When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. Matthew 12:43-45

Jesus told this parable as a warning to each of us to constantly monitor the contents of our house…meaning our body, heart, mind, and our spirit. This individual had been demonized by one evil spirit. This was not possession, but one spirit that had been given a assignment against this man or woman. A single spirit typically works to undermine and distort one slice of our life through temptation and lies expressed in persistent or even obsessive thoughts and actions. The unrelenting nature of those thoughts is experienced as bondage. They will continue and typically get stronger until the spirit is cast out.

Deliverance or freedom is an amazing experience, but there is a danger that Jesus warns about. The “house” was vacated by the spirit and some semblance of balance and order returned to the persons life. However, the house was not filled with the word and the Spirit of God, so a spiritual vacuum was created. Because the spirit could not find rest outside of a body, he decided to go back and see if he might find a way back in.

To the demon’s delight, when he returned he found the house empty and the doors unlocked. So more entered in with him, and the person’s condition was worse in the end than in the beginning. I have seen that very thing happen to a few people who have come through our church and ministries. One young woman, especially, comes to mind. She was in her late twenties, sweet, attractive, accomplished and everyone loved her. On the outside everything looked in order, but on the onside she was tormented by insecurities and fear.

She decided to seek God and freedom from torment by going through Free Indeed, an 8-week class and a weekend of healing and deliverance. On the weekend she had some extreme manifestations, but was set free and found a peace she had never known. One of the things she had confessed to her group leaders was that she was in an intimate relationship with a man who was not a believer. She made a commitment to break off the relationship and seek God.

Eight months later she returned to attend Free indeed again. She had gone back to the relationship she had promised to leave and was now more demonized than before. Again, she experienced severe manifestations during deliverance, but was set free. Once more she promised to break off the relationship and serve God. Her group leaders tried to keep in contact with her but found she had gone back to the same man again. This time, however, when they did contact her, she was hostile and no longer had any interest in talking about the things of God. We have not seen her since. As her demonization increased, her desire for godly things decreased. Each time we fail to press into God after deliverance, the enemy gains more access than before.

When a spirit or spirits leave, we must fill our lives, our hearts, and our minds up with the things of God – worship, word, fellowship with other believers, service, etc., or we risk walking around around with an empty house or, at least a vacant room, where the enemy is glad to set up residence. Each time we fail to surrender parts of our lives to Jesus, the enemy gains a greater legal right to afflict us.

In the realm of spiritual warfare, half-heartedness or double-mindedness is a dangerous thing. As we try to stand with one foot in the kingdom of light and the other foot in the kingdom of darkness, we are at risk. There is a wide chasm between the two, so a person cannot keep their balance for long. Eventually he or she will fall. Jesus warns us over and over that divided loyalties are unacceptable. He demands every part of our lives too be surrendered to him. But, when we do surrender, he fills our rooms with the blessings of God’s kingdom.

We need to be cautious when ministering deliverance or receiving deliverance. It is not a game and a great deal is at stake. Sometimes people want to get rid of the torment a demon provides, but not the sin that gives them pleasure. The sin, however, is the open door through which the enemy enters.

Remember the incident in Acts 16 where a young woman with a spirit of divination kept following Paul around Philippi shouting that they were servants of the Most High God. Apparently, the whole thing was very distracting and was, perhaps, an attempt by the spirit to associate itself with Paul and Jesus.

At any rate, the text says that after many days, Paul turned and cast out the demon. Why would he not do that as soon as he encountered the woman? My guess is that he knew the woman might not surrender to Jesus and would then become a person with a vacancy that would be filled with many more spirits, so he restrained himself as long as he could, out of concern for her. We may need to use the same discernment when our first impulse is to set someone free.

So…if you are ministering deliverance, take time to explain the necessity of filling the vacancy with the things of God. Make sure the individual knows what that looks like and the risk of returning to a sin or a relationship that opened the door in the first place. Sometimes our desire to free someone from the enemy makes us rush to deliverance rather than preparing the person to maintain their freedom after they have received it.