9 Filling The House : Pigs in the Parlor

Chapter 9: Filling The House

"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." Matthew 12:43-45 Here we are told in plain language that it is possible for a demon cast out to return, and not only so, but even to bring other and more wicked spirits in with him. The implication is clear. If the "house" is left empty, swept and garnished, it is an open invitation for worse trouble. The house must be filled.

This same account is found in Luke 11:24-26. Let us examine the contexts of these two passages. In Luke's account Jesus cast out a spirit of dumbness from a man and he was able to speak. Some expressed the belief that Jesus did this by the power of Beelzebub, the chief of the devils. Jesus explained that if this were true, then satan's kingdom was divided against itself and therefore could not stand. Then He added, "But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you."Jesus was addressing a Jewish audience who had developed a religion of negatives. They had taken a lot of things out of their lives, but what had they put in the place of them? Now, they were rejecting the positive that Jesus offered to give them. To emphasize this point Jesus used an illustration that they would understand.

If they did not put something positive in their lives after eliminating so many negative things, they would be like a man delivered of demons who did not put anything positive in his life. They would end up in worse condition than they were when they started.

The context in Matthew is even clearer. Jesus had just been condemned for plucking corn on the sabbath. He also healed a man's withered hand on the sabbath.

Again the Pharisees accused Him of casting out demons by Beelzebub. Jesus showed that their words evidenced an evil heart. They had already seen enough to change their lives, but they had not changed. Unless they changed they would grow worse and worse - like a man cleansed of demons who did not fill his house with something of God.

Jesus is saying that there comes a time when we had better put some positive things in our lives. There must always be a balance between positive and negative factors. After the flesh is crucified and the demons are cast out, we must put in Jesus and let Him rule our lives. In fact, the reason for getting rid of demons is in order to be able to have more of Jesus!With what do we fill the house? JESUS!

To be filled with Jesus is to be filled with PURITY and POWER. These two words summarize His person. As we shall see, our purity comes through abiding in Christ and the resultant FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT, whereas our power comes through the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the resultant GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT.

It desperately needs to be understood that this filling of the house does not result from a little routine prayer tacked on to the end of a deliverance ministry. I have cringed more than once when I heard persons say at the conclusion of a ministry, "Now, Lord, fill up all the empty places." I have seen many persons lose their deliverance because they did not know how to fill their houses, or with what to fill them.

For each demon that is cast out, the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit must replace it. This is the express responsibility of the delivered person. The deliverance minister should stress the fact that each person is responsible for filling his own house.

Filling the House with the Spirit's Power One of the last things that Jesus said before he ascended into Heaven was, "Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence" Acts 1:5). We find the fulfillment of this promise in the second chapter of Acts. It is the account of Pentecost:And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:4 What was the purpose of this baptism in the Holy Ghost? Jesus explained that it would be an endowment with power (See Acts 1:8). After the baptism came at Pentecost, how was the power manifested? This is an interesting subject which we cannot fully study here, but it may be observed that the power of the Holy Spirit working through the disciples was manifested through the nine supernatural gifts of the Spirit. These gifts are enumerated in I Corinthians 12:7-11. They are: (1) The Word of wisdom, (2) The Word of knowledge, (3) Faith, (4) Gifts of healing, (5) Working of miracles, (6) Prophecy, (7)

Discerning of spirits, (8) Kinds of tongues and (9)

Interpretation of tongues.

The entire book of Acts shows how the power of the Holy Spirit operated through these gifts of the Spirit.

Through Peter and John a gift of healing was ministered to the lame man (Ch. 3); words of wisdom and knowledge came to Ananias for ministry to Saul (Ch. 9); Paul dealt with the demon of divination in a damsel harassing his ministry, through discerning the spirit (Ch. 16); Peter spoke the word of faith to Ananias and Sapphira and they fell dead (Ch. 5); through Peter a miracle of resurrection brought Dorcas back to life (Ch.

9); while Peter preached in the home of Cornelius there were tongues and interpretation (Ch. 10); and through a disciple named Agabus the church was blessed through prophecy (Ch. 11).Demons despise these gifts of the Holy Spirit and cause men to despise them. Why? Because the operation of these supernatural gifts of power counter the work of demons. Their presence and wiles are exposed by the discerning of spirits and the word of knowledge. Their evil is undone by the word of wisdom, faith, gifts of healing and miracles.

Their plans bring harm are thwarted by a (timely word of prophecy or by tongues with interpretation. No wonder demons so strongly oppose these gifts!

These nine gifts were also given to the church for its edification. satan is the enemy of the church and sets himself against that which is designed to build up the Body of Christ. He makes strong thrusts at the gifts, and especially at tongues which has a special purpose in the edification of the individual believer. (See I Corinthians 14:4)

If the person experiencing deliverance has not been baptized in the Holy Spirit he should be encouraged to receive this baptism and to desire the spiritual gifts. We have seen many persons receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit as the climax of a ministry of deliverance.

The empowering of the Holy Spirit is important in retaining one's deliverance.

Those who already have the baptism in the Holy Spirit should be encouraged to "covet earnestly the best gifts"

(I Corinthians 12:31), and the best gift is the one that will minister to the needs of others in any given situation. Itis quite common that hindrances to the gifts are removed through deliverance. There are specialist demons who seek to block the operation of spiritual gifts. After deliverance the house should be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Filling the House with the Spirit's Fruit The fruit of the Spirit is enumerated in Galatians 5:22,23. It is: (1) Love, (2) Joy, (3) Peace, (4) Longsuffering, (5) Gentleness, (6) Goodness, (7) Faith, (8)

Meekness and (9) Temperance. The nine fruit represent the very nature of Jesus. When the fruit of the Holy Spirit is produced in a believer's life, he becomes identified with Jesus in character.

Demons are exactly opposite in character to Jesus. They enter a person in order to project their own evil nature through that person. So, what we are after through deliverance is to cast out the demons and their influence in order to replace them with Jesus and the fruit of the Spirit. Unless one understands this and makes it a definite goal, whatever benefits are gained through deliverance will eventually be lost.

Thus, to gain permanent benefit from deliverance, the "house" must be filled and kept filled. Otherwise the evil spirits will return and may return in greater force than before.

Before we go any further we need to get a clear understanding of how the fruit of the Spirit isproduced. The answer is found in the parable of The Vine and the Branches:

"The branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine: no more can ye, except ye abide in me."

John 15:4 Note: The fruit is not produced by independent action or by self effort. It only comes by abiding in the Vine!

So the KEY WORD is "abide". To abide in the Vine means to stay connected to Jesus so that the life of Christ will flow into the branch and the fruit will result.

How does one abide? The answer is in verse ten: "IF YE KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS, YE SHALL ABIDE..."

Abiding is synonymous with keeping the Lord's commandments. And what shall we have by obedienceabiding? Read on! "MY LOVE... MY JOY" - the first of the fruit of the Holy Spirit!

When we obey we have fellowship with the Lord and we obtain His love, His joy and His peace. When we disobey, fellowship with God is broken, and satan has gained a way of entrance. Let us learn from the example of Jesus. What was Jesus talking about in the context just prior to the parable of the vine and branches?

The prince of this world (satan) cometh, AND HATH NOTHING IN ME... AND AS THE FATHER GAVE ME

COMMANDMENT, EVEN SO I DO. John 14:30,31Here Jesus explained that the devil had nothing in Him.

It was because he was completely obedient to the Father. He never said a word nor performed an act outside the Father's will. This is why Jesus could declare...

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. John 15: 10 Mr. A had experienced a nervous breakdown some twelve years earlier. He had remained handicapped emotionally even after extensive treatment and hospital care. Finally he heard about the deliverance ministry. Demons responsible for his emotional problems were cast out. He also received a healing of the brain so that things blocked out of his memory through electric shock treatments began to come back.

With the return of memory he recalled the name of an orderly in the psychiatric hospital who had done him a serious injustice. He found himself filled with great bitterness and hatred towards that man. He began to entertain thoughts of trying to find the man after all those years and kill him.

At this point Mr. A came to me for further deliverance.

It was explained that he must repent of his hatred and forgive that person by an act of his will. It was also shown him that according to Matthew 18:32-35 he could not be delivered from the "tormentors" until he had willed to forgive that man. He would not answer my appeal. For at least five minutes he sat in silence tryingto decide whether to keep his hatred or meet God's requirement for deliverance. It took all the strength he could muster but finally he said, "With the help of Jesus I forgive that man." By this act of his will he paved the way for deliverance.

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew 6:14,15 I have known few others who gained as much through deliverance as this man. When the demons of bitterness, hate, resentment, anger, violence and murder were cast out he immediately replaced them with the love of Jesus - the love that forgives an enemy.

Immediately this man's spiritual life began to blossom.

The rivers of living water began to flow out of him and he began to minister truth and life to those about him.

His soul was flooded with the peace and joy of the Lord.

He had obeyed God's command to forgive his enemy and had received the fruit of that obedience. Hate was replaced by love.

THE FRUIT OF JOY

J.P. had many problems for a five year-old. His parents had come to the point of separation and divorce. There had been much tension and turmoil in the home from the time of his birth. His mother related to us that J.P. had many fears and constantly clung to her for security.

It was obvious that he was very nervous and restless.All in all, he was a rather unhappy child. But his mother had brought him for deliverance ministry.

While we ministered to an older brother and sister, he crawled around on his hands and knees wanting to know when it would be his turn. In his childish way he seemed to sense the importance of what was about to take place. He was serious and impatient.

When the first demons were addressed in J.P., the evil spirits pressed his lips together in defiance - a gesture that unmistakably meant, "We don't intend to come out." But in the name of Jesus they were forced to yield.

They came up with much foaming from the mouth and spitting. The battle was not a difficult one but it lasted thirty minutes. J.P. came through grinning and announced, "I've got to find a mirror. I feel so good I must look different!" And he did! His face was radiant.

With the demons gone, the joy could now come forth.

There are many persons, young and old, like J.P. who are sad. Life has become a burden; there is no victory and no hope of it. How promising to those without joy are the words of Isaiah describing the ministry of Christ and His church:

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;""To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified." Isaiah 61:1-3 The Fruit Called Peace

Mrs. B was delivered of a torment spirit. She had been opened up to it by a great fear. The Word says, "Fear hath torment" (I John 4:18). She described how at certain times a frenzied agitation would come over her and completely overpower her. She could not act or think in her usual sober and stable way When in one of these agitated states she would often say, "Why am I acting like this? This isn't like me." When the pressure of circumstances which had caused the spirit of torment to activate were lessened, she began to see that a spirit was creating crises in her mind which did not exist in reality.

Each time, after the spirit had vented itself, she felt an ill churning and burning inside, and condemnation.

The Word says, "As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men" (Romans 12:18). This torment spirit caused peace to be disrupted, not only in herself but in her family.

After this spirit and several of its companions were cast out, she was engulfed by great peace. The following day she continued to speak of the peace in her inner self.However, the spirit kept making attempts to create fear crises in her mind that would open her up for its return. Twice it succeeded in getting back in, and had to be cast out. She soon caught on to the demon's tricks, and closed the door with faith and trust in God. She now has total freedom. This has freed her to be a channel for the fruit of the Spirit of peace to flow through her to others.