Transcription

Chris
So, Jeff, today we’re talking about power. Oh, yes. Jesus is power. Okay.

Jeff
And, uh, they think he’s plugged into the wrong power.

Chris
The religious leaders. Yes they do. Yeah. But little do they know. Oh, it’s going to be a good one.

Jeff
So he’s Chris and I’m Jeff and we’re the Bible guys. Okay, Chris. So this next segment is right up your alley.

Chris
Yes, because I’m a superhero guy.

Jeff
Yes. Superhero draft.

Chris
List. Since we’re talking about power, Desiree thought that we should go ahead and, uh, do a superhero draft list. We’re going to do rock, paper, scissors. Yeah, we haven’t.

Jeff
Done a draft in a.

Chris
While, and certainly never with superheroes.

Jeff
Okay. Rock, paper, scissors. You got to call out what you say.

Chris
Yep. One. Two. Three.

Jeff
Scissors. Oh, you got me. He got.

Chris
Rock. Yep. And so here we go. Uh, not because it’s the most powerful. I’m not, like, trying to build a team here. Okay? I’m doing my favorites.

Jeff
You’re just favorites.

Chris
Yes. Okay, so by far, by leap year Spider-Man, my number one. Really? It’s my favorite.

Jeff
Wow. I would say the same. My, my, by far my favorite is Captain America.

Chris
I thought you said he was Batman was your favorite.

Jeff
I like Batman better than Superman. That was our argument.

Chris
Okay, okay, okay.

Jeff
Yeah, it’s DC and DC barely counts.

Chris
I went and saw just recently, literally like two days ago, I saw the Blue Beetle and thought that this piece of garbage of a movie is is I felt obligated. You know, I want to give DC a shot, right? So anyway, so it was so garbage, man. It was so bad. So anyway.

Jeff
So you’re Spider-Man? Yeah, I was Captain America.

Chris
Yes. Okay, so I’m going to go next and I’m going to draft. I gotta draft Superman, I love him.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah, well, you have to. I mean, you have to have Superman on your team. Anyways, I’m going to do the Hulk.

Chris
Yeah, I.

Jeff
Love the Hulk.

Chris
Yeah, I like the Hulk, too. He’s great. Okay, my third one, I’m going to draft. Ooh, this is hard. I’m going to say Thor.

Jeff
Oh, that was my next one. Yeah, man, Thor is my next one. Well, then I don’t have any other favorites. Okay, now, now I’ll go Batman then that would be my third that insert.

Chris
Okay. And then, um, my fourth one I’m going to go. And I’ll be honest with you. Wonder Woman has, has, has been elevated in my mind by the actresses that have played her. So like, I don’t love the the idea that she’s from, you know, this, this remote island and everything else. But I’ve always loved the Lynda Carter one, and I’ve always loved the Gal Gadot version of it. So I’m gonna say Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman.

Jeff
Wow. Okay. Uh, for me, I’m about out of, uh, out of characters here, uh, Iron man. Oh, iron man. Yeah, yeah, iron man’s great.

Chris
Yeah. Okay. And then I like Thor.

Jeff
Better than Iron Man. Do you?

Chris
Yeah, yeah. So this is fifth and final for me. So I’m going to go with. Uh, let me see. Oh, I’m going to go with vision. Oh, yeah. Vision is just remarkable. Yes.

Jeff
Vision is is incredible. That’s a hard one. Is he a superhero, though? Oh. Or is she a character that interacts with superheroes?

Chris
No, no, no, he is in the comic books. He is legitimately a part of the Avengers. Is he?

Jeff
Yeah, yeah. But his storyline isn’t that he he became like associated with the Avengers and they needed him a lot.

Chris
Are you.

Jeff
You’re not saying he’s Thor, are you? Literally.

Chris
Hulk? Wait a minute. Are you literally trying to disqualify vision based on his origin from being a superhero?

Jeff
Because I’m just wondering if he’s actually a superhero or if he was just, you know, a quasi supernatural guy that they needed.

Chris
Hang on. Let me ask the entire I’m asking let me ask the entire Marvel Universe. Yes. They said yes. He said he he they all said he said he was. Yeah.

Jeff
I’m not going to argue with you. Okay? Okay. So my last one then, uh, my last superhero favorite. I’m having a hard time here. Um, just pick one you like. Yeah. So I think I did already. I picked them all. And you picked Thor. Can I have Thor? Would you give me Thor? Yes. I’ll trade you Thor for something. What do you want?

Chris
What do you want instead of Thor? I’ll tell you what I will give you. Thor. Okay? If. If I could. No. Forget it. I was going to be funny. I was gonna say if I could have the Hulk. Plus, uh, you know what? I’ll give you Thor, and I’ll choose the Scarlet Witch.

Jeff
Oh, there you go. Yeah. Oh, well, now you’ve got the Scarlet Witch and, uh, uh, vision together and and Superman and Superman. So you’ve got all the superheroes.

Chris
Yeah, I win, but.

Jeff
I got, I got. Yeah.

Chris
Okay. Well, yeah.

Jeff
Thor and Hulk. Thor and Hulk are good. Yeah, yeah.

Chris
All right. Well, that’s a pretty good one. That’s a pretty good discussion. Right? People are like, why.

Jeff
Are we listening to this? We just spent five minutes of your life. You’re never getting back. We’re sorry people.

Chris
Yeah, sorry about that, folks.

Jeff
But it was meaningful to us. And it’s our podcast, so you don’t have to listen if you don’t want to. Yeah.

Chris
Hey, before we move on with our Bible reading stuff, I just want to say, if you’re watching on YouTube, share it with somebody. Uh, share the Bible, guys. In fact, take just a second and say, you know what? I’m going to pick even the people that I don’t like. I’m going to go ahead and send it to them because they need the Bible guys, just like we all do. So we would really appreciate it. Uh, subscribe and leave us a message. We love it. Thanks so much.

Jeff
Today, uh, reading, uh, three parallel passages where the religious leaders are really struggling with Jesus. So, um, and they’re accusing Jesus of getting his power from Satan. Right? And, uh, so we’re going to read from Matthew chapter 12. Mark chapter three in Luke chapter 11. Remember how we mentioned before, how Mark just goes through event after event after event so quickly? Yes. So Matthew and Luke have taken 11 and 12 chapters to get to this point. And Luke’s on chapter three. Mark you mean I mean Mark, Mark’s on chapter three. Yeah, yeah. So here we go. Matthew chapter 12, verse 22, it says, then a demon possessed man who was blind and couldn’t speak was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see. The crowd was amazed and asked, could it be that Jesus is the Son of David the Messiah? But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, no wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the Prince of demons. Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart. And if Satan is casting out Satan, he’s divided and fighting against himself. His own kingdom will not survive. And if I’m empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons too, so they’ll condemn you for what you’ve said. But if I’m casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has arrived among you. For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger, someone who could tie a tie him up and then plunder his house. Jeff
Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me. So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come. A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes. How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day. For every idle word you speak, the words you will say, you say will either acquit you or condemn you. Um, in Mark chapter three, Jesus didn’t pull any punches there, did he? Nope. Mark chapter three, verse 20. It says, one time Jesus entered a house and the crowds began to gather, and soon he and his disciples couldn’t even find time to eat. When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. He’s out of his mind, they said. But the teachers of religious law, who had arrived from Jerusalem said he’s possessed by Satan, the prince of demons. That’s where he gets the power to cast out demons. Jesus called them over and responded with an illustration how can Satan cast out Satan? He asked. A kingdom divided by civil war will collapse. Jeff
Similarly, a family splintered by feuding will fall apart. And if Satan is divided and fights against himself, how can he stand? He would never survive. Let me illustrate this further. Who was powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger. Someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house? I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven. But anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences. He told them this because they were saying he’s possessed by an evil spirit. And then in Luke chapter 11 it says, one day Jesus cast out a demon from a man who couldn’t speak. And when the demon was gone, the man began to speak and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said, no wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons. Others trying to test Jesus demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority. He knew their thoughts. So he said, any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A family splintered by feuding will fall apart. You say I’m empowered by Satan? But if Satan is divided and fighting against himself, how can his kingdom survive? And if I’m empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons too, so they’ll condemn you for what you’ve said. But if I’m casting out demons by the power of God, then the kingdom of God has arrived among you. For when a strong man like Satan is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings. Jeff
Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me. I love how Jesus describes what he was doing. He was plundering the evil one in that. In that last one, wasn’t it? Yeah, that’s such a cool way.

Chris
Well, you know, it is. Uh, by the way, uh, Abraham Lincoln is famous for saying a house divided among, uh, house.

Jeff
Divided, uh, will fall, will fall.

Chris
Cannot stand.

Jeff
Cannot, cannot stand.

Chris
Cannot stand a house divided cannot stand.

Jeff
Yeah. And that’s he’s quoting this passage. That’s the King James version of this passage is a house divided. Cannot stand. Oh.

Chris
Yeah. So, um, so there you go. If you didn’t know where Abraham, uh, got his, uh, wisdom from the Bible. Yeah, yeah. So, um, so the bottom line is, is he’s talking about, uh, uh, you know, Satan is not going to be, uh, casting out Satan because that house would fall, and he’s saying, there’s no way that I’m I’m casting out Satan in the power of Satan because that whole entire kingdom would not survive. And he says the only possible way for somebody to cast out Satan is somebody different and stronger who’s coming in just like, uh, plundering. Uh, by the way, we don’t know what plundering is, right? Right. We don’t know.

Jeff
We don’t. We don’t live in a plundering world.

Chris
No. Right. But plundering somebody. Yeah. Plundering somebody is to literally invade and take over and defeat by force. By force. And then to rob. Yeah, right.

Jeff
Take everything.

Chris
Uh, yes. To take everything. Yeah. So, um, so bottom line is, is, uh. Sorry, I got a phone call there. Um, but, uh, anyway, I just I love it because Jesus once again uses a word picture that, uh, that we could all understand, and they understood it more than us. Uh, so, anyway, yeah, I just like it.

Jeff
I mentioned that a while back I was in Togo and Benin. This is where the. This is where voodoo comes from in the world. Yes. And so, uh, I was with a young man who grew up there. He’s a missionary kid. And, uh, JJ alderman and, um, he was telling me he has a friend who, when they get ready to go into these voodoo communities, he always reminds him that they’re going in the power of the name of Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit. And he always says, hey, let’s go plunder what Satan has in his hands today. Mm.

Chris
That’s awesome.

Jeff
Right. And it’s because Jesus said, um. You know, you don’t have to be afraid when only a strong man protecting his palace doesn’t have to be afraid unless somebody stronger shows up. Right? You know? So we went to in Aida, which is one of the capital cities for for voodoo. There’s a python temple. It’s one of the holiest temples. And it’s just it’s Indiana Jones kind of thing. Pythons on the floor. So all around, guys walk around, pythons around their necks. Pretty, pretty crazy stuff. And I was sick. And so I had eaten some things the day before, made me sick. And my daughter was with me. She’s 19, and so she was getting ready to go into an area I wasn’t going to go into because I was looking for the restroom and she said, am I safe? And I said yes, Jenna greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

Chris
That’s awesome.

Jeff
And she said, you’re right. I said, so go in Jesus name and go in the power of Jesus. And so she was with a couple of other Christians, and they were careful not to honor or give honor to the evil that was there. But we were just there to learn and to demonstrate, you know, the power of Christ there. And so we were guests. And so she went in, but she came out and she said that. You’re right. You know, it wasn’t as scary as she thought it was going to be because greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. And that’s such a cool moment. That’s the seat of evil. Yeah. One of them on the planet. Mm. And this is what Jesus is saying when he says.

Chris
You know what I mean by cool moment with your daughter. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, that’s what I’m meaning. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

Jeff
And Jesus says. Um. What does he say? Uh, when a strong man like Satan is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe. Dash until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him and strips him of his weapons and carries off his belongings. Right. And so when we went in those villages that had been previously overrun by demons, and then God had done some miracles, this one village we were in, God had done some miracles, saved a life, and all the people had been praying to these demons, and they knew their demons, and praying to these demons. They had these idols, they had all these fetishes, they had all these sacrifices. And the demons always took more than they gave. That’s how the people described it. So they they would get prayers answered, those things, but then the demons would take more as a result. And then Jesus comes into this village. He invades this village with the gospel. And it wasn’t it was. It was a woman who in a dream heard the name of this village. She did not know. And God gave her direction to go. And she took a friend and said, we’re supposed to go and take the gospel to this village. And this person was dying, this child was dying, and all these other children had been killed. And the people knew it was the demons. The demons were letting them know, we’re killing the children we’re taking back. Well, from the blessings that we had given. Now we’re we’re taking back. And she went and she laid hands on this child, prayed, and the child was instantly healed. And the whole village turned from Satan and said. Jesus doesn’t take, he gives. And so we’re going to give our life to him. Jeff
And they turn. And she literally the strong man showed up and took everything away from the demons. That’s what he did there that day. And now there’s this six month old church. And we were standing there. Do you know the Bill Gaither song? Because he lives, I can face tomorrow? Sure. They were singing that song. It’s one of the Christian songs they know. Wow. Because he lives. I can face tomorrow because he lives. All fear is gone. Because I know no, no, he holds tomorrow, right? Isn’t it? Is just. And life is worth a living just because he lives, right? That’s that’s the phrase. And it was such a I’m standing with tears in my eyes as they’re singing this song. They’re only been Christians for six months. And Jesus pillaged that village. He literally took it away from those demons. Wow, isn’t that neat? Yeah, but he’s done that. How many of our listeners say, well, that was my life. It’s not demons and idols and witchcraft. It was pornography or addictions or hatred or violence or self-centeredness or whatever. We all have our demons that we we need Jesus.

Chris
That’s true. Um, I was just on Mackinac Island a few days last week with my family. Just we got away for a weekend and went up north in Michigan. And, uh, there was a discussion about, um, uh demonism. Because there’s churches on the island and there’s a tour that we took and everything else. And my son said, uh, you know, I’d like to I’d like to one day battle a demon. He goes, or a demon he goes, I’d like to come up against and I’d like to. I’d like to cast a demon out and face a demon and cast it out. And my wife, of course, who just like she doesn’t allow, like, anything in the house that even resembles anything negative, right? Right, right. If I’m watching a movie, she’s like, turn that off. You know, I don’t want that in my house. I’m like, fine, you know, that kind of thing, right? And so, uh, yeah.

Jeff
I don’t like that stuff in my house.

Chris
Yes, yes, yes yes I agree. Well, definitely paranormal. Absolutely demonic. None of that exists in the house. Get rid of the Ouija boards. Yeah, all that stuff. Yeah, but I’m talking about even she’s. So she’s such.

Jeff
Movies and stuff like that. Yeah.

Chris
She’s such a, uh, protector of the home. Yeah, that anything’s like. I’m not even kidding. Like, anything literally negative. She’s like, I don’t want it. Yeah, right. Anyway, so. But anyway, the point is, is that she’s sort of that way. And so Steven makes this comment and my wife says, no, are you kidding me? She goes, you don’t want that. You don’t, you don’t wish for that. And then my son says, why, I’m going to win. I’m going to win. You got Jesus with you in the name of Jesus Christ. He goes, I’d like to do it just because you know you’re going to win if you have Jesus in you. So in other words, he was just, you know, there’s just this quick interaction, but he was so confident that that, you know, Jesus is stronger than any demon or spiritual force or negative force. And, you know, he he has uh, he has, uh, you know, he struggles with his, uh, mental health. And so, you know, he does battle a lot of, uh, depression. And, uh, there’s a chemical imbalance. He takes medication and, and, uh, it’s been a very big struggle for him for the last seven and a half years of his life. And it’s and it’s almost to the point where it’s overwhelming and crippling.

Jeff
But he has the faith to say Jesus is stronger.

Chris
Yes. Yeah, yeah.

Jeff
Isn’t that great? So even with these struggles and battles, yes. Jesus is stronger.

Chris
Yes. Yeah. He has absolute complete faith that wonderful that that’s true.

Jeff
I love Steven, man. He’s a great guy. Yeah. So, uh, there is one other thing here that I think is worth noting. This is the first time there’s a major shift in Jesus ministry at this moment, and that is, even his enemies recognize he has power now. Mm. Right. It’s undeniable. In the months prior, he raised a guy from the dead. He healed a person just with his voice. He’s done all these things. And so now they’re not denying that he has power, right? That even his enemies are, like.

Chris
Now they’re saying the power comes from bad places.

Jeff
Exactly. This is this is significant because prior they were just calling him a fraud, right? He was a fraudulent teacher. He was he was a wicked man. He was a glutton and a and a drunkard, and he’s a sinner. They all these things. But now they’re acknowledging that he has power. And this is one of those passages. Remember, I think I’ve referenced this many times as you talk about is this him doing it as God, or is this doing him as a man with God? You notice here in these two passages, all three of these passages, Jesus says, uh, it’s the Holy Spirit, right? It’s the power of the Holy Spirit. And so he said, hey, you can even say bad things about the Son of Man, Jesus. But he said, you can’t say bad things about the Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact, one of the other places Jesus will talk about the fact that when you claim that the that the work of the Holy Spirit is the work of the devil, or when you claim that the work of the devil is the work of the Holy Spirit, he said, that’s that’s one of the worst sins you can do, right when you start attributing God’s work to the devil, or when you start attributing the devil’s work to God. It’s one of the reasons why he warns pastors and preachers to be careful not to turn people away from God’s ways into the wrong way. Right? To always stick true to Scripture is because it goes along those lines of attributing evil for good or good for evil and man. We live in a world today where evil is good, and good is evil, right? And this this is a I think we’re living in a clash between light and dark, and we need to be conscious of the fact that greater is he that is in us than he that’s in the world.

Chris
Yeah. And then then that one scripture, I think it was in the first passage, uh, out of Matthew where he actually said, um, uh, there’s a sin that will not be forgiven, right? Right. Like blasphemy and the Holy Spirit. So there’s a lot of, uh, controversy around that verse. I shouldn’t say controversy. Uh, well, questions.

Jeff
A lot of questions.

Chris
Perhaps, but yeah, a lot of discussion of what that means. And again, because the Bible is its own best commentary, you piece it together with everything we know about God’s forgiveness. And the thing that we know about God’s forgiveness is the only unforgivable sin is to reject the Holy Spirit is to not believe in Jesus Christ. Right. So, you know, to to not, um, because the Holy.

Jeff
Spirit’s job is to bring us to Christ. Right? The Holy Spirit is one of the Holy Spirit’s jobs, is to bring us to repentance of our sin, to turn from our sins and turn to God. So the unforgivable sin is rejecting the Holy Spirit’s work to bring you to a point where you ask for forgiveness. The reason why it’s unforgivable is because you’ll never ask for forgiveness, right? Right. That’s the it’s kind of a circular thing there a little bit, but it’s precisely what Jesus is talking about is, listen, if you reject the work of the Holy Spirit in you and you just refuse to come to a place where you need forgiveness. There’s no hope. Because when you die, there’s no more chance for forgiveness, right? Everything else, man, as long as you’re open to the idea of going to God for forgiveness, you can be forgiven. You are forgiven. The Bible says, right? But if you reject the idea of forgiveness, God’s not going to just splash you with forgiveness. You have to receive forgiveness, right? You have to ask for forgiveness. So he’s not just going to bury you in it. I like that I’m just going to splash you with forgiveness.

Chris
Yeah, I like that splash you with forgiveness. I never thought about that.

Jeff
Right. So that’s what he’s saying is if you refuse forgiveness, if you refuse the work of the Holy Spirit in you. God’s not going to make you accept it. That’s that’s the one. It’s the unforgivable sin. Because you. Won’t be forgiven. You refuse to be forgiven. And so, hey, I’m not going to make you be forgiven.

Chris
Yeah, that’s that’s amazing. Yeah. That’s great. And I think that’s probably a good place to end. Uh, so, uh, it’s been great. And hopefully we will see you on Monday. Uh, on The Bible Guys.