JESUS is still speaking to the Pharisees in these verses, and continuing his response to their hypocritical request for a sign. We must see what Jesus is telling them in the first place in this illustration, but this cogent illustration has more far reaching application which we will also seek to understand.

The Pharisees had taken the first step in this illustration. They believed in God, and cast out the evil spirit of worldliness and godlessness. Their lives were swept clean. They could justly say that they had cut from their lives all the excesses of worldly living and had given themselves to righteousness. They kept the law of God as they understood it meticulously. They could say as Paul did before his conversion that according to the law they were perfect. However they had never understood the treachery of human sinfulness in the inner person. So they could not see the corruption that is there in all of us. Because of this they depended on themselves to remain in a clean and righteous condition. This is the danger.

The danger of this condition is that the life is left empty, and so is ready to be occupied by seven devils worse than the first. What is Jesus describing here? The devil is so crafty. He knows that having turned from the world, temptation to return to the world may not work. What does he do? He sends more evil devils. He sends the devils of self-righteousness to occupy the life of the reformed character. These devils bolster up the sense of self-righteousness and make the person feel they are doing rather well. They avoid all the gross sins. They give money to charity. They are devoutly religious, or follow laudable principles, and they are made to feel that all is well with their souls, and that in God's view they must be in his favour because they are such good people. We have this syndrome painted for us when Jesus described the Pharisee praying in the temple. He made himself prominent for all to see his devotion. He told God how good he was and all his righteous works. He plainly felt that God must be very pleased with him, and that God's favour had been won by his good works. Jesus said of this Pharisee that he was not justified in the sight of God, and God did not hear his prayers.

The devils' of self-righteousness are more powerful than any other. The person who follows his lust, and lives without God, can be told where he or she has gone wrong, and so repentance can be produced. This is what the Publican, the tax collector, felt. He knew he had no righteousness so he pleaded only for mercy. The Pharisee had invincible ignorance about his sinful heart and his lost condition and his need for repentance. Nothing could reach him. The seven devils saw to that.

This is the danger of so many in church life and who are religious, specially if they are taught to build their lives on their own works and righteousness. Self-righteousness hardens the heart against the Gospel. The Gospel is something that offends them because they are convinved they are not sinners. They may not be perfect, but they are good people and to be called a sinner is offensive. Self-righteousness impugns the word of God which states that we have all sinned and that we were born in corruption. Self-righteousness blinds and deafens, because such a condition makes a person blind to the corruption within them, and so they can't appreciate their lost condition. A man blind and deaf had come to Jesus and had been healed. He came because he knew his condition and wanted to be saved. The Pharisees were blind and deaf in their souls but could not see it, and so they did not come to Jesus to be healed. If anything characterizes the universal church today it is this condition, and this is why Christ is not appreciated as the Saviour of sinners, and his death as a sacrifice to pay the price of our sins is denied.

Jesus was seeking to point all this out to the Pharisees in this illustration. Lord save us from these seven devils worse than any other.

Having said all this the illustration opens our eyes to a very important truth. We must not leave our life empty of occupation, for the emptiness must be filled, either by the devil or by Christ. If we do not have our life occupied by Christ by his indwelling Spirit, then the devil will come in and dwell within us. His subtlety is so great that he will hide his occupation so that we can't see it.

Jesus is telling us that we can't be alone in our lives. We are not able to live alone. We either follow God or mammon. Some may respond to the Gospel and reform their lives, but because Christ is not Lord as well as Saviour, their lives are empty and the devils return. This can be that they grow disillusioned with the Gospel and return to the world, and if this is the case then their state is worse than if they had never reformed. The reason is that once bitten, twice shy. They have tried it and supposedly found it wanting, and they are reluctant to try it again.