The Todd Herman Show

Scripture That Should Worry Christians Ep-1755

You probably have your own Scripture that worries you, or if you don't, you should. There should be Scripture that keeps us up at night. There's one that really, really causes me to stop and think every time I read it. It's Matthew 7:21-23. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who's in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. I never knew you. We will go through these Scriptures that I think should cause all Christians to pause and really take an honest self-assessment or perhaps ask their Christian brothers and sisters to aid them in that self-assessment

What does God’s Word say?
Proverbs 6:16-19 16 There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,19 a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community
Matthew 7:21-23 ESV I Never Knew You
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Matthew 13:30-32 ESV
30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
Romans 13:1-7
Submission to Governing Authorities
13 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2013%3A8-10&version=NIV"...

Duration:: 50m
Broadcast on:: 01 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

At your job, do you ever have to deal with a nose roller? How about a snub bully? Well, if you're installing a new conveyor belt system, dealing with the different components can sound like you're speaking a foreign language. Luckily, you've got a team ready to help. Granger's technical product specialists are fluent in maintenance, repair, and operations. So whenever you want to talk shop, just reach out. Call clickgranger.com or just stop by. Granger, for the ones who get it done. If you're a facilities manager at a warehouse and your HVAC system goes down, it can turn up the heat, literally. But don't sweat it, Granger has you covered. Granger offers over a million industrial grade products for all your operations, including warehouse HVAC maintenance. And even better, they offer access to experts and fast delivery, so you and your warehouse can both keep your cool. Call 1-800-granger, clickgranger.com or just stop by. Granger, for the ones who get it done. - I think there's scripture that should worry anybody who loves God and doesn't want to disappoint God. And I think it's from time to time we're not worried by scripture or it doesn't cause conflict in us. It doesn't cause rusting match between flesh and spirit then perhaps we're not really in the word. We'll talk about that. But I also want to honor Donald John Trump. For treating black journalists as he does every other adversarial journalist. And I want to do this by way of comparison with some friends of mine, here. In fact, I should have them on to talk about this. But every black professional man I got to know, personal training, two black personal trainers, two friends in media, black people, and a black friend in tech. 100% told me what their favored form of racism is. And it relates to how President Trump treated this journalist. We'll talk about that with the help of bonefrogcoffee.com/todd and God almighty, who by the way, made and loves all people. The Todd Herman show is 100% disapproved by big pharma technocrats and tyrants everywhere. Now, from the high mountains of free America, here's the Emerald City exile. Todd Herman. Today is a day the Lord has made in these of the times to which God has decided we should live. Next week, we start a new format for one of the shows, the show you're listening to and are watching now will remain the same. It's effectively the radio show done on podcast. In order for me to be able to be absolutely as timely as possible and to dig into cultural things, faith things, political things, one at a time, we're going to be doing shorter casts. You don't have to change anything if you have the RSS feed, if you subscribe to the show, you don't have to change a thing. Those shows will continue to download and we may, we're trying this, so it's subject to change. It might be that we edit that all up in the one big show, but it's gonna really be dependent upon how you feel about it. You guys matter more than anyone else in this equilibrium. Without you, there's no me in this position, as I used to say in radio, and I haven't said that enough to you lately. Without you, there's no me in this position so thank you for that. I've always loved radio and now casts and I don't always love coming in to talk about what's going on in the world because of what's going on in the world. I am really excited to honor what President Trump did at the National Association of Black Journalists, and I'll tell you this favored form of racism that my friends in Seattle told me about, one by one, all separately, never in the same room, several different instances of how this came about. One was in tech. Gentlemen, I got to know in tech, a black guy. Got to know him when I was working at Microsoft. He worked at Los Angeles, and had been in the entertainment world, and it made his way over to tech, had a very good tech mind, and we were in New York City. And we were at this event that Microsoft had put on and he had this, there was this painter. It was one of those guys who, he speed paints, and the trick is you don't know what he's painted until he turns it right side up and finishes it, and he was doing this to a Rolling Stone song. We had a concert there, and I don't remember, we had some big bands there, and we'd gone out to dinner with a bunch of advertisers. And remember, this is New York City, and this is liberal, no racism, and these are all liberals, doctrinaire Democrat liberals. And we went out to dinner. Guy was the senior executive there, not me, Guy. And the rule at Microsoft is the senior executive pays. And he got out his card, and a white woman turned to him and said, are you gonna be okay with that in your card? It's a lot of money. (laughs) First of all, it's a Microsoft corporate card. Secondly, it happens that Guy didn't need a dime from anybody. He worked 'cause he loved it. He'd made a ton of money producing films, and music, and videos, and owned a ton of intellectual property. And he looked to her and said, I'm pretty sure if the Microsoft card doesn't handle it, my Optima will. He told me later, that's the sort of racism I can't stand. 'Cause if you think that was racism, he goes, did she turn to you and say it? Okay. In Seattle, I've told the story before about my friend, Terry, coming into the radio station, and everyone would stand up. Oh, Terry, Terry! It's always a wonderful day when you're here and him sitting across from me going, and I looked at him, I go, does that ever bother you? He goes, dude, do they think I don't know? They don't do that to you. Do you get that treatment when you walk in here? I go, no, no one does. Only black people. I know. Last one is probably the most pandering and cringy, as my daughter would say. At a personal trainer named Steve, huge, unbelievably strong man. I've told you the stories about how strong this guy was, and nice as dude, but big, strong, athletic looking, 64-year-old black man. He was in a store in liberal Seattle, the most liberal part of Seattle. He and his wife are down there shopping. She happens to be white, see if it happens to be black. He is a nutrition nut. So he had two separate products he was looking at, and he was comparing the macros and the ingredients, and a liberal white woman, and a kid you not, his story, not mine, in a Hillary Clinton shirt, came up to him and she said, they can make those products really confusing. I'm a nurse, let me know if I can help. A nurse. They each said they prefer all of them, all of my black friends in Seattle said, we prefer the old fashioned KKK style racism. We would rather see a Dixie flag and a kick the blacks out T-shirt than that form of racism. So I'll tell you why I'm talking about this in a second. I'll just show you what President Trump did, and I truly, I can tell you, without reservation, I'm proud of Donald John Trump and how he treated this. He confronted this and he showed absolute respect for the black community by not lying to them. We don't lie to each other when we respect each other. I won't lie to you when we come on this program and there are products that I ingest, I check these companies out, and I've fallen in love with the Native Path Company. This is, again, this morning, I'm drinking Native Path hydrate, and Native Path, of course, the Native Path Cril. This is, in fact, the night I ran out of my own, and my wife was kind of to give me some of hers. I can't operate it without it. That's the stuff that's removed to ibuprofen for my life. Native Path collagen is very similar, and it is their sort of doing business. Of course, they turn to a third party to make sure that this doesn't contain any heavy metals or toxins. They outsource that. It's not their lab, it's another lab saying it's safe. They concentrate on the two most important forms of collagen fibers. That's one in three. It's found in your cartilage, your muscles, et cetera, and their Native Path Collagen formula is scientifically back to increase bone mineral density and accelerate tissue recovery, and then the aesthetic things, reducing wrinkles, enhancing hair thickness, strengthening weaker damage nails. That's all in the formula. It's easy to mix into someone who takes a lot of supplements. I love the fact that this is flavorless, easy to mix into anything, and for me, my purpose is maybe yours. It preserves joint health. I had a phone call last night with my seal fit ambassador, and she and I were talking about, she's my age. She's been through seal fit twice, and she said, "Your joints are gonna bark at you," and I said, "I'm doing this with the collagen." She goes, "Same thing, it's gonna recommend." So right now, when you visit getNativePath.com/tod, you can stock up a Native Path Collagen for an incredible 45% off today, plus get free shipping. Every order comes at the 365 day money-back guarantee, so you can try it risk-free. The website, again, is getNativePath.com/tod, up to 45% off and free shipping. GetNativePath.com/tod. This is just a sample, and we'll get more deep into this tomorrow, and more deeply into this tomorrow. President Trump being President Trump in the face of aggressive questioning and President Trump acting with complete, utter, unmitigated respect for black people by not pandering. - That's not true. You have told four congressmen women of color who were American citizens to go back to where they came from. You have used words like "animal" and "rabbit" to describe black district attorneys. You've attacked black journalists, calling them a loser, saying the questions that they ask are "stupid and racist." You've had dinner with the white supremacists at your Mar-a-Lago resort. So my question, sir, now that you are asking black supporters to vote for you, why should black voters trust you after you have used language like that? - Well, first of all, I don't think I've ever been asked a question, so in such a horrible manner, a first question. You don't even say, "Hello, how are you?" Are you with ABC? Because I think there are a fake news network, a terrible network. And I think it's disgraceful that I came here, in good spirit, I love the black population of this country. I've done so much for the black population of this country, including employment, including opportunity zones with Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, which is one of the greatest programs ever for black workers and black entrepreneurs. I've done so much, and you know, when I say this, historically black colleges and universities were out of money, they were stone cold broke, and I saved them, and I gave them long-term financing, and nobody else was doing it. I think it's a very rude introduction. I don't know exactly why you would do something like that, and let me go a step further. I was invited here, and I was told my opponent, whether it was Biden or Kamala, I was told my opponent was going to be here. It turned out my opponent isn't here. You invited me under false pretense, and then you said, "You can't do it with Zoom." Well, you know, we're Zoom. She's gonna do it with Zoom, and she's not coming. And then you were half an hour late, just so we understand, I have too much respect for you to be late. They couldn't get their equipment working, or something, which was wrong. I think it's a very nasty question. I have answered the question. I have been the best president for the black population since Abraham Lincoln. That's my answer. Better than President Johnson, who signs the voting rights act. You just start off a question and answer period, especially when you're 35 minutes late, because you couldn't get your equipment to work in such a hostile manner. I think it's a disgrace. - It's not that he was polite. It's that she wasn't. He matched her tone. He would do this to a white journalist. If that was Mittens Romney, he would have ducked and covered. If it was Hillary Clinton, she would have pulled out her hot sauce, and put on some whoop, stood up and danced, for the people, 'cause she's down, with the struggle. That's complete respect. I'm proud of the president for doing that. We'll spend more time on it tomorrow. The other side of the spectrum is a guy named Ed Stetzer. I don't know Ed, I've never met Ed. I don't know Ed's heart. I know that Ed has some political views, and I know he's an evangelical Christian, and I know he's got a huge amount of respect. In fact, I have listened to and quite enjoyed his program. Very much, this would be an area on which he and I disagree. He was talking about how to deprogram the deplorables during a book launch. - Next question from Paul Washa Kukar, who's at the United States Institute of Peace. I'm interested in hearing more about Pastor Ed's work with evangelical pastors. How do you help them identify and work on de-radicalization? Do you build on the international's CBE, countering violent extremism work in this area, or how does it differ in your understanding? - First, we don't call it de-radicalization. That's the first thing, but 'cause nobody sees themselves as that, but I get exactly what you're saying and I appreciate the work of de-radicalization. The language I use at the beginning and the way, 'cause I've written a lot to try to persuade evangelicals on some of these issues. And I actually have, and it was very easy for us to sit back and say, oh, those human honors, well, I actually have friends who are self-identified human honors in the evangelical community. - Can I just pause this, sorry, Niana? With all due respect, and he's earned respect at Stetser, I am pretty thick into conservative politics. I live in a very conservative region. I have mostly conservative friends, and I am blessed to get hundreds of emails a day. I have met one person who asked me to look into QAnon, period. So I would be fascinated to learn how you ended up with a lot of friends who identify as QAnon when I've met one person who said, would you look into this? And my response was no, because it's nothing I can determine to be true or false. - Who actually text me when I'm being discussed on QAnon message boards, and they say they defend me on those message boards, but that's another story for another day. So for me, I try to frame in such a way that people can receive the message. And again, for us, that often comes around in terms of discipleship. I talked about this on NPR's Morning Edition, and the host asked me, and I kind of struggle because it's like, it's inside our baseball language. I said, so there are things, I explained, that as Christians we want to disciple in, and things that as Christians we want to disciple out. So what needs to be discipled in in 2021? Well, it might be seeing yourself as a world Christian, seeing that men and women from every tongue, tribe, and nation are, that's frequent language in the pages of the scriptures. It might be helping people to see that, and a language I often use is that we should not be among the gullible. - Pause, nothing wrong with what Ed Setcher's saying. The Lord of the universe is the Lord of the universe. Jesus is not the Jesus of the United States. And the question was about deprogramming deporables. I just showed Donald John Trump sit on stage and act with absolute consistency with a black journalist calling him a racist without saying it, and without pandering. I can show you, Kami Harris, who has identified as Indian her most of her life. I can show you her concept of black people. I used to get on stage after Meghan the Stallion with one of the most perverse and dishonoring of women, quote, songs in history that that's blackness, bailing out criminals who destroyed often black neighborhoods, that's blackness. So to Ed Setzer, I would say again, with all respect, Ed, there's many forms of racism. And I regard what's being inserted into the minds of leftists as a very, very poisonous form of racism, far more radical than whatever you've invented as racism from President Trump or the deporables, which seems to me to be policy-based. It is not racist to say we have to be able to have some control of our borders. It goes to Romans 13. We have border laws or we don't, so journers have to follow our laws or they don't. What does Romans 13 say? - And I actually would point out, you know, I mean, I do, just so we're clear, I do believe I've bet my whole life on the fact that there was a person who was dead on Friday and on Sunday was back from the dead. And everything I believe is framed and shaped around that reality. But I do point out how as our Christian witnesses, in fact, the last slide that I didn't get to, 'cause I went too long in the first session, actually talks about the danger to our Christian witness. I leave the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center. So I care deeply about our Christian witness. And I pointed out somebody who kept posting about this QAnon conspiracy and this QAnon conspiracy and this one, and then it came to Easter and they said, oh, and Jesus rose from the dead. - Nothing wrong. Nothing wrong was saying don't make the idol of politics, nothing wrong with that. But to even use phrases like deporables, to even take a question like that and say, can I reframe that? Jesus tells us not to call people fools. We're not to make that judgment. That's God's judgment to make. And the phrase deporables in of itself devalues some of God's beings. I think there's this temptation and particularly it's an emotional temptation to look at President Trump and a direct wave speaking and point to that as aggressive or racist. That black journalist who was interviewing him and forgive me for not knowing her name. She made these accusations of racism saying, you told women of color who are United States citizens to go home. Yeah, some of whom moved here, who were rescued and hate this country and are doing everything policy-wise to destroy this country. Those aren't question marks, those are facts. You destroy a country by setting up neighborhoods that are of one race. That's a division tactic and everybody knows it. Everyone who's willing to admit it. There's some scripture that I think, and maybe I'd set you would agree with this, that I think every Christian should be concerned by. I'm gonna start with some scripture that concerns me. And if you're involved in politics or posting online or arguing with people online, let's talk with someone the other night who made the point that she got into an argument online and did poorly and she was repenting of it. There's happened to all of us. I think some of the scripture should concern us. I wanna work into this something from the chosen because I think it can give us some relief. I really do. Relief from what? Well, relief from judging ourselves harshly because we don't get certain things in scripture. There's things that are challenging. It's the word of God, it's going to be challenging. There's also though, sometimes you need relief for your body, particularly if you've been through a hard period of time. I know people who've been through trauma, real profound, frightening, potentially life-ending trauma of family members, and they've found themselves feeling like, man, this has changed me. And you might be in that position or like a friend of mine who is now having a baby. It's gonna be his first time as a dad. He had to relocate his business in a Sunday of the day and he was telling me, dude, I am way backwards on my fitness. I'm starting to gain weight again. This could be happening to you for years. Another friend I'm thinking of, he's got horrible things going on with his back and he's looked into stem cells and it's gonna have to be surgery for now. It's just gonna have to be. And I look at his body and he bemoans the fact, look, I can't go hunting. I can't do the things that will help me drop fat. If you're in that circumstance, you're probably like 100 million other Americans and have fatty liver. This will lead to you being sluggish, so then less exercise, feeling slow, so then less energy. And that can lead to a whole bunch of problems in your body because your liver cannot properly filter your blood. If that's the case, then it gets even worse, which can lead to a big tax on your liver and ultimately liver disease. Fortunately, there is liver health formula. And liver health formula can help give your liver a break while you go about losing the belly fat. In fact, it can help you lose belly fat. It contains 11 clinically proven botanicals to help recharge your liver, to help give it a break, to help with your blood sugar, et cetera. And liver health formulas makers want you to know this. Please don't make a plan of being on this for life. Get on this and let it help you drop the body fat and give your liver the ultimate break. Lose the fat, lose the fatty liver in all likelihood. Here's what you can do is buy a 30-day supply of liver health formula. Get a free bottle of blood sugar formula three to keep your heart healthy. Visit get liverhelp.com/todd. You'll also receive a free gift with your order, another free gift. So again, that's a 30-day supply of liver health formula plus a free bottle of blood sugar three and a bonus gift. Go to get liverhelp.com/todd. That's get liverhelp.com/todd. It's easy for us to feel bad when we don't get certain portions of scripture. And I'm gonna bring you to this, the chosen in just a second or a clip from it just a bit. But let me start with a scripture that challenges me. It's the one we've been pinning on Cammy Harris because I truly believe Proverbs chapter six verses 16 through 19. I truly believe it describes Cammy Harris. And I believe it describes a lot of people in politics, but particularly Cammy Harris. There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him. Hotty eyes, which is another way of saying prideful, self-centered, a lying tongue, hands at shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. On my version of this that I'm looking at that phrase, a person who stirs up conflict in the community is highlighted. When we are engaged in politics, it is our job to have this scripture hurt our hearts. We have to invite this pain because that pain can help us modulate how we speak. There was a time, and maybe you know this, where I was absolutely addicted to Twitter and I loved burning people, I loved burning them down and it was a dopamine hit and it was pleasurable. And sometimes people will still give in to that. I don't argue on Twitter. In fact, I've gone down and I don't lock my Twitter down, but I've gone through everything I can to make sure I only see notifications from people I follow because I know myself. I know how easily drawn into something. I'll give you another example. There's a way I can drive home, which is about, I'd say, 65% of the time faster, but the 35% of the time I hit a train there, I become a flat out satanic lunatic because I can't stand not knowing when I'm gonna get home. I would rather have the predictable trip home, a trip home which is slower, but predictable. Very rarely do I get a train than stopping at those moments 'cause I have to just deal with. Wait, you're turning left? No, no, wait, wait, you're not gonna try to beat the train? Do people see what's going on? Wait, you can go around that guy, there's another, and I become this insane lunatic. Same thing as social media used to happen to me. You may have the same thing where you own the lips. We have a responsibility to learn how to speak into these circumstances in a way that Jesus might, knowing that we don't get to go overturn the tables in the temple. He got to do that 'cause he is and was God. That's a challenge. And it goes back to me to that fairing and careness methodology. Fairness and caring methodology. This is how moderates and people who are persuadable see things. Is it caring and fair? When we communicate through that lens, we win more arguments. So in the case of, let's say, deplorables. Hey, can I ask you a question? Since you've not met everybody who identifies with Trump, is it really fair to just say deplorables? I mean, there's some people who really care about their country and you disagree on policy, but can I ask for the purposes of this discussion? Can we not use that phrase? I don't want to deplore people. I don't want to deplore you. I'd rather not be deplored. And I'd rather find ways to care for you. We may disagree on politics, but I would genuinely like to find some ways to care for you. In fact, I'd like to be able to share some things about me that maybe you could have some caring for me and maybe we could treat each other in a more fair way. So if I was involved in the conversation with Ed Setcher, wouldn't that be a wiser way to deal with it? It would be a scriptural way to deal with it because it's not about stirring up conflict in the community. Now, that's not to say that Jesus was the soft soap Jesus. This is what C.S. Lewis talked about the soft soap Jesus, the Jesus who is everybody's buddy. He's only always cheerful and happy and all things are good. And he knows how things are going to turn out. So he has not been an optimistic point of view. He knows how things end. It's not optimism, it's knowledge. But Jesus himself said, "I did not come to unite but to divide." So we need to be able to divide but do it with love. And that's such a difficult thing. I've shared with you family members who have same-sex attracted kids and friends who have same-sex attracted kids. That one's going to come for you. You are going to deal with this. And the better you get at it now from a perspective of caring and fairness, the better we cannot stir up conflict in our community. Maybe it's something you deal with in advance. Maybe it's something you deal with by now saying, "Hey, how would you want me to respond if one of your kids decided to go have a wedding ceremony? What would you want me to do?" Maybe it's dealing with it now in advance. Maybe it's saying to them, "Hey, can I share with you why that would be a real challenge for me?" Maybe I share with you that I love you so much and your kids so much that I cannot pretend. I love them without regard to how they decide to live this way. I love them without regard to sexual habits, like I love you without regard to your sexual habits. And I can't endorse them if they're non-biblical. Is it fair for me to tell you that in advance? Is there some way we could deal with this in advance? Because we're all going to be called at some point this is gonna come for all of us. So let's be scripture about it. Let's not stir up conflict in the community. Let's not stir up conflict in families. Let's deal with it ahead of time. Scripture can be super challenging. And there is a fact of the Bible that I thinks proves this point that even really, really brilliant learners are of no-ers of the law, we're very, very challenged by some of the things Jesus said. I'll show you this in a second. Our bodies are designed to need God. Our bodies, our minds, our souls are designed to need God, to need that connection with the God. I don't know about you, but sometimes I've woken from sleep and felt utterly connected to God. In fact, I'll tell you a story about that sometime waking and feeling absolutely at rest. This is after I decided to quit the radio show and on short notice, the Ritz Seattle radio show, and I woke with complete rest in the hands of the father. It is sometimes a difficult thing to wake with complete rest when you live a very busy life, particularly if you're loaded up with caffeine. This offer for the free bottle of magnesium breakthrough, which is what I use for sleep protocol, couple hours before bed. I feel warm and relaxed and invited into sleep. If I wake up, I go back to sleep. It helps me with regularity and digestion. It helps me alleviate anxiety. In fact, this is a key, basically, a critical mass element in your body. 600 body interactions rely upon magnesium. Magnesium breakthroughs the only full spectrum magnesium supplement. All organic, all natural, seven forms of magnesium, not the two synthetic fake magnesiums you're likely to find in any of the china marts. Word up, this cannot last. I got emails this week. You've got to remind people that this thing, the free bottle is going away. There's no chance to get this on Google. You can't go find it on Amazon. It does not even exist on the biopdomesis website. There's only one place you can get it and it's for you. It's magbreakthrough.com/toddfree. Magbreakthrough.com/toddfree. No questions, ask, no catch. It's an opportunity to try the product because my friends, Matt Wade, are pretty confident. Once you try it, you'll want more. Magbreakthrough.com/toddfree. This is a scene from The Chosen. It's one of two we're gonna play today. We'll get back to some scriptures, I think, should challenge all Christians. This is a meeting between Nicodemus, who was a big-time teacher of the law. He was well-respected in his community, thought of as a big-time academic, a teacher of teachers. And he sought out Jesus for a private meeting because Nicodemus was afraid to be seen with him in public. In the scene, Nicodemus properly refers to Jesus' rabbi. He's an older man talking to a younger man and the older man is confused. The Eastern slumps, many wandering preachers have succeeded in gathering crowds. But they're rhetoric and fiery tone. I've heard a few of them over the years, myself. So you know the type, but I have never heard anyone tell the paralytic to get up and walk, much less it actually happens. So what is your conclusion? I believe you are not acting alone. No one can do these signs you do without having God in him. Only someone who has come from God. And how is that belief going over in the synagogue? Which is why we are here, at this hour. What else? What have you come here to show us? A kingdom. That is what our rulers are worried about. No, not that kind. Then what? A sort of kingdom that a person cannot see. Unless he is born again. Born again? Yes. You mean a new creature? A conversion from Gentile to Jewish? No, that's not what I'm talking about. Then what is born again? I hope you don't be returned of the womb because that would be a problem for me. My mother, and she rest in peace, is dead. Truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water in the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. And that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. That part of you, that is what must be reborn to a new life. How can these things be? The teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things, huh? I love the scene. I love the acting. And I know there's some controversy about the chosen, and I understand it's not scripture. That's a very scriptural scene. It's done with great respect. So Nicodem is this teacher of the law. We've heard born again so often we think we know what it means. He doesn't, and he's honest. We'll continue to get into some of the chosen just one more clip on this, but I'm going to go to Matthew chapter 7 verses 21 through 23. This one should freak Christians out. Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord, we'll enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven." On that day, many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name, and then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. I never knew you." In that scene, Nicodemus sits across from God Almighty in human form, part of the Holy Trinity, and he's trying to get to know him. In Nicodemus' hearts, Nicodemus knows, he said, "You're from God." But Nicodemus was challenged with departing the world, and we read into this, it's not said this way, but we read into it departing his station. And imagine you'd be leaving your whole life behind. Ultimately, Nicodemus does come around and arrange for a proper bell for the Lord Jesus, and tradition tells us that he converted. That's what tradition would tell us, that's not biblical. That phrase, "I never knew you." What does that mean? There's plenty of people you can be around and not know. You can chit-chat. You can make small talk, but you don't know them. You begin to know people when you've had a conflict, when you have worked together, when you have solved the problem together, when you've seen them through seasons of plenty and little, when you've seen them in times of great peace and conflict, when you have talked with them of important things and when you feel comfortable sharing with them, and when you really know a person, you know their voice or even their footsteps. I've made this comparison before. At home, I can tell who's walking within three footsteps. Is it my wife, is it my daughter? In fact, through repetition, I can actually tell which cat is walking. Is it the white cat or the orange cat? I can tell, by the way, they walk. We learn to know the father's voice, how, by being in the word and then applying it to our daily life, and by arguing. David in Psalms, this part of that is his prayer journal. Sometimes in it, he's expressing frustration with God and listening for the answer. God's voice may not be audible to you. In fact, someone wrote me an email and we'll respond to you next week and wait, can you teach me how to hear God's voice? No, I can't because you're going to have it in a unique way that I do, but I can hear you. I can tell you how to recognize his word. Knowing the Lord is inviting him in. Knowing the Lord is even asking maybe for things that you know you're not going to get, that God cannot bless them. And it's asking it knowing, "Hey, I know you can't bless this, but I'm going to ask anyway." We do that with people. I'm going to ask you a big favorite, "Oh gosh, you know what? I sure could do that. I really can't." We do it with bosses, "Hey, can I have a month's paycheck in advance? I remember that. Gosh, no, I can't, but I can give you like a week in advance." Getting to know God so that we never faced that day of I never knew you means that we have interactions with God outside of just getting down on our knees and praying. How? We interact with His people. We allow ourselves to be discipled by people who are more spiritually mature than us. We disciple people who are less mature than us in the faith. We spend time with the body. If you are not spending time with the body of Christ, how do you know the Lord? If you have rendered yourself separate from the body of Christ, how do you know the Lord? There have been many, many people who have said to me, "I don't need church. It's just me and the Bible and Jesus. Is that what Jesus said?" Did Jesus say people don't need a church? God never does anything unintentionally. When the Lord Jesus set up a church, He intended for us to be part of it as a way of meeting the body together. That Scripture should challenge people. Do you know the Lord? Do I? Matthew chapter 13 verses 30 through 32. "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Whoever does not gather with me scatters." Therefore, I tell you, every sin in blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. I cannot tell you that I understand what that means. Do you? I guess to blaspheme the Holy Spirit to have a Holy Spirit tell you, show you, you are not to do this and you to say, "I don't care." I don't care what you say, "Holy Spirit, I don't want you." You're an evil Spirit. Would that be it? It should concern us when there are statements like that that we don't understand. Next time I have my pastran friend, Jim Putman on, I'll ask him about this, and if you know the answer, share it with me. That one should concern us because it's an unforgivable sin. When I was at the youth camp this past month, or no, I was at like three weeks ago, this came up. And one of the coleters said, "No, there's no unforgivable sins." I said, "No, it's in Scripture." Matthew 13, 33, 32. The blasphemy of the unforgivable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. That should concern us. It concerns me because I don't think I understand it well. And the chosen Nicodemus tried to get more of an understanding of what Jesus meant by being born again, and it went like this. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I did not come to deliver the people from Rome. Then from what? From sin. From spiritual death. God loves the world in this way, that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. So this has nothing to do with Rome. It's all about sin. God did not send his son into the world to condemn it, Nicodemus. He sent him to save it through him. It's as simple as Moses's serpent on the pole. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already. In the Old Testament, Moses was told to create a serpent on a pole. The people then being snake bit, and it was their accountability for turning from God, and Moses was told to make this and have the people look upon it. Why are we looking at a serpent? Because I told you to. Because the very thing that's been striking you dead, I'm going to have you look upon it because it's an act of faith, because God said to. When the Lord Jesus was raised upon the cross, it was a sign of that. It was him not the serpent, of course, him the Savior of mankind. People looked upon him and believed. They chose to believe, looking upon the servant, that God's going to do what he says he's going to do. It's a challenging, challenging thought, and was very challenged for Nicodemus, who did not. He had an opportunity to be a disciple. A man of God, clearly, clearly seeking God, had an opportunity to be with him, but couldn't. Or wouldn't, because he couldn't give something up. Two of the hardest pieces of Scripture, one particularly for conservatives, talk about next. Yeah, it's Romans 13. It is difficult sometimes to, well, find new ways to talk about products I've told you about before, but I have one. It's Eden Pierce Oxyleaf II. When I've talked to you about my friend in his bare sausage rotting in his car and his wife's car with a cat puke in it, and I've talked to you about my friend that was a taxidermy business. Did I mention that? A friend of mine that was a taxidermy business, he sent me a note and said, "Hey, we do do this." We put this in our workplace because we don't want anyone to smell any of the chemicals or any of the things we use, anything that's aging. That's how we use it. And if you're at a home where you have cats and dogs or this, and this is kind of the uncomfortable one, and truly it's uncomfortable, I got a note from a woman who's a home healthcare nurse. And she's doing this right now for loved ones, and she mentioned there actually is a smell of old people's smell, people laying in bed, because I don't want that to be the case when our grandkids come over and the family comes over, so I bought this to put this in room with my great aunt. And that helps clear the air, and it doesn't do it loud. That lady doesn't want to hear a loud air filter. She's in bed. It's in the night time of her life, the twilight of her life. She doesn't want a big air filter buzzing away. Air filters are expensive. You have to replace the filters a couple of order bucks every year. This is an air purifier, Octolife 2. Operates suddenly in the background producing ozone. That ozone, the O3 molecules, bonds to the molecules that produce the bad smell, and they toss them. And in case you haven't noticed, there are places in your house like your laundry room, maybe the laundry stacks up, like certain areas of the garage, maybe your home gym, that could use this. Right now, you can get buy one, get one. That's the new special buy one, get one. Go to EdenPirdeals.com, enter code Todd3, buy one, get one. That's a major discount. EdenPirdeals.com, enter code Todd3, buy one, get one. Romans 13 is the most challenging of the scriptures for conservatives. Submission to governing authorities. Everyone be subject to governing authorities for there's no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authorities rebelling against what God has instituted and those who do so will bring judgment upon themselves. For rulers, hold no tariff or for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear, from the fear from the what is authority, then do what is right, and you will be commended? For the one in authority is in God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God's servants, agents of wrath, to bring punishment to the wrong door. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities not only because of possible punishment, but also as a matter of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes. For the authorities are God's servants who give their full-time governing. You have to everyone what you owe them. If you owe taxes, pay taxes, if revenue, then revenue, if respect and respect, if honor than honor. Mostly, we do this. You mostly follow the law. I bet you aren't out running stop signs. I bet you aren't out going 30 miles an hour of the speed limit on a regular basis. I bet you do pay your taxes. I bet you don't steal. I bet you follow the authorities for the most part. Here's where the conflicts coming from, I think. Is our authorities have become ungodly? God sometimes lets ungodly rulers stay in place, like the figurehead, like God forbid Camy Harris. He does that for his own ends, which are always for our own good. And we have an example here. The again, back to knowing the Lord. There is an accept to this. It's not in the text. It's in the behaviors of Peter and the early and the apostles. They were told, you will not preach the word of Jesus. You will not practice your faith. And they said, we will not stop. So the point of being crucified, beaten, boiled in oil, having been torn apart, stabbed, stoned, we will not stop. When it comes to violating the word of God, that goes against the ultimate authority. When we're told to lie, hey, that man is a woman. I'm not going to do that. When we're told to hate someone because of their race, I'm not going to do that. We're to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. When we're told to steal reparations, taking money from people who never held slaves to give to people who weren't ever slaves, that's theft. We can fight against that. We can argue against that because it's ungodly to cause us to steal or to be stolen from. Our Course Scripture says, when someone comes to take your cloak off of them as well, your shirt is a difficult thing. It should be difficult, but if it's not difficult, it might mean you are not in the word. If it's not difficult to follow a perfect God as an imperfect human being, you're probably not trying to follow the word. Have you ever had to work out with someone who is flawless at something? It's very, very frustrating. You can stay with them for a little while, but after a while, they're just going to overtake you. I've made the mistake a few times of being in a workout around people who are great swimmers. And I don't swim. I plow through water. And the more fat I've lost, the more that's true. I don't float. It's very, very difficult. And it's super, super hard. And it's beautiful. To watch a real swimmer who actually floats upon the water and propels themselves through the water, just like they're floating, as I've said. It's very difficult to match that perfection. And I probably will never get there. We'll never get to the perfection of God. But if that doesn't cause a conflict in you as you try to live to the word, then maybe you're not really seeking perfection. Maybe I'm not. When I say you, I mean us, by the way. But Romans 13 doesn't end there. That's Romans 13, 1 through 7. Romans 13, 8 through 10. Love fulfills the law. Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another. For whosoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments. You should not commit adultery. You should not murder. You should not steal. You should not covet. And whatever other command there may be are summed up in this one command. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. If we take this right back up to the top, we take it right back up to President Trump. We take it to a man who has either enough love for himself, and let's admit, President Trump loves himself aplenty. If he were a man driven by racial animus and hatred, he would have treated that black journalist in a completely different way. I think she was baiting him. I think she hates him. I think that was clear. I think she wanted him to react really, really harshly. Instead, he was calm and measured the way he is with other adversarial journalists. It was a master class and it was respectful. Just because we love doesn't mean we agree. And just because we agree with God's word doesn't mean we're living it out. If there's not a conflict from time to time in your heart in relation to your behavior and scripture, then maybe you're not seriously in the word. A wrestling match with God can be a blessing because it can show you are maturing spiritually. And the Bible is full of moments where people have had to take a step back and even the great to the Bible and say, "My gosh, what have I done?" God, thank you for making your word a tool always good for rebuke and teaching and instruction. Thank you for providing us a model of perfection we can never reach, but we can pursue. This is the Todd Herman Show. Please go be well, be strong, be kind, and please make every effort to walk in the light of Christ. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]