know if they indeed were able to x repent and if they were willing to fill x themselves x um with the wisdom that comes from God x they would be on a much better path x so the conclusions you know getting rid x of the unclean Spirit was good the x Pharisees were on the right track there x filling it with the spirit of x self-righteousness that focused on sin x management rather than character x development was worse x the new wine the new spirit that we put x in requires new wine skins now people x who have x have died to the flesh people reborn in x the newness of Christ then we can begin x that development x and as we just looked at Jesus clearly x illustrates the spirit that is desired