Why A House Divided Breaks: Marriage, Authority, And Spiritual Warfare

What holds a house together when the pressure mounts? We follow a clear line from Jesus’s rebuke—“How can Satan cast out Satan?”—to the everyday fractures that threaten marriages, churches, and civic life. When Jesus says a kingdom or family divided cannot stand, he isn’t offering a slogan; he’s diagnosing the cause of collapse and pointing to the cure: authority rightly used and unity grounded in the good.

We walk through Mark 3 as crowds surge, demons cry out, and Jesus appoints the Twelve with real authority to preach and to free. Along the way, we unpack the “strong man” parable and why Christ’s strength must be the center that binds what would tear us apart—resentment in a marriage, fear in a community, or corruption in leadership. A sober warning against blaspheming the Holy Spirit reminds us not to slander God’s work when it confronts our comfort.

From there we slow down with Psalm 37—trust, do good, be still—and give anger its proper place: nowhere near the driver’s seat. Proverbs adds grit with a call to diligent work and honest effort. We honor the courage of Herschel “Pete” Bryles, whose bravery under fire pictures authority as self-giving service. Then we engage Jonathan Mayhew’s reading of Romans 13 to clarify a common mistake: Christians honor rulers as servants for the good, not as masters beyond question. When authority rewards evil and punishes good, it abandons its mandate—and we respond with principled, peaceful resistance while continuing to do what is right.

Expect a blend of Scripture, history, and practical counsel: how to build unity in your home, how to spot counterfeit authority, and how to stand firm without becoming hard. If this conversation steadies your heart and sharpens your vision, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review to help others find the show.

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Transcript

Tragedy Mention And Opening Thanks

Prayer For Guidance And Protection

SPEAKER_02 0:01

Mark three verse twenty three through twenty-six. Jesus called them over and responded with an illustration. How can Satan cast out Satan? he asked. A kingdom divided by civil war will collapse. Similarly, a family splintered by feuding will fall apart. And if Satan is divided and fights against himself, how can he stand? He would never survive. Maria Platez and her eleven-year-old daughter Denera Platez, July 2025, Lakewood, New Jersey. Forty-two-year-old mother and her daughter were both killed in a car crash caused by Rayol. Rayol. Whatever part of the day you're in. Appreciate you joining me as always. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast with others, tell others about it. Thank you for those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast. Thank you. Very, very grateful for your prayers. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, Father, and your Son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace, and your forgiveness.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Thank you that we can trust you, Father.

SPEAKER_02 1:42

That we can know that you will bring us home safely to you despite trials and tribulations and anything else. That nothing can separate us from you. Your love, Father, the love of your Son Jesus Christ. Protect us from evil. Thank you for those who listen to the podcast. Please be with them, be with their families. Guide us, bless us, surround us with your angels, Father. Be with our leaders, both in the state and in the pulpit. Be with their families, their wives, their children. Be with our military or law enforcement firefighters, EMS. Protect those who protect us, Father. Keep them safe.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

Forgive us our sins.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

Help us to love you with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

Be with those who are alone, who feel abandoned, who are abused, who are injured or ill, who feel unloved and unwanted. Help us to care for them. To love and forgive others.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

Father, as you have loved and forgiven us.

Honoring Marriage And Fidelity

SPEAKER_02 3:21

And God, my words here, Father, please. In your son's name we pray. Amen. Marriage verse for today, Hebrews 13 4. Marriage must be honored in every respect with no cheating on the relationship because God will judge the sexually immoral person and the person who commits adultery. Obviously, we can be forgiven, right? Jesus didn't condemn the woman caught in adultery. But it should be a warning for us to avoid that. Avoid going down that path. David also, right, was forgiven.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

We ought to put a lot of effort into our marriage, folks.

Crowds, Miracles, And Appointing The Twelve

Accusation Of Possession And Jesus’s Reply

Stronger One Overcomes The Strong Man

Marriage Unity And Shared Foundation

Warning Against Blaspheming The Spirit

Comfort From Psalm 37

Work, Wisdom, And Proverbs

Book Mentions And Reviews Request

1983 Capitol Bombing Context

Medal Of Honor: Herschel “Pete” Bryles

Mayhew On Romans 13 And Authority

Limits Of Submission And Moral Duty

Closing Prayer And Blessing

SPEAKER_02 4:09

We ought to put a lot of effort into loving our spouse, fulfilling our roles as either a husband or a wife, and they're not the same roles, right? We go over them on the podcast here pretty much every day. Mark 3, 7 through 30. Jesus went out to the lake with his disciples, and a large crowd followed him. They came from all over Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idemea, from the east of the Jordan River, and even from as far north as Tyr and Sidon. The news about his miracles had spread far and wide, and vast numbers of people came to see him. Jesus instructed his disciples to have a boat ready so the crowd would not crush him. He had healed many people that day, so all the sick people eagerly pushed forward to touch him. And whatever those possessed by evil spirits caught sight of whenever they caught sight of him, the spirits would throw them to the ground in front of him, shrieking, You are the Son of God. But Jesus sternly commanded the spirits not to reveal who he was. Afterward Jesus went up on a mountain and called out the ones he wanted to go with him, and they came to him. Then he appointed twelve of them and called them his apostles. They were to accompany him, and he would send them out to preach, giving them authority to cast out demons. These are the twelve he chose, Simon, who he named Peter, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, but Jesus nicknamed them sons of thunder. Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, son of Alpheus, Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas Iscariot, who later betrayed him. One time Jesus entered a house, and the crowds began to gather again. Soon and he is soon he and his disciples couldn't even find time to eat. When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. He's out of his mind, they said. But the teachers of religious law who had arrived from Jerusalem said he's possessed by Satan, the prince of demons. That's where he gets the power to cast out demons. Jesus called them over and responded with an illustration. How can Satan cast out Satan? he asked. A kingdom divided by civil war will collapse. Similarly, a famili a family splintered by feuding will fall apart. And if Satan is divided and fights against himself, how can he stand? He would never survive. Let me illustrate this further. Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger. Someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house. There's a lot here, folks, about a kingdom or a family divided against itself that applies to marriage. If you don't have that same foundation in God and Jesus Christ, then when you have conflict in marriage, you're not going to have the same base to return to. Because if you're not, you're just, it's going to be a civil war, right in the house. I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven. But anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences. He's told them this because they were saying he's possessed by an evil spirit. Father, help us never to blaspheme your Holy Spirit, ever. In your Son's name we ask and pray. Amen. Psalm 37 has become a favorite of mine. If you're ever kind of down and struggling, I would recommend it to turn to during the day. This is verse 1 through 11. Don't worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong. For like grass they soon fade away. Like spring flowers they soon wither. Trust in the Lord and do good, then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord, trust him, and he will help you. He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. Be still in the presence of the Lord and wait patiently for him to act. Don't worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. Stop being angry, turn from your rage, do not lose your temper, it only leads to harm. I don't know about y'all folks, but I need to remember this. Be still in the presence of the Lord and wait patiently on him to act, instead of me trying to rush everything on my timeline. And then stop being angry. Don't lose your temper, it only leads to your own destruction, right? Leads to harm. For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land. Soon the wicked will disappear, though you look for them, they will be gone. The lowly will possess the land and will live in peace and prosperity. Proverbs ten, three and four. The Lord will not let the godly go hungry, but he refuses to satisfy the craving of the wicked. Lazy people are soon poor. Hard workers get rich. Little reminder there, perhaps, right, that God tells us if you won't work, you don't get to eat either. Countryside. I remembered to move the books closer. If you are looking for a family-friendly middle grade read, this is the first book in the series. Um, something maybe for your kids or grandkids or yourself if you like the genre that hopefully has quite a bit more of Jesus Christ and his principles in it. I hope. Uh that was the goal. Uh than a lot of the secular entertainment today. And this is the second book in the series. And if you get a chance to check them out, I would appreciate it. If you enjoy it, you could leave a review. Uh I would appreciate that a great deal as well. And if you feel like you're getting something out of the podcast, at least a little bit, marriage versus scripture, etc., uh, if you could leave a review online. Wherever you listen to podcasts, those help, uh, especially the five-star ones, both for the book and the podcast. And if you have five or ten dollars you can donate each month for the podcast, uh that helps a great deal as well. So November 7th, 1983, Washington, D.C. The May 19th Communist Organization set off a bomb. Um, they were associated with the Weather Underground, the Black Liberation Army. Inside, they set off a bomb inside the U.S. Capitol building. A little after 11 p.m., caused pretty extensive damage to the North Wing, the Senate wing, shattering windows, blowing doors off hinges, collapsed parts of the ceiling. No one was killed, but several were injured through shock and debris. And it caused millions of dollars in structural damage, right? Taxpayer money. The group claimed, as so often, it was in protest for U.S. military actions in Granada and Lebanon and fighting back against imperialist quote-unquote policies. The M19 group, communist organization group, throughout the 1980s staged a series of bombings, bank robbies, bank robberies, and prison breaks. Again, you see, right, it's important to note that connection between communism and Islam, the Lebanon angle, right? But just again, the actions. Staff Sergeant, highest rank, first sergeant, World War II, Charlie Company, 899th Tank Destroyer Battalion, 9th Infantry Division, U.S. Army, November 20th, 1944. Oh, Lord help. Uh Sherpensil, Germany. Probably I almost guarantee you I didn't say that right. He was leading a platoon of destroyers across an exposed slope near Scherpensil, Germany, on 20 November 1944. When they came under heavy enemy artillery fire, a direct hit was scored on one of the vehicles, killing one man, seriously wounding two others, and setting the destroyer afire. With a comrade, Staff Sergeant Bryles left the cover of his own armor and raced across ground, raked by artillery and small arms fire to the rescue of the men and the shattered destroyer. Without hesitation, he lowered himself into the burning turret, removed the wounded, and then extinguished the fire. From a position he assumed the next morning, he observed hostile infantrymen advancing. With his machine gun, he poured such deadly fire into the enemy ranks that an entire pocket of 55 Germans surrendered, clearing the way for a junction between American units, which had been held up for two days. Later that day, when another of his destroyers was hit by a concealed enemy tank, he again left protection to give assistance. With the help of another soldier, he evacuated two wounded under heavy fire and returning to the burning vehicle braved death from exploding ammunition to put out the flames. By his heroic initiative and complete disregard for personal safety, Staff Sergeant Bryles was largely responsible for causing heavy enemy casualties, forcing the surrender of 55 Germans, making possible the salvage of our vehicles and saving the lives of wounded comrades. How many of us are willing to do that today, folks? And on the internal side instead of the external, forcing the surrender of those who seek to destroy the United States from the inside, supporting those who go out, our law enforcement, firefighters, EMS, etc., our military, right? Salvaging, protecting our equipment, our families. Accredited to Fort Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa, not awarded posthumously. Presented August 23rd, 1945, the White House by President Harry S. Truman. Born February 7th, 1914, Colfax, Jasper County, Iowa. Died July 17, 1994, Mitchellville, Iowa, United States. Buried Waveland Cemetery, Prairie City, Iowa. Herschel Floyd Pete Bryles. Going to go back into this sermon from Jonathan Mayhew. The sermon was titled, in part, this is the shorter version of the title, Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher Powers. And it was talking about our responsibility as Christians to submit to civil authority and how far that goes. The basis for it was Romans 13, verses 1 through 8. And I'll let you go check that out in lieu of time. We're going to read a little bit of the sermon today, a few different parts. This is actually a note off of page 4. By power, the apostle intends not lawless strength and brutal force without regulation or proper direction, but just authority. For so the word here used properly signifies there may be power where there is no authority. No man has any authority to do what is wrong in injuries, though he may have the power to do it, right? You only have authority if you're doing what is right. You might have the power to do something, but if you're doing something wrong, you don't have the authority to do that. And that's a pretty important distinction. I now, as an apostle, as an apostle and ambassador of Christ, exhort every one of you, be he who he will, to pay all dutiful submission to those who are vested with any civil office. For there is, properly speaking, no authority but what is derived from God, as it is only by his permission and providence that any possess it. Right? So a lot of what we get about unlimited submission is, well, we have a responsibility to submit in everything to civil authority, regardless of if it's for good or evil. And what you're going to see from Mayhew, we'll spend a few days in this, is he's going to say that doesn't make any sense, right? Because we don't apply that like children, for example, they don't have a right to or responsibility to submit to their parents if their parents are abusing them. And yet we're explicitly told we have responsibility to submit to our parents. Wives, same thing. It's very explicit in the Bible to submit in everything to your husband. But no one would argue that a wife, that that submission includes submitting to a husband who's abusive, right? Okay, so that's that's kind of the angle he's taking there. For magistracy and government being, as I have said, the ordinance and appointment of God, it follows that to resist magistrates in the execution of their offices is really to resist the will and ordinance of God Himself. And they who thus resist will accordingly be punished by God for this sin in common with others. The apostle goes on, for rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same, for he is the minister of God to thee for good. That you may see the truth and justness of what I assert, that magistracy is the ordinance of God, and that you sin against him in opposing it? Consider that even pagan rulers, non Christian, right, pagan rulers, are not, by the nature and design of their office, enemies and a terror to the good and virtuous actions of men, but only to the injurious and mischievous of society. Will ye not then reverence and honor magistracy when you see the good end and intention of it? How can ye be so unreasonable? So there's a note here, this is on page six. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. It cannot be supposed that the apostle designs here, or in any of the succeeding verses, to give the true character of Nero, or any other civil powers, than in being as if they were in fact such persons as he describes, a terror to evil works only, and not to the good. For such a character did not belong to them, and the apostle was no sycophant or parasite of power, whatever some of his pretended successors have been. He only tells what rulers would be, provided they acted up to their character and office. Excuse me. So again, you see uh with civil authority, and you make the same arguments for folks for uh parents to children and husbands to wives. We are all under authority of some kind, right? God, Jesus Christ, right? The husband to Christ, the wife to the husband, the children to the parents, Christians, all of us to civil authorities. But it's assumed that submission in everything depends on those rulers, for example, being a terror to evil, not to people who are doing good. We don't have a responsibility to submit to people who are civil authorities who are promoting evil, just like children don't have that with parents and a wife doesn't have that with a husband. But if those civil authorities are doing good, even if we don't really like what they're doing, right? Maybe we disagree with the tax rate or maybe we disagree with a certain policy. But as long as it's not going against God, as long as it's not immoral, we have a responsibility, particularly as Christians, to submit to that civil authority as long as they're promoting good and standing against evil. Same thing for children with parents, same thing for wives with husbands. We'll come back to this. Father, thank you for today. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us the Daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not to temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen. God bless y'all. God bless your families. God bless your marriages if you're married. God bless your nation, wherever you are around the world listening. God bless America. We'll talk to you all again real soon, folks. Looking forward to it.