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From Heaven With Love
goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked
than himself, and they enter in and dwell there.”
Many in Christ’s day, as today, through the grace of God were
set free from evil spirits that held dominion over the soul. They
rejoiced in the love of God but did not surrender themselves to God
daily, that Christ might dwell in the heart; and when the evil spirit
returned, with “seven other spirits more wicked than himself,” they
were wholly dominated by the power of evil.
A New Power Takes Possession
When the soul surrenders to Christ, a new power takes possession
of the heart. A change is wrought which man can never accomplish
for himself. The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His own
fortress, which he holds in a revolted world, and He intends that
no authority shall be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept by
heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of Satan.
But unless we yield ourselves to the control of Christ, we shall
be dominated by the wicked one. It is not necessary deliberately to
choose the kingdom of darkness in order to come under its dominion.
We have only to neglect to ally ourselves with the kingdom of light.
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If we do not cooperate with heavenly agencies, Satan will make
the heart his abiding place. The only defense against evil is the
indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness.
Unless vitally connected with God, we can never resist self-love and
temptation to sin. We may for a time leave off bad habits, but without
moment by moment surrender to Christ and a continual communion,
we are at the mercy of the enemy, and shall do his bidding in the
end.
“The last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it
be also unto this wicked generation.” There are none so hardened as
those who have slighted the invitations of mercy. The most common
manifestation of the sin against the Holy Spirit is in persistently
slighting Heaven’s invitation to repent.
In rejecting Christ the Jewish people committed the unpardon-
able sin; and by refusing the invitation of mercy, we may commit
the same error. We put the Prince of life to shame before Satan
and before the heavenly universe when we refuse to listen to His