Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 749 | Jase Is Way Better at Basketball than a Toddler & Modern Hippies Are Still the Same

Episode Date: September 8, 2023

Jase relates a tale of woe and triumph from his recent adventures in babysitting, when he sacrificed his manly image to make his granddaughter laugh. Al has a run-in with some modern-day hippies who aren’t that different from their historical counterparts. Phil and the guys explore the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the role of responsible eldership in the church. Jase recalls a time he called out a preacher for inappropriately spending his time with unmarried women.  In this episode: Luke 12, verses 1–12; Hebrews 6, verses 4–8; Mark 3, verse 30 — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? So I'm on the road a lot. We were talking about Maddie, who's there. Normally it does the producing of our podcast. She took an early, she got off a little bit early. We got a little break coming up, so she got out. So we got Jordan in the house today, but Maddie was, I think, heading down to the beach.

And so I'm on that road back and forth quite a bit. It was interesting, Jason, because you talked about when we celebrated your birthday on a podcast a few about a few podcasts back you talked about Woodstock and you know that we were talking a little bit about the hippies and so I was I stopped

to get gas in forest Mississippi a little small Mississippi town. Is it a forest? There was a lot of trees there I guess that's what they call it that and so it's one of my regular you know I've got all the the best bathrooms mapped out from

Monroe to Gulf Shores Alabama because there's some, you only stop for emergencies. There's the ones that are clean. That's the ones you try to make it to, you know, on your regular style. And one of them is in Forest Mississippi's got a nice little truck stop there. And I pulled in and get gas. And because it's not a lot around there, it's usually always pretty busy there because it's clean. Everybody's like me if you're doing a lot of traveling.

You know a lot of trucks there. And I looked up and lined up as I'm driving in, kind of parked not at the gas, but kind of behind the gas station, there's a group of vehicles, and they all are old, I mean, very old, like 60s and 70s. They got stuff painted all over them.

They got the peace sign. And I was like, hmm, that's kind of weird. Modern day hippies. Modern day hippies. And so then I started looking at the people that were like milling around. It were all young people.

And they were dressed like the hippies of your era. Dad, they had the kind of robe-looking clothes on. and nobody had shoes on. And so I was looking at us, are these hippies? So I pulled in, you know, and they were just kind of talking amongst themselves. And I noticed they had a bunch of gas cans. And there were two or three of them.

They were over there getting gas over to pump. But they weren't filling the vehicles. They were putting them in cans. So I was trying to figure out what was happening. This kid walks up to me. And he had the corn row hair and, but very nice, very polite young man. and he said, hey, we're heading from the west coast to Atlanta, Georgia, and he had a gas can in his hand. He said, could I ask you maybe to loan us some, I didn't say loan us.

They said, give us some gas. And I look back over to all the vehicles, I said, are y'all hippies? And he laughed when I said that. He said, well, sort of. He said, kind of. He said, you know, there's a big group of us. And I said, where are you from? He said, well, I'm from Washington State.

I said, well, you're a long way from us. I said, you know, you're in Forest Mississippi. He said, yes, sir. He was very respectful. And I just, I found it funny that he was a hippie. And I said, he was respectful. Let me guess. You got him some gas.

I got him some gas. He won me over. I was like, you know, he was a little rank. He could have used the bath, I think. I don't know. They've been camping out, I guess. And I looked at his cast. So I tell you what?

I said, what are you all doing in Atlanta? He said, well, you know, there's a big group of people getting together. And we're going to. I think at some point, you should have said, are you looking for work? That would have been good. Do you know Jesus, right? So I said, I tell you what?

I said, I tell you, I'm going to give you a tank of gas or a can of gas. He said, oh, we really appreciate that. And so that's what they were doing. They were coming over to ask for gas to go back and fill up all the vehicles so they could get to the next leg of the trip. So it's funny. So we had two vehicles because we, you know, we were traveling. Alex was with us and had grandkids.

And so I was filling up two different vehicles. here. Well, we're living a spiritually fulfilled zone here, which you've entered, and we're it, but you got a little gas where I come up the road? That's what they had. So I'll go back and say, well, let me, I said, I'm putting premium in my truck, but I'm putting regular in this one back here. Let's go get this one out of here. Well, he looked around because nobody was there, but it was gas going in. Well, he didn't realize I was filling up both. So he looked at me kind of funny like, or, we fixing a steel gas from these people here?

And I said, no, this is my vehicle too. I said, and he's like, oh, yes, sir, thank you. You should have said, look, I have special powers. I can actually drive two vehicles simultaneously. That's what I should have said. I should have just said, hey, let's go over here and steal. Guarantee if you'd have said that, he'd said, what's you smoking, bro? Well, I did hear one of them overheard one of them who there was a van that actually was putting gas in her tank.

And I heard her, I overheard her tell some people in the back, no sex in my van. I did hear that later. And I thought, hmm, this is me. Yeah, that'd be kind of rude. That was what she said. So I don't know what all was happening, but there are hippies, Jays. They're still doing woodstock. I mean, you did a nice thing.

It may, you know, I don't know. Well, that's. I mean, it just happened. And I thought about it after we talked about it. Woodstock the other day, that story hit me. And I thought, I mean, I just, normally I would have said no, probably. But then he just kind of won me over because he wasn't what I expected. He was, he was.

But I think, you know, Woodstock and things like that, it comes out of, even today, I think it comes out of frustration from leadership, you know, leaders of the country, leadership at church, you know, and hypocrisy, which is what we're going to talk about. Because they were, they were, you could tell. they they they they the the the theme of what they were about unity love and all that those are good things I mean that's why you know that movie Jesus Revolution you know there were a lot of hippies that came to Christ because they they were seeking something they didn't know what but when they found Jesus they found what it really what you can find those things oh I've said that

before all these issues that we call you know far left things that they want to do Jesus takes all those the same issues bringing all people together the environment I mean if you can create the environment he's going to fix that yeah

yeah and so really that's that's kind of the angles I go with on those types of people I mean you know what was the

famous song imagine imagine all the people yeah that's the John Linden song I'm like well yeah that I'm more than imagining that. I'm living that. It's called the kingdom of God on earth. We're doing it.

Where we're all one. Right. So. Which, you know, it's funny, Jay's, we're so misunderstood by the left because they say, well, you know, concertos. They don't care about the environment. We're not, wait a minute. We know the creator well, and we trust in him. So it's not that we don't care about it. We're good conservationists. We got two thousand, almost two thousand acres down here. Oh, for hunting and fishing and, you know, what we do. for the critters and birds. They love it. Yeah, when I was in Wyoming, you're fixed ahead there.

The guy that had bought the place we were at, I mean, that was his whole mission, is to go in where places have been abused and clean it up, you know, get the trout back in the creek and make it a place for birds. And so he was, you know, he was asking my opinion because I do the same thing. I'm like, you know, we love this, and we respect it.

And we know it one day, wherever we're going to live, you know, when you're in good with the creator of the universe, the environment is going to be nice. Oh, it's going to be awesome. So I wanted to tell you a story. You know, I'm keeping grandkids at my house this week. And so I have a 20-month old and a 7-month old, which means... We call that two under two. dad. It's been a while since you had two under two. It means my wife is working very hard.

And I managed that. But it's a typical, you know, the firstborn, you know, my granddaughter, she's a little bit high maintenance. And then the young boy, he's just happy to be here. Yeah. So several occasions, I looked at her and said, you need to act more like him. and this will go more smooth. So anyway, Missy came in there and she's like, I need a break.

You know, you're up. I'm looking around. Like, oh, no. She closed the door. I said, well, here we go. So that little one, the seven, he can't move, which is perfect. Because you can lay him down on a palate. He can, he just, it's, it's incentive for him to try to learn how to crawl because he's

in the early stages of the crab crawl. That's where he's headed. So I found one item that was just mesmerizing. We got a little track and it's got these, you push a button and it's these lit up vehicles, and they just go round and around. And he just mouth open trying to make it stop the whole time. But it's just perfect because he's entertained. He can't get to it, but he can't stop.

Because he would eat it if he could. So, you know, the 20-month girl a little more challenging. So I'm trying everything and everything she wants to do. She points. She wants to go outside. You know, it's 104 degrees. I'm like, we're not going outside. She wants to go see Lily, you know.

Nope, she needs to break. So it's just, you're stuck with me. So I took, we have this little, well, I'm going to tell you a story that's, that's going to be hard for you to believe. But we have a toddler basketball go. We got this when we, you know, had our foster baby for a year. Yep. And if he grows up to be a great star in anything to do with a ball,

I'm going to take full credit for that because I taught him how to throw. I taught him he's very good at the basketball. And I'm talking about one year old every day. He loves it. So I thought, well, maybe she'll get into that. No, not into it. Just I gave her the ball here. You can make, and she threw it down.

You know, back to point. So I tried to shoot thinking maybe. Once she saw it. Yeah, no, nothing. I mean, I had no interest whatsoever. And I thought maybe it's because she's a girl. I don't know. But then I had a genius idea.

I took the ball. So we have these three orange. They're about the size of a volleyball. And the little toddler go, I would say it's about, you see it was three foot high. Three foot high. So I assume the center position. And when I threw the ball under my legs,

at the goal from, you know, 12 feet away and miss. Oh, she cackled. Now, this is funny. This is entertainment. You know, shooting it regular, no, but acting like a center, hiking it. So I did it probably 50 times, didn't make a one, and she laughed, you know, every time until she didn't. So then I thought, what if I get all three balls and shoot them from the center position? Oh, she went crazy.

The balls went everywhere. She's cackling, you know. So about the 10th time that I tried this from, I would say, 15 feet away, all three balls that I let go as a, just think like when a center snaps it to a punter. Yeah. I mean, I was very far away. I was on one side of the ring. All three balls went in the goal. I made all three in one shot from a center position.

And up until this point, I had made a one. I went nuts. I'm like the greatest moment. Who's the toddler in this room? Look, the greatest moment in toddler basketball has happened. If I had to got it on camera, on a phone. I'm talking about 10,000 guaranteed. I don't know if they still do that.

But this would have gone viral. Look, I look at her, nothing. It was only funny when I missed. And so Missy comes out because she said, what happened? You know, she's panicking now because she heard me. I leave them with you for 10 minutes. She heard me and she thought something, you know, do I call 911? And I said, I went through the story when she never changed facial expressions.

She's like a little toddler. The greatest thing that's ever. I'm sure that this has never happened in the history of the world, and my only eyewitness is a 20-month toddler. Who's not impressed? Who wasn't impressed? And Missy said, there's a spiritual lesson in there somewhere for you. For you? Yeah, for me.

Not for anybody else. And then I thought, yep, we're studying about Pharisees. It's not about my performance. I'm supposed to be like a kid. Somewhere it just didn't. It just didn't hit the mark, you know. But for me, that day and the Lord saw it, I hope in heaven we can replay that because that did happen.

Because it's in your mind now. I mean, just think of it from a physics standpoint. Three balls at one time and they all win it. Just boom, boom, boom. It's incredible. Yeah, child rearing gets in old Jason's blood, isn't it? I've never tried any of that. I'm pretty sure this is the craziest story that you've ever heard.

But who would make this up? It happened. I believe it. And I have a witness. And when she learns the English language better, because we're having conversations, but I'm convinced that this girl knows seven languages. Because she always sounds like... She's...

And I'll respond, you know, but then she does another version of it and she seems to know what she's saying. And then she'll say all this. And then I'm like, you want to go outside? And she's like, yes, please. I was like, well, she knows English. She just chooses all this other.

Such a different style than dads. Dad's was always... All right, kids, move to the back. Yeah. That was his style. Let's take a break. So in that very... You can find some spiritual application in there somewhere,

but we're in Luke 12, and I guess this is a part three of going down the Pharisee world. And look, I know it's a little deep because this is the preview of the kingdom, and Jesus is getting opposition from the people who should have been supporting this. He came to fulfill this. He came to liberate you,

and they're wanting to hold on to the old ritualistic law that all that deal was, bind them and make you realize that there's a God and you're not here. You almost can tell if you just walk in amongst people with the fair circle link. It's pretty interesting that when you walk in the door, you can sense it. Well, you can. And it's the number one of it's, it's, well, and not to make this political, but, but actually what's going on in our politics in America today with Trumpism, is really an illustration of this because Trump comes along.

He's an outsider. He wasn't a politician. And his deal was, hey, let's go in and just dump the apple cart. You know, let's just, this thing has been a strain. The establishment is terrible. Republican Democrat. They're all bad. I'm going to go in here and just dump it over.

Well, guess what? He's faced a little bit of opposition from the people on the inside. And so really, it's just what's happening here. Jesus comes in and says, hey, guys, you're not believed this. we're fixing to have some rest. We're going to get away from this law. And all these experts are saying, wait a minute, that's what we do. I can tell you this.

I didn't talk to him, but about three times. But all three times, Jesus was at the center of it. And he listened very carefully. Yeah, he's intrigued by it. That's for sure. Well, the problem is the reason we read the Acts 15 and Peter getting up and preaching the sermon was you think for a Jew to get up and say, hey these Gentiles, they can be just as clean as we are.

I mean, he was putting them in the same category. And that was just like, what is he saying? We can't let them in. Well, that's why the Pharisees didn't like Jesus, because he's putting them as human beings down with the prostitutes and those with leprosy. That was the point of the Good Samaritan story, yeah. And that's why this whole thing, which we're fixed to get into, you know,

what you do with your money and your status and your material possessions. And we're going to spend a whole chapter on it, many podcasts of it. And that's painful for people to do because they've put all their hope and all their power in what they have and who they are and what their status is. And Jesus, to your point about the hippie movement, has leveled the playing field. That's it. He's like, there's one that's good.

You're looking at him. But I'm going to give my life up so all of you can be good. We can all be together. And as human beings, that goes against everything that we believe in. One of the reasons I never tell anyone that I'm an elder,

there's another one seated right there. Oh, wow. that the son of man al you said well how many people have you told that you're an elder i said none well you just told a lot the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders i just don't rush to tell people yeah that's the title one of the titles i have same way without but I don't advertise it by telling them. I either am an elder or I'm not. Yeah.

But I'm certainly not getting in the way of Jesus Christ and the direction he goes, I'm with him. Well, because elders, you know, which simply means older. Al, have you ever thought about that? No, I haven't. I mean, yes, I have because I take it as a serious responsibility. You're right. But I always know, and this is the thing, because you didn't really want to be recognized as an elder back when you were.

And the reason I help convince you to do it is I said, well, look, this is the New Testament apostles, they're the ones that said this was a good idea. So you just want to make sure you're an elder who understands Jesus and your job is not to legislate, think up new rules and laws for people. Your job is to serve and shepherd people. And so, Jay's talked about the status idea. You don't want to be an elder. oh, here's one of our elders and come up here sitting in the big seat.

You want to be an elders down on his knees serving people. If you are one, get ready for, you know, you probably would be surprised at the struggles you run up on. I'll give you this example. We've talked about this in a past podcast recently because Jason, you know, his family is dealing with some really difficult times. And Jason has been, he's not a recognized elder in the church, but he's an older man. So trust me and I tell you, this, he is fulfilling the role of an elder this week by shepherding people who are crushed by a terrible tragedy.

That's when elders step up is when people are hurting and you step in to serve them to help and lead them. That's what it's all about. Well, when you go out there for the Lord, it just attracts people who are broken, who have tragedy happen, who are battling, you know, demons as far as, you know, most of them coming from their own choices, but it just, it's going to, it's part of this. It's uncomfortable. It's time-consuming.

It's frustrating. But when you think about what God has called us to do, you know, I'm not having to go look for that. When you state you're an elder, you know, people just come because you're an elder. When you're trying to help people in the name of Jesus, oh, you're going to be quite busy. And I believe God sends them to you. I mean, it's like, remember when he told Paul, he was having such opposition, it's an act somewhere. But, and the Lord spoke to him in a dream, and he said, I got people here in this city that'll help you. And that always moved me because I thought, God knows who his people are.

And you're there for a reason. And so we have to be open-minded to look for opportunities. I mean, today what we're talking about. But as you think about Jason before you lead that, that's exactly why God, Jesus, sent Paul, sent Saul to Anonis. I mean, he was already having a conversation with him. Could he have not told him everything that Anonize told him? He could have, but he didn't choose to do it that way.

He said, I want you to go in the city, spend three days contemplating your life, and then I'm going to send you somebody. And he did. And that guy was Anonize, and it was really funny because Anonis, this is an act nine. Anonias was like, Lord, are you sure? You know, this is a bad dude. When you're crawling around on the ground after being struck by a storm and a bolt of lightning hit you and told you to shut up and get off of that horse. You're persecuting me.

While you're crawling around, you'll be very calm. He was kind of open-hearted at this point. But to Jay's point, I think God provides a guide. And so even for Saul, who then became the most influential early church leader, wrote half the New Testament, he had a guide. You would have thought that he'd be the last one holding people's clothes, Stephen's clothes while they stoned him to death. And right, to our point. He was doing some rough stuff. He was doing exactly what Jesus was saying here in Luke 11.

That's it. Because he was killing the prophet. He was the one that oversaw the murder of Stephen. Yeah. So he was exactly that kind of Pharisee that we're talking about. And yet he became a son of the Almighty. Let's take another break. Yeah, and just before I read our text in Luke 12,

I think it's the best illustration I can think of because for a leader, the biggest temptation is for you to somehow think that you're better than people. Yep. Because you now have a position. That's right. People think, oh, he's holy. He's an elder.

He's a priest. So, I mean, that's what people tend to do. But at the end of the day, we're all human beings, which means we're all sinful. We're all weak. And the Holy Spirit moves in, and that's what people are attracted to. So whenever you think they're attracted to you, because of your position, instead of the Holy Spirit that indwells you,

that's on you. And the number one accusation against Christianity is what Jesus is going to talk about in Luke 12. It's hypocrisy. Yep. I mean, when you're claiming to be holy or you're looking holy and your heart is not humble before God, well, that you're a hypocrite. And when people see that, it deters people from coming in to the kingdom, which is why he said at the end of Luke 11 in verse 52, where we left off,

you yourselves have not entered. I mean, the first sentence says, woe do you experts in the law because you have taken away the key to knowledge. Your cells have not entered and you're hindering those who are who are trying to enter. So I think I've always thought that key to knowledge is really just the simple open heart. In other words, the key to understanding is if a willingness to understand. Oh, I thought it's because they were they were accusing Jesus of having a demon. Right.

Well, you know, if you demonize Jesus. You've taken away the key to knowledge. Right. I mean. That's what I'm saying. And having a, I guess having an open heart goes along with it. Because you've closed off.

It flies in the face of all the things he did to crush Satan and the ones who were representing him. I mean, and you're bad mouth than the one that's doing that. I mean, either they're blind or you tell me. But, Jays, we use that same terminology today. We'll say,

well, this person is demonizing that person. When you demonize somebody, you're never going to listen to anything that person, I'd say. Because he's a demon now. Like, I'm not listening to that person. So even the very description of that, which again we see in modern politics, you demonize a whole group of people. You're never going to listen to anything these people have to say. We have too many leaders who are persecuting the members because it makes them feel more holy. That's right.

Instead of being persecuted for doing it Jesus's way, because if you do it Jesus' way, you're going to be persecuted. Yeah. So, you know, the best example I can think of is, you know, Paul's letter to the Corinthians because here was a young church who was in the apostle era. So they were given these gifts. Their leadership was young. Because, you know, when I read first Corinthians, my biggest question is where were the elders? Because, I mean, they had so much going on.

Right. I mean, they were having identity issues, you know, men wanting to. dress like women and women like men and people are surprised us in the Bible but they were so so selfish in thinking because we have these gifts same struggles all these years later yeah exactly we're holy and we can do anything we want to do it empowered them to a point to where they missed who the power source was they were like oh we must be special we can do anything and I you know I've probably wrongly, always given them a little bit more of a past than in the modern era because I'm like, well, you know, it was new. Christianity was new. This thing had just started. You know,

the whole church was new. They were new Christians themselves, even though they were recognized as leader. But that's probably too much of a past. It kind of still comes back to that. Their culture was a was a sinful one. It was tough. Well, that was a city where, you know, whereas now I'm looking 2,000 years later, I'm like, we should know better. We have 2,000 years of history. But at the same time, if it's selfish desire to Jason's point, whether it was 2000 years ago or today in hypocrisy is still the same. I'll see a guy, a leader in a church, who's a hypocrite, who's having an affair with somebody in his church, and yet he's up there saying he's leading people to Christ. Oh, it happens every day. It happens every single day.

And twice on Sunday, unfortunately. And so I just wanted to give you a little thumbnail about what we're talking about in Paul's letter to Corinthians, and you can go back a few hundred podcasts. We went through these books. But just to... Go back a few hundred podcasts. Yeah, chat back about 300 podcasts ago. You'll find them. But, you know, he says in 2nd Corinthians 5, which, you know, is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, because it really describes our role here on earth today.

In verse 14, it says, Christ's love compels us because we are convinced that one died for all. Now, if that's not the gospel message, I don't know what is. And you've got to remember in his first letter to the Corinthians, he had to remind them of the gospel in verse Corinthians 15, which is a complete embarrassment. And in verse 15 it says, and he died for all.

Now here's the key, that those who live should no longer live for themselves. Even in the church, you know, when you think about this verse. But for him who died for them and was raised again. And then he goes on to say in verse 18, all this is from God who reconciled or brought us to, to himself through Christ. Same, same message gave us the ministry of reconciliation. So we're doing this unselfishly based on Christ's love, not because we're trying to keep the law and feel good

about ourselves, that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them, and he is committed to us the message of reconciliation. We're therefore Christ ambassadors. Well, he gets to chapter six, and he makes this interesting statement, as God's fellow workers. We urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. There's the leadership. But he gave them a warning. Don't receive God's grace in vain.

You said, well, how could you do that? You could do it by what they were doing, thinking this is about you and not Christ's love in His grace that's compelling you to do that. So you get all the way over to Chapter 11, and an issue came up where Paul was being persecuted, and watch what it says in verse 13. Talking about false apostles, deceitful workmen,

masquerading as apostles of Christ, and no wonder for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising then if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. So really that's what happens in leadership, and it's called hypocrisy. Yeah.

And the evil one works. He does some of his best work in that arena. So you see all the common denominators where this has to happen. When you're no longer looking at God's grace, you're no longer looking at Christ died for all. You think there's classes of people. You know, the holy ones and the ugly ones, the clean ones and the unclean ones. You think by your position somehow you're better than somebody, you'll preach the gospel message, but then in your life and heart, you won't live accordingly.

And it happens every day. So to take us back to Luke 12, and the only reason I'm jumping ahead is so we can grasp him saying, don't let the yeast of the Pharisees get over into your heart. And I want to read another verse from that. Let's take a break. Welcome back. We're in First Corinthians.

I want to read this in First Corinthians forward, Jays, because I did the same thing you did, but I jumped ahead to First Corinthians. Same concept, because I was, was thinking how crazy it is to think hypocrisy will work. One is, we even know in this life, it usually catches up with you because the evil one tricks you and then exposes you to make you look worse. But even then, Paul had said something else there in 1st, Corinthians 4. He says, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with

the secret things of God. Now, it is required that those who have been given a trust, must prove faithful. He's talking about himself, but he's also talking to the leaders in Corinth. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court. Indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. And this is my point and his point about hypocrisy, because ultimately you can't hide anything from God. Therefore, verse five, judge nothing before the appointed time, wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time, each will receive his praise from God.

So the thing about hypocrisy that's so crazy, it can never work because God knows everything. And then there's a reckoning always. So this idea that somehow you're going to live this double life and slick God on and slit God out of things is crazy. How would it even possibly work? Which goes along the Acts 15 when Peter was getting over the Pharisees, it says God knows the heart. And we've said in earlier podcast, you know, the heart is really that central feature of your being on what is the most important to you.

It's what you do. Your heart's in your head. That's right. Well, it's mind, it's emotion, it's all of it. What you do when you're by yourself, when you're thinking, you're not distracted. And, you know, if God and his grace is not there in those moments, if it's just nothing or. whatever worldly is on your heart in those moments, you realize that there's a problem here.

Yeah. That's why a lot of my recommendations for people in leadership who have had these giant falls, and I've had a couple of extreme cases where when we sat down, they won't stop talking because they're justifying or... Yeah. And I'm like, stop talking and start serving.

Just, you know, take a year and don't say anything. Just, you know, prove. your repentance by your deeds, your heart show us instead of because that's what people a lot of times do. They try to justify their heart being away from God

by giving the gift of gab that a lot of leaders have and you're looking at their life and hearing what they say and you're saying, this is not adding up. A lot of times they form a faction of people who agree with their improper use of the scriptures

and the worst thing that happens is they break off. Life goes on, but some of them just still. That's right. Well, and I love that statement Paul made in 1st, Corinthians' voice, he says, my conscience is clear, but that doesn't mean I'm innocent. You know, there's a lot of ways to try to clear your conscience.

He talked later about searing it with a hot iron so that you wouldn't feel anymore. It makes me think there was a guy who he would do things that a man shouldn't do in leadership, like visit single women. And, you know, well, I confront him about it. I was like, that's not a good idea for a leader to do. You know, I initiated the conversation.

And it spawned things for him to justify what he was doing. And he would start talking like, well, I have a special gift, you know, from God. You know, I'm not tempted like other men. And I was like, well, I have a verse in Corinthians says, no temptation has seized this except what is common to man. You're a man, and I know this is not a good idea. So it eventually led to, I said, I'm not going to have any more discussions unless you quote Bible verses.

You know, anything that you got that's not written, I don't care about. Because I'm looking at the way you operate, and I'm thinking it won't be long. If you continue to visit, why is it always single? I was confronting him. And so then he agreed to only use Bible verses. And it wasn't a month later. I never saw him again. He moved on because I thought he realized this is not going to work because I'm not

getting off of it. And you can't manipulate the scriptures claim to be a leader. I think I know who you're talking about. And I'll tell you this, many years later days, it ended horribly for this man because he was lying to himself that entire time and to you. by the way. But if you were sitting there listening to this guy, he had a gift of manipulation when he spoke. And that's the danger. And that's what really is a black eye on what we're representing being in Jesus and God's fellow workers, but only because in the light of God has

given us His Holy Spirit that people are drawn to. And we just point people to Jesus. It's not about us. But that's why dad had read that earlier about the elder thing, and he's right. Anybody who assumes a role of leadership, you have to take that responsibility so seriously because people are listening to what you say. They're following your lead and your example. I mean, Paul said it over and over and over again, but he recognized who he was and he was honest. And he said, you know, look, I'm a fallible man. But you shouldn't just take that mantle upon yourself. And if you're living a hypocritical lifestyle, like he's talking about here, you're going to lead people down a terrible path. That's not good for you. Exactly. And some people may be young. Usually the fruit among those types, the fruit is lacking. It is. The fruit of their position is lacking. Some people young in the faith may be saying, well, if this is the case, well, I can never speak because we're all sinful. But that's where you get into acknowledging your sin, being humble. That's what we do. That's what confession is all about. I mean, When you get it out there, yes, God is a God of grace.

He can forgive it. He uses all of us despite our baggage and our message, you know. Age, it's age is a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a point that needs to be brought up in all of this. But age has to do with it. So why they're called elders. Yeah. That means older. Yeah.

That means you've lived a little life. Yeah. So let's read our text. You know, who you visit and when, well, older guys will say, No. That's exactly right. No. Yeah, let them have some season.

Let's take our last break. So let's read our text in Luke 12. I think we've laid a pretty good platform to wrap our heads around this. So meanwhile, this is 12-1 of Luke. When a crowd of many thousands had gathered so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying, be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed or hidden that will not be made known, which is a very profound, somewhat scary verse. Just because you've done something and you think since time has passed that it's gone away, no, it's not gone away, it's not gone anywhere. We're talking about an eternal, immutable, God who doesn't, you know, forget.

Time has no effect on his memory. Because that's what most of people try to do. You know, you think in our world, when you get away with something, it's just that time has passed and you kept it secret. But God is like, everything will be made known. Verse three, what you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs, which really gave me an image of what happens in leadership as far as politics and kingdoms

throughout the earth. You know, there's always a coup going on. Everybody has this quest for power and there's secrets. And, you know, you have the CIA and everybody's jockeying for position. And so many of Hollywood's movies are about, you know, the corruption of power because that is what goes on. And you say, well, why is the most powerful people corrupt? Because they're trying to maintain their power.

Yeah. But they're flawed human beings and they make mistakes, so then the cover-ups begin. And it happens in the church as well. So verse four, I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear. Fear him who after the killing of the body has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. And then, no watch.

That is a very powerful statement, but it's, and we know God. is a god of justice but he's also a god of grace because then what's what he says next are not five sparrows sold for two pennies yet not one of them is forgotten by god indeed the very hairs of your head are all numbered don't be afraid so in one breath he says you know fear the one who can throw you in the hell but then he's like don't be afraid you are worth more than many sparrows and and to that point before you read the rest of it you're right obviously he's saying he's not saying fear god because he's a much bigger monster than the one you've been fearing he's saying fear god because he has the power to save you and that you don't have to be afraid of him but he's the one that's going to make all things right so yeah it's

the beauty of god's grace yeah you know so verse eight i tell you whoever acknowledges me before men, the son of man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the son of man will be forgiven. But anyone he blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When you are brought before synagogues, rulers, and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourself. or what you will say.

And boy, this is a beautiful verse. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say. So this, and Jay's did a good job, I think it was the last podcast of pointing out by reading the Mark account, Matthew account, that this blasphemy in the Holy Spirit, here it seems like it's a little harder to grasp. But when you put it in the context of how it was said in all three times it was recorded, you understand it's just a denial of Jesus. It's saying that Jesus Christ has an evil,

he's of the evil one. Yeah, they were accusing him. In Luke's version, it's in Luke 11, 14 through, what is that, 28, that they were saying the way he was driving out demons was because he had a demon. Instead of, it's the Spirit of God, because, you know, Jesus clearly told them, if I'm doing this by the spirit of God, then the kingdom is coming.

That's in verse 20, but I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God. If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. And the reason we mention that is because we always talk about studying the Bible in the context that it's written because you can go in and pluck out this one verse, and many people have done this through the years, and then build a whole doctrine or some kind of philosophy off of the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit, and that's what they've done. Well, it is confusing. There's hundreds of manuscripts out there trying to explain,

well, why did Jesus say you can be forgiven for speaking against him and not be forgiven of speaking against the Holy Spirit? Right. But that is the way Jesus was working. If you're denying this is coming from the Spirit of God, well, why would you ever come to Jesus? Yeah.

But if you're just saying something about him personally, okay, I mean, he was persecuted. If you don't acknowledge the Spirit of God which you receive when you come to Jesus, you point them to Jesus. It's through Jesus. They receive the Spirit. If you don't,

if they don't receive the Spirit, they lose love, joy, peace, the fruit's not there until you have him. Well, exactly. Well, plus, remember, I mean, he said, he's very careful about the way he's at it. He said, if they speak of a word against the son of man. That's why I'm pointing to Jesus and through him. Being here as a human, he got it, that they were having a hard time wrapping in our mind around that he's the son of God.

Well, you remember Nathaniel? Remember when he said, you know, his brother, Philip, I believe, said, hey, here's, I want you to meet the Messiah. And he's like, where are you from? I know, I'm paraphrasing. He's like, well, I'm, you know, a little place called Nazareth. He's like, nothing good coming out of there. I mean, well, he's speaking against the son of man here because he's like, well, no way. And you remember what Jesus said, you know, come and see.

And we know eventually, he's like, oh, he's speaking by the spirit of God. That's right. And I think that's a pretty good example. It is. And just to read this again, because it's very clear in the Mark account, as soon as he says, whoever blasphemers against Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, he is guilty of an eternal sin. That's the one that scares people.

But then he clarifies exactly what he meant by that. He says in verse 30, this is Mark 3. He said this because they were saying he has an evil spirit. So, I mean, it very much clarifies the context of what was going on. And if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. You can't, when you blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, you are blaspheming against Jesus at the ultimate sense. Because what you're saying is, is he's evil. And if he's evil, then you can never follow him.

And if you can ever follow him, of course, it's an eternal sin. You can never get right. Which brings up a lot of controversial passages in, you know, after Jesus died and was bearing raised. And one of them we've discussed and maybe argued for years is in Hebrew 6th. Yeah, I wrote that down. But I wanted to read it because in the churches, you know, people, they don't preach on this because they're like, what does it mean? But I think right now, this is a really good place to go. Yep.

Because it seems to make more sense, you know. Now look, you can go back a couple hundred podcasts and read our study on Hebrews. Yep, when we talked about it. But in Hebrew 6, verse 4, there's quite a sense. statement. It says, it is impossible for those who have once been enlightened who have tasted the heavenly gift, so you're assuming Jesus, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the coming age if they fall away to be brought back to repentance because to their loss, they're crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to

public disgrace. Now, if you just stop there, you think, what are they saying? You, you can't come back if you fall away, which is a scary thought. People have argued. But when he goes on to do this little parable, to Phil's point about the fruit of the spirit, it kind of makes sense because then it's just land that drinks in the rain, often falling on it, and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farm receives the blessings of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end, will be burned.

And I really think this passage captures the phariseical spirit where you're trying to do holy things and you're trying to check all the boxes. But in your heart, you're a million miles away from God's grace. You're not acknowledging the Holy Spirit as a real viable thing working in the hearts of men and women. And therefore, if you fall away from the Holy Spirit working in the lives of ordinary human beings, and your view in that, you know, Jesus in cahoots with the demonic world,

why would you ever come back to that? Yeah. You know, and it's not like you can't come back. You're just in a position where you wouldn't. That's it. What are you coming back to? That's it. And so when you're calling the goodness of God evil or you're masking that in a way where it's not truth, there's no appeal there to come back.

And you could almost flip that on the negative side. Let's talk more about that in our overtime. We're out of time. But you're right. That fits so much in the context where we're talking about. If you want to follow us over to finish this discussion about the Holy Spirit, this blaspheming, denying. of the Holy Spirit, these impossibilities,

some of those texts. We'll talk about that little bit more. BlazeTV.com slash unashamed. Help us out by rating us. Where our overtimes. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube and be sure to click that little bell to get notified about new episodes.

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