A House Divided
Mark 3: 20-30
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Back to Basics The
New Testament Witness of the Apostle
Peter |
Max
A Forsythe | |
During World War Two both Churchill and Hitler maintained at least two shifts of secretaries and aids to keep their fighting edge of leadership keen and up to the minute. Eighteen hour days were the normal course of events, which Churchill had learned some years before the war and even maintained throughout his whole political and literary career. By contrast Hitler was more the Bohemian who suffered from trying to maintain the pace and in the end, it was his lack of personal discipline early in life that done him in. You see, Hitler was pretty much strung out on drugs to keep his social disease contained and under control. That syphilis eventually maddened and weakened him even as Churchill and company were refreshed and grew stronger. More than we will ever realize the Global War was a war of personality between the natural dark hitlerian side of mankind and the lighter imputed shade personified in Churchill.
Certainly I know the real man of the last century had his faults and imperfections, but being the British bulldog he was, he never lost sight of the victory that must be won if mankind were not to fall into another age of historical darkness! In one of his marvelous speeches he observed that even if Hitler managed to attack the very gates of hell, he would try to think of something supportive to say about the devil. Of course, it wasn't the devil that was under assault when Churchill made that observation, but only one of Satan's earthly servants - Stalin. Providentially and to our best interests in the West, two of the most wicked men of all time attacked each other with a glee and inspiration that mystified the civilized powers of the West: America & Britain.
We can well observe that in World War Two the sons of Satan himself did indeed do more damage to each other than we could ever have done separately or to both at once. Satan did in fact war against Satan! Probably much to his disgust. And for the cause of Christ and the free peoples of the world that fact was indeed a providential blessing! The fact of that warfare within the divided house of Satan should tell us a lot about those who serve the dark perverse powers arrayed against our Lord and His own bride - the Church.
Little did the religious leaders of Christ's time appreciate where their own service and affections were focused. Their opposition to the Lord's Anointed Messiah should be evidence enough. If you need more, the gospel of John reports an exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees in John Eight where the religious leaders claim that Abraham is their Father, but Jesus observes more correctly that the Father of lies is truly their sire! So collectively were they children of the wicked one, that they misconstrue who and what Jesus is. They dare not, they will not consider the right conclusion that this man Jesus is who all the evidence would indicate.
I am reminded of one credit card commercial where a well-known actor presents the card to a store clerk and she demands some form of identification. Or in a humorous sketch from the news, the Vice President reports an argument with a potential voter he called personally who refused to believe that the he was actually on the other end of the phone. But this is more than mere mistaken identification. They would vilify the Son of Man, they would deny him any valid religious credentials if they could.
Evidentially the official enquiry had gotten so heavy - that Mary and her relatives had set out to rescue Jesus from His public ministry. Perhaps they half believed the false tales of the official church who viewed the work and witness of Jesus as a conflict between wicked and evil spirits. Like some of the false prophets who conducted exorcisms by calling on more powerful spirits to drive out the weaker - they accused Jesus of participating in one of Satan's agents many providential civil wars down through the ages.
I well remember the pugnacious assaults against my credibility by so called leaders in the liberal church twenty-some years ago. And at that time I had indeed been very circumspect in presenting my biblical orthodoxy. In fact my worst enemy was a man who denied the Calcedonian definition of the deity of Christ. Even members of my own family were harassed and harried until I was forced because of their torment to leave the ministry. Satan's agents are still alive and well in and outside of the Church today. At least we do not have the widespread demon possession which appears evident in the New Covenant record. Thankfully, a spiritual cleansing in Israel proceeded alongside the teaching ministry of our Lord and Savior. And it is this great spiritual battle that divides the established church of Jerusalem and the growing ministry of Christ.
When Jesus hears the serious charges He makes two observations which will be the final focus of our meditation this morning. First, he discusses the reality of the spiritual warfare of His day in Israel. Second, he gives us a score card so that we may know who is for Him and who is against Him. Now we have to be very careful in our analysis of the ongoing spiritual warfare between the Trinity and the fallen angels led by Satan. It is not for us to know many accurate details from the glorious symbolic prophecies contained in Daniel, Revelation and others. Paul gives us the best analysis of this period in Jesus ministry in Colossians 2: 15: "Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it." In our Geneva Study Bible notes, you will find related notes to this verse which the commentator sums up in the great words of Luther's hymn "Lo, his (Satan's) doom is sure".
The cosmic battle at the cross must be seen as the most dramatic moment in all of Biblical history. The apparent victory of Satan was seen through a glass darkly, but Hades and death could not contain Him and three days later Christ arose the victor over death and Satan. From that time on Satan is only a junk yard dog whose influence is measured by the chain which measures his influence. This is what Jesus is talking about in verse twenty-seven: "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."
All of the saints to whom life and hope have been given are those whose slavery to the evil one has been broken asunder. Aptly so, the House Divided theme has been applied to the American Civil War. As the Union Armies advanced into the south, they were welcomed and cheered by the slave population because the presence of Union troops meant that they were really and truly free. Little does the modern world appreciate what slavery to sin really truly is. In fact, the worldly have worked themselves into a frenzy in this century to overturn the impact of the Father's ten commandments so that they may enslave one another to the vices and sins of Satan.
Every time I see a young female crying at school, I don't even have to ask, I can almost guess correctly that either the seventh or the ninth and tenth commandments have been broken in the context of their daily soap opera lives. And that is the freedom for which passionate feminists have spent the last fifty years! Never (to paraphrase Churchill) has so much misery been created by the labors of so few for so many. And their solution to the ongoing violations of the seventh commandment? Why the sixth of course. Let us kill off our mistakes and lead the younger generation into the slavery of physical fornication, licentiousness and worse: even spiritual bondage.
Oh, but if you raise the commandments, "heaven" forbid - let me rephrase that - hell forbid you are being too judgmental. Now, it is too early to tell if the last battles of the age are coming near to hand. Remember the themes of Revelation and the time of His coming are not for us to know exactly! The growing wickedness in this country seems to me to be only a phase that America is going through. After all, if Satan was really loose from his chain, the Soviet Empire and the Nazi one as well would have succeeded more fully. And as it is, both wicked and evil empires were brought down in our own time.
Only Satan's junk yard puppies are afflicting us in America. And theoretically, the party of their first choice is so bankrupt for leadership that their voters must cross over to the other party to find an electable candidate that would please them and the press! Of course, even a pack of unrestrained puppies can be dangerous, precisely because they have little knowledge of what they are really about. Unfortunately, too many people have joined in the excitement of the spiritual/political chase to see where the new freedoms might lead? Would that the church today had the power to contain these puppies even as Jesus disciples were able to drive out demons in His time! With all of that said, I hope you understand a little more of the reality of the spiritual warfare diagnosed by Jesus in His as well as our own day.
The second point that Jesus made in verses twenty-eight through thirty, will help us to see the battle lines more clearly so that we can line up on the side of Christ our Lord and Savior. "Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation" - because they said 'He has an unclean spirit.'"
What is this unforgivable blasphemy? Basically blasphemy is to call evil - good and good - evil! The Oxford American Dictionary defines it as: "contemptuous or irreverent talk about God or things considered sacred". That general observation should fit into the forgivable category that Christ allows in the passage above. These blasphemies would include the current worldly attitude
that values Sodomites above
Christians,
that values adultery, fornication and
licentiousness above chastity and
virtue,
that values faithless testimony, lies, damned
lies and statistics over real truth.
Of course when someone espouses those false values, I am not afraid to point out the blasphemic nature of their opinions. After all, if anything and everything we believe are only opinions, so are we allowed to have different opinions as well! Of course, only truly old fashioned liberals will allow such frank discussions. More likely the current trend is to impose the constraints of political correctness by complaining that they are offended too much by opinions that do not agree with their own! Well, we do have a responsibility in the words of Shakespeare to tell them they "do protest too much". After all, even the God of heaven may be offended and blasphemy is the quickest way to get His full and undivided attention!
In The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, the author describes the devilish dismay at the mild mannered sinners who come to their tables in the halls of hell. How much they would prefer great sinners who go all they way in their blasphemy. You know the kind, those like the buzzy flies that get in your face and just dare you to look for a fly swatter! These in-your-face atheists are those who throw down the gauntlet and just dare God to do something, anything at all! The nominal atheists are only along for the ride, they never work themselves up to leading the charge against the Holy One of Israel. But you know what, they will all go to the same place!
And that is where the rub comes in on our definition. General blasphemy is just as dangerous as specific blasphemy. Very few contemporary people will say that any member of the Trinity is wicked and evil. Some few may think that the Devil is cool, but like the dark angel himself, they will be somewhat careful about their public outcry against the God of heaven. I once heard a self-admitted old crone (which is Gaelic for witch) decry publicly the bride of Christ - His church. But she did not go all the way and attack God Himself! More likely, the opponents of God in Christ will speak from within His realm, the church and claim that their wisdom of what the scriptures say is superior to what the words really truly say.
Now, consider the implications of that for a moment? When the first pervert would instruct the leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention and tell them what the scripture really means - isn't this blasphemy of the highest order? Isn't the type of blasphemy practiced by the liberal church the most damning kind? Whenever the teachings of Paul are downplayed as not being the word of God, when the commandments are twisted to provide new accommodations to the world, when the clear teaching about sin and repentance are denied - there you have blasphemy. Just this week, a writer for the Christianity Today publications complained that the church must learn to accept her unmarried relationship to her boy friend and give the same freedom to every swinging single who might hang out at church from time to time!
How little the world realizes that you can't have heaven your way! It is His way, or the highway to hell! What the whole world needs is a new attitude and those of us within the Kingdom of the Spirit know full well that He can and will drive out our own demonic urges and put into our hearts His attitude so that we can and will lovingly submit to His gracious laws that are neither burdens nor grim reminders of innocence lost, but well within the bounds of heaven. May we, like the saints of yesteryear and all those down through the ages, flock to Christ the Savior and Master of our souls. Amen.
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Resources Used | |
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Cole, Alan. |
Tyndale New Testament
Commentaries: |
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Keener, Craig S. |
The IVP Bible Background Commentary:
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Pringle, William. |
Calvin's New Testament
Commentaries: |
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The
New Geneva Study Bible
(NKJV) | |
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Mrk03c |
13 February 00 |