Hook
- Intro / Joel / Bibles / Mark 3
- Kids Klub Delivery Man Skit
- Ralph refused to believe that Joe Brown was who he said he was. {P}
- Insistent intentional ignorance
Book
(Mark 3:20–30, NKJV) 20 Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. 21 But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.” 22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.” 23 So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. 27 No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house. 28 “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— 30 because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Prayer
Look
For the purposes of today’s study, I’m going to break our passage into four sections; 1) The Prologue (20–21), 2) The Protest (22), 3) The Parables (23–26), 4) The Point (27–30) and take a look at each of those.
The Prologue
(Mark 3:20–21) 20 Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. 21 But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.”
- Out of His mind? What does this mean; out of His mind?
- Working too hard, slipping
- Mission still unclear
- Being a big weirdo
- Being in the vicinity of God, Church, Faith, or Jesus is no guarantee of anything. Remember that, we’ll come back to it later.
- I don’t know about you, but when I read this I immediately thought about David pretending to be insane in front of King Achish to avoid an unpleasant fate.
- Are his friends trying to run cover for Him?
- Bigger question: are you trying to HELP God? Like, Lord, you seem like maybe you’re in over your head on this one, let me help you out.
- Seinfeld mattress bit
- Rather than helping, it became a foundation for criticism:
The Protest
(Mark 3:22) 22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”
- Beelzebub = Lord of the Flies (chaos, filth, decay – Dung Heap)
- Note NO DENIAL by the Scribes, this is straight-up misattribution. FAKE NEWS.
- Jesus is accused of preforming a False Flag Op for Satan
- Describe False Flag <- When you hear false flag your your SCAM alarm shoudl be going off.
- Unyielding. Dogmatic. Blind to truth. This is like modern scientism.
- Lewis Wolpert’s “Special Computer” (Debate w/ Craig — 1:23:00)
- Evidence is only evidence if you want it to be
- Insistent intentional ignorance
The Parable
- Jesus responds with 2 parables
(Mark 3:23–26) 23 So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.
- How many of you have heard the phrase “A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand”?
- How many knew it was in the Bible?
- How many knew it was about Satan?
- This is life-level stuff — KINGDOM — HOUSE — SELF
- When what divides becomes what defines, that’s when the real damage is done.
- This is why it is so critical address those divisive matters BEFORE they become defining matters!
- This is what brings down marriages, families, even who empires.
- R.S. and the Elders (Festivus, they said nothing out of love?)
- “Peace and compassion” does not mean never rocking the boat.
- Peace is not merely the absence of conflict, it is the presence of love.
- Anyone appreciate spinach in your teeth?
- And how do we ourselves fall in this way? In Matthew 6 Jesus tells us no one can serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and
- Money (Matthew 6:24)
- Self (Philippians 2:3–4)
- Power (James 4:6)
- Pleasure (2 Timothy 3:4)
- Pride (1 John 2:16)
- The World (James 4:4)
- People (Galatians 1:10)
- Fear (2 Timothy 1:7)
- Probably more…. but these will lead you to fall one way or the other.
(Mark 3:27) 27 No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.
- This, friends, is spiritual warfare!
- “Strong Man” = Satan
- “Strong Man’s House” = Earth
- “Strong Man’s Goods” = US
- How do we do this? WE DON’T! Satan is bigger than us. He is strong than us and He is smarter than us. We cannot defeat Satan.
- Fortunately. WE. DON’T. NEED. TO. Satan has already lost, we just need to join the team that has ALREADY WON. You can’t GET a better deal than that.
- Imagine getting to join the Blue Jays just as Joe Carter’s walk-off home run landed in the bullpen in 1993. You get the ring, the trophy, and all the rewards that come with being a champion and all you did was say, “I’m with him!”
- So get on your knees, and get in the fight!
The Point
(Mark 3:28–30) 28 “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— 30 because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
- This is where is gets interesting
- “Blasphemy” is slander against God is forgiven… but not against the Holy Spirit?
- What makes the Holy Spirit so special?
- DON’T MISS THIS
- An attack on the Holy Spirit is different from an attack on the Father or the Son because the Holy Spirit is the person of the Spirit who is at work in the world in tangible ways.
- Father = Authority/Plans/Purposes
- Son = Creator/Redeemer/Judge
- Spirit is…
- Indwelling presence (Rom 8)
- Conviction of Sin (John 16)
- Gifts (1Co 12)
- Fruits (Gal 5)
- Guidance & Comfort (John 14)
- Empowerment for Mission (Acts 1,2)
- To slander the work of the Lord here on earth is to look truth in the eye and spit in it’s face.
- Insistent intentional ignorance
- J Jonah Jamison from Spider-Man refuses to see the truth
- Makes Slanderous Claims
- Ignores evidence to the contrary
- Lives in an echo chamber
Conclusion
- Panic~! HAVE I DONE THIS? Have I offended the Lord in an irreparable way? Am I doomed to eternal separate from all that is good and true and right!??!
- Let’s talk about that for a minute.
- Remember how Jesus friends & family tried to cover for him? And I said that being in the vicinity of God, Church, Faith, and Jesus doesn’t necessarily mean anything?
- Kids Klub “I’m an airplane” Skit
- Saving faith isn’t about being in the right social circles, or doing the right things, or saying the right words. Saving faith doesn’t “rub off”.
- Paul says as much in Romans 1
(Romans 1:20–21) 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
(Romans 1:24–25) 24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
(Romans 1:28–32) 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
- Do you think this is something that will happen accidentally?
- We see this with Pharaoh in Exodus.
- If you are worried about this, you don’t need to be.
- Your concern shows a soft heart toward God.
- BUT if you have friends or family who don’t know God. Whose hearts are hard toward God. It’s time to Get on your knees and open your mouth. It’s time to bind up the Strong Man and plunder His house, amen? Trust the Spirit, take a step out in faith and thoroughly plunder the Strong Man’s house!
- Don’t wait. I never pulled in the net with my father before he passed away and now I don’t know if I will ever see him again. I missed it. I missed my shot. I missed my chance. It’s gone. Forever.
- Don’t let the people you love go to hell because you are afraid of an awkward conversation. Or because you are afraid of damaging the relationship.
- You know what damages a relationship? A lake of fire.
- If you have been hard-hearted, now is the time to let Him in.