The House Has Been Swept Clean It must be kept full‼️

Pastor Belinda Owens
23 minutes ago
3 min read

- Pastor Belinda 🌷- Nov. 24th, 2025

Deliverance is a miracle of mercy. Jesus has swept your “house”—your inner life—clean. But freedom must be maintained. Emptiness is dangerous; God intends for that space to be filled with His Spirit, His Word, and His presence.

“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 (KJV)

Jesus gives a sobering picture of spiritual reality. He is not speaking in parable but describing how the unseen realm works. The Lord is showing us something essential: deliverance is not the end of the journey—it’s the beginning.

In verse 43, the “unclean spirit” leaves a person.

The word unclean is ἀκάθαρτος (akathartos) — meaning impure, defiled, unholy.

It represents anything in our life that opposes God’s presence.

When the spirit leaves, it wanders “seeking rest”—the Greek word ἀνάπαυσις (anapausis) meaning relief or a place to settle. Evil does not like being homeless; it seeks an environment that fits its nature.

This reminds us that spiritual warfare is real, and spiritual freedom is precious. But freedom must be filled with something greater.

The Danger of Being Empty

The returning spirit finds the house (the person):

• empty (Greek: scholazō — unoccupied, vacant)

• swept — cleaned

• garnished — orderly, decorated

The life has been set in order but left unfilled.

This is the key point:

An empty life is a vulnerable life.

A life cleansed of sin but not filled with Christ becomes a target.

Jesus is teaching that moral reform, emotional relief, or behavior change—without the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit—cannot stand against spiritual darkness.

Deliverance must always be followed by discipleship, worship, prayer, Scripture, and fellowship.

The vacuum must be filled with God Himself.

What You Fill Yourself With Shapes Your Future

The spirit returns with “seven other spirits more wicked”this means a far worse spiritual condition.

Jesus concludes:

“Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.”

A generation that experiences His works but refuses His lordship and His presence will eventually embrace something worse. This is true both on a national level and an individual level.

✔ Freedom without filling leads back into bondage.

✔ Victory without abiding becomes vulnerability.

✔ Deliverance must be followed by devotion.

How to Keep the House Filled

If you have been set free, healed, or restored by the Lord, Jesus invites you to stay filled:

a. Fill the House With the Word

Let Scripture take up residence in your heart.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Col. 3:16).

b. Fill the House With Worship

Worship creates an atmosphere where darkness cannot settle.

c. Fill the House With Prayer

Prayer is communion that keeps the heart alive to God.