Whose Side Are You On?

In the late 1900’s—1999, specifically—a movie named The Mummy was released. The movie stared Brendan Fraser as Rick O’Connell, a French Foreign Legionary turned Explorer who must confront Imhotep, a powerful prince long dead and mummified but coming back to life.

The character of Rick O’Connell is joined by a sidekick named Beni Gabor, a perpetually frightened small man who consistently does whatever he deems to be in his own best interest, especially when confronted with danger or death. In one scene where Imhotep confronts Beni, he fumbles through a collection of holy symbols he wears on necklaces, presenting successive symbols with invocations in the hope of warding off Imhotep:

he begins with a cross, quoting a psalm

he grabs a crescent, quoting something in arabic

he grabs a buddha, quoting something in chinese

he grabs a star of David, quoting something in Hebrew

Imhotep, recognizing the “language of the slaves” spares Beni’s life, offering him gold in return for service. Beni naturally accepts the gold and readily serves Imhotep. It is clearly better to be the servant of the bad guy than to die with the good guy.

The scene is meant to be comedic but it illustrates a serious idea that is popular with many people: we want enough religion that it serves us, but not so much that we have to serve it. And we are willing to dabble in multiple religions as a way to kind of hedge our bets.

For most people, our hedging is less overt and less over the top, but it is unmistakably real. Among professing Christians it generally takes the form of trusting God with our eternal destiny but trusting ourselves daily living. In our minds, this seems like less of a caricature than it actually is.

The reality of a life of faith is more black and white and less shades of grey. While we may want to waffle between God being God and us being god, between full commitment and partial commitment, between enough belief and practice to make it seem like it’s working but not so much that people think us crazy, God wants us to make—and then follow through—a decision. And that is not all that crazy: we aren’t kind of married but kind of not, we’re not kind of employed but kind of not, we’re not kind of committed to healthy lifestyles but kind of not. It is completely normal for us to make commitments that define and direct our lives. The questions that we have to wrestle with is whose side are we really on? This is exactly the question Matthew presents and Jesus raises in Matthew 12.

You Either Believe the Bible or You Don’t, Matthew 12:15-21

Matthew 12:15–21 NKJV

15 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. 16 Yet He warned them not to make Him known, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 18 “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles. 19 He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory; 21 And in His name Gentiles will trust.”

Jesus withdrew from confrontation

He still had crowds who followed

He still healed and taught

He still avoided a fight with the religious leaders

Matthew recognized fulfilment of prophecy

Here he quotes Isaiah 42:1-4

The Jews had a conflict

They wanted the Conquering King presented in prophecy. The did not want the Suffering Savior presented in prophecy. You cannot pick and choose what parts of the Bible you are going to believe are true. The Scriptures are a whole. They stand together and they fall together. James clearly expresses this idea:

James 2:8–11 NKJV

8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

The Jews couldn’t have it both ways and neither can we. We either believe the Bible is true or we don’t.

You Either Belong to Jesus’ Kingdom or you don’t, Matthew 12:22-30

Matthew 12:22–30 NKJV

22 Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. 23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” 24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” 25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. 30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

The Occassion: Jesus Exorcised a Demon

The Question: By What Power

There are two basic choices here, did He have the power of God who is over all, including demons, or did He have the power of the Devil who is over demons. There really wasn’t any other options here.

The Denial: He Is In League with The Devil

Those who did not believe Jesus was the Messiah were left with no other reasonable explanation than Jesus having the power of the Devil. If He had the power of God, than it would have meant He represented God, and they didn’t want to believe that.

We have an internal need for consistency in our beliefs. We don’t always recognize it in ourselves, but we can usually see it in other people.

The Objection: That Makes no sense!

Our need for internal consistency does not equate to being intelligent or logical. We have no shortage of examples of this.

The Challenge: There Is No Middle Ground

A person cannot follow Jesus and not follow Jesus. He made that abundantly clear in verse 30. He is our King, or He isn’t. We are His citizens, or we aren’t. There is no in-between position.

You Either Bear Fruit or you don’t, Matthew 12:31-36

Matthew 12:31–36 NKJV

31 “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. 33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

God Is Consistent

The unpardonable sin, namely blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, is understandable.

What had the Jews just done? They had attributed the power of the Holy Spirit to the Devil.

Why is that unforgivable?

What is the role of the Holy Spirit when it comes to unbelievers? It is to draw them into a saving faith in Jesus.

If what is supposed to direct you to Jesus instead directs you to Satan, will you be saved? No.

What is the one sin that ultimately condemns people? Refusing salvation.

When we attribute the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan, it draws us away from God and the salvation He offers through Jesus. We refuse that salvation and are ultimately, and eternally, unforgiven.

If we attribute the work of the Holy Spirit to God, it draws us toward salvation and forgiveness. God is consistent. He can—and will—forgive every sin, except the sin of unbelief.

Nature Is Consistent

Apple trees only produce apples

Apple trees always produce apples

People Are Consistent

What we say and do reveals what we believe. We may try to hide or deny it, but it is not that hard to see. And God will judge accordingly.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the question of whose side are you on is not that hard to answer. It may take a little time and a little observation, but the answer is pretty clear. The Challenge for us is to answer the question and then consistently live out that answer. God knows the difference. People will eventually figure it out too. If you’re on God’s side embrace it, don’t dabble.