Satan Has Moved In!

by: Gary L. Hutchens

 In a previous article I talked about how our culture has progressively pushed God out of its mindset. I emphasized the fact that when we push God out of our mind, the devil automatically moves in. Our mind is not a vacuum; remove God, and the devil will fill the emptiness. The mindset of any nation is its culture, and our cultural mindset has, in a planned and focused way, continually shrunk God’s place in it. That has naturally resulted in all kinds of immorality becoming more prevalent and accepted. Our country is suffering the dire consequences.

 The principle is laid out clearly in scripture (Matt. 12:43-45). Jesus told of an “unclean spirit” going “out of a man.” When the unclean spirit found no place to go, it returned to “my house from which I came.” In short, it went back to the man in which it had previously dwelt. The spirit found that man’s life “empty, swept, and put in order.” That unclean spirit took with him “seven other spirits more wicked than himself.” All those spirits, not just the initial one, then made their home within that man. The result? Jesus said, “and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”
 The reason for the ultimate tragic result? When the man was rid of the unclean spirit, his life appeared in order, but it was empty. He did not fill the emptiness with godliness. Upon returning, the evil spirit found nothing standing in its way of resuming its former place within that man’s life. So, it moved back in and brought seven other, worse spirits with it. The effect upon the man’s life was worse than he had experienced to begin with.
 Jesus’ account of this man’s life should stimulate the reader to do some serious soul searching as to the state of his own life. But, Jesus used this account as an illustration to be applied to a much larger scenario. The concluding statement of our Lord is, “So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” Jesus came to call the people of Israel to come to Him as their Savior, in repentance seeking forgiveness and salvation. As a nation they rejected Him and instigated His crucifixion.
 They did not allow God’s ordained Savior His place in their lives, and they suffered terrible consequences as a result. Jerusalem, along with the temple, was destroyed in AD 70 by the Roman army. The nation of Israel ceased to exist for the next almost two thousand years. But far worse, they lost the fulfillment of God’s eternal plan for them, a home with Him in Heaven, because the only way to God is through Christ (Jn. 14:6), whom they rejected.
 The arrogant short sightedness of our culture in pushing for acceptance of one wicked lifestyle after another, and thereby striving to silence the influence of God’s word, has already born tragic consequences. Morals have been turned upside down. Wrong has been characterized as being right. Morality is being shouted down as being immoral. Evil, wickedness, violence abound all around us, and the movers and shakers of our present culture make excuses for it and largely call for acceptance. Our nation is in a state of chaos because The Devil, Satan, Has Moved In! He’s moved in and filled the vacuum left when we pushed God out…