July 3, 2025 • 8 mins
Which is more important, the individual or the group the individual is in? Is it even possible to determine which is more important? Are these even the right questions?
More information about Beyond the Walls, including additional resources can be found at www.beyondthewalls-ministry.com
This series included graphics to illustrate what is being taught, if you would like to watch the teachings you can do so on Rumble (https://rumble.com/user/SpokaneBibleChurch) or on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtV_KhFVZ_waBcnuywiRKIyEcDkiujRqP).
Jeremy Thomas is the pastor at Spokane Bible Church in Spokane, Washington and a professor at Chafer Theological Seminary. He has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and
our series on the New TestamentFramework.
Today a smaller, bite-sizedpiece from the larger lesson.
We hope you enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
First of all, which is more important, right, You've
got the one, that's the group,and then you've got the many,
that's an individual or aparticular let's use some
examples Nation, particular,let's use some examples Nation
the world is heading toward oneworld government.
Right, they want to do awaywith individual national
(00:37):
sovereignty in favor of oneworld government.
So, which is being emphasizedin that example?
Right, the one world government.
The nations will be sacrificed,Individual nations will be
sacrificed for the one worldgovernment.
The nations will be sacrificed.
Individual nations will besacrificed for the one world
government which will takepriority.
Um, does the bible have anythingto say about this?
I mean, is there a story in thebible about this?
Um, yeah, we, we know that theworld is heading toward a
(01:06):
one-world government, one-worldreligion, one-world economy and,
by default, then it's movingaway from the many, the concept
that we need individual nationsto maintain their distinctness
and function under their ownrules of law.
Right, we're rejecting that.
But these are the two ways.
You can swing, right, you canswing toward a one-world
(01:27):
government in which a nation'srights will be given over to
elitists, either monarchy oneelitist or an oligarchy, a few
elitists who rule the world withtheir set of laws.
I'm sure you've seen about this, or.
Oh, what's the end of that?
What's the end of that?
(01:47):
If that's the presuppositionand we're going to emphasize the
one over the many, where isthat going to end?
It's going to end at absolutetotalitarianism.
That's the end of that andthat's what the Bible says.
Actually, that's the way theworld's going to go.
They're dealing with theproblem of the one and the many
and they're going to choose infavor of the one and they're
going to sacrifice the manynations and get rid of them.
(02:07):
So the other option is to alloweach nation to govern
themselves autonomously, morelike it is now.
But let's go back a couplehundred years and it would be
even more representative, right,and where we have nations,
separate nations, and they waragainst one another as they vie
(02:29):
for supremacy in the world, andthe end of that is anarchy.
The end of that is anarchy.
And people struggle over these,they have a tension over which
way we should go, Because we dorealize, right, there basically
has not been a year where therewasn't war since Daniel wrote
(02:50):
his book.
I did a research on that onetime.
I was like I don't think thereis any years when there was not
war going on somewhere in theworld for the last 2,600 years.
So you know, I think people aretired of that right in the
world right now and they'rethinking well, maybe if we all
just come together and we get anelite oligarchy or an elite
(03:13):
ruler, then all the world's warswill go away.
That's the reasoning processthat is taking place.
Of course, you have to give upall your rights as an
independent nation to be a partof this right.
So that's an example.
Politics, Politics.
This is similar but a littledifferent.
(03:33):
Here we have the state versusthe individual.
Is it better to have a unifiedsociety where we sacrifice
individual rights to the stateand the state decides what is
right and wrong?
Or that's an all-powerful stateright?
(03:54):
Or is it better to giveeverybody their individual
rights and sacrifice the unityin society so everyone kind of
breaks up in their own littlegangs and clubs and races and so
forth and fights one another,fights for their rights.
What happened?
Here's an example what happenedwith COVID, Not just in America
(04:16):
but all over in other nationsof the world, which was an
attempt toward global unity andglobalism.
But what happened?
Well, we were basically toldyou need to take this shot.
You need to stay at home.
You need to socially distance.
In other words, you need totake this shot.
You need to stay at home.
You need to socially distance.
In other words, you need toforfeit your individual rights.
Let's just put it that way youneed to forfeit your individual
rights.
For the sake of what?
For the sake of one, for thesake of society, for the sake of
(04:37):
the state.
Why should we do it?
Because the government tells usto do it.
Sacrifice your individualrights, rights and we will give
you security.
And a lot of people didn't likethat and they said well, I don't
want to take the shot and Idon't want to stay home, and I
don't want to stay four feetaway, six feet away from whoever
(04:59):
you know.
I want to just be able tofunction here Instead of, like
I'm always, like you know,tiptoeing around everybody.
The lines are six miles longnow because I got to be, you
know, six feet apart fromeverybody.
See how this is a problem.
See how that decision, thatdecision was made in favor, once
again, of which one of the manydid individuals get favored,
(05:22):
their rights or the one?
The society as a whole?
Society as a whole and peoplewho tried to stand up for their
freedoms lost their jobs.
And now these companies don'thave good people to do those
jobs, and so they can't keep upwith the supply chains.
And here we are right supplyand demand price is doing what
soaring, inflation doing whatsoaring.
(05:43):
Okay, this is too hard to seethat at the root of this issue
was a determination that we aregoing to lean toward an answer
for the one rather than the many.
I read some of the SupremeCourt cases that came out of
this.
One of the judges actuallyappealed to a case from, I
(06:04):
believe, the late 40s, where anindividual was deprived of her
rights and the courts later cameback and realized you know, we
shouldn't have done that and hecited that in reference to cases
that were going on during COVIDthat what we're doing is
running roughshod overindividuals' rights and all that
(06:27):
does is move us toward thestate being more totalitarian,
doesn't it Controlling everyaspect of our lives?
So, yes, the one in the many isa problem right here in
politics.
How about in marriage?
Should we emphasize the unityof the marriage of two
individuals?
If you do, then each individualin the marriage loses their
(06:52):
individuality, their ownpersonal expressions.
They all get wrapped up in theconcept of the marriage.
Now, that would be an emphasison the one, the marriage being
taken priority over theindividuals in the marriage.
But the other side of it wouldbe emphasizing the individual's
rights in the marriage, and thatgoes.
If you do that, the end of thatis divorce, Because you've got
(07:16):
two individuals.
They're viewing themselves ashaving their own specific rights
, and if this person infringeson my rights, then I'll just
divorce you.
Which way has society tended onthis Individual?
They've gone individual.
In fact, the whole legal systemis set up around individual
rights, not around maritalrights.
Okay, so the whole legal systemis built on this.
(07:39):
It's an answer of the problemof the one of many in the favor
of the many.
Here's the problem.
See, I'm just starting to touchon the problem.
Okay, they can't get thebalance.
They're always swinging fromone side to the other side on
these issues and they can neverstrike the balance.
(08:01):
And I think what Christianityand the Trinity is doing is
giving us an answer for thebalance.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with
Jeremy Thomas.
If you would like to see thevisuals that went along with
today's sermon, you can findthose on Rumble and on YouTube
under Spokane Bible Church.
That is where Jeremy is thepastor and teacher.
We hope you found today'slesson productive and useful in
(08:27):
growing closer to God andwalking more obediently with Him
.
If you found this podcast to beuseful and helpful, then please
consider rating us in yourfavorite podcast app and until
next time, we hope you have ablessed and wonderful day.
Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and
our series on the New TestamentFramework.
Today a smaller, bite-sizedpiece from the larger lesson.
We hope you enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
First of all, which is more important, right, You've
got the one, that's the group,and then you've got the many,
that's an individual or aparticular let's use some
examples Nation, particular,let's use some examples Nation
the world is heading toward oneworld government.
Right, they want to do awaywith individual national
(00:37):
sovereignty in favor of oneworld government.
So, which is being emphasizedin that example?
Right, the one world government.
The nations will be sacrificed,Individual nations will be
sacrificed for the one worldgovernment.
The nations will be sacrificed.
Individual nations will besacrificed for the one world
government which will takepriority.
Um, does the bible have anythingto say about this?
I mean, is there a story in thebible about this?
Um, yeah, we, we know that theworld is heading toward a
(01:06):
one-world government, one-worldreligion, one-world economy and,
by default, then it's movingaway from the many, the concept
that we need individual nationsto maintain their distinctness
and function under their ownrules of law.
Right, we're rejecting that.
But these are the two ways.
You can swing, right, you canswing toward a one-world
(01:27):
government in which a nation'srights will be given over to
elitists, either monarchy oneelitist or an oligarchy, a few
elitists who rule the world withtheir set of laws.
I'm sure you've seen about this, or.
Oh, what's the end of that?
What's the end of that?
(01:47):
If that's the presuppositionand we're going to emphasize the
one over the many, where isthat going to end?
It's going to end at absolutetotalitarianism.
That's the end of that andthat's what the Bible says.
Actually, that's the way theworld's going to go.
They're dealing with theproblem of the one and the many
and they're going to choose infavor of the one and they're
going to sacrifice the manynations and get rid of them.
(02:07):
So the other option is to alloweach nation to govern
themselves autonomously, morelike it is now.
But let's go back a couplehundred years and it would be
even more representative, right,and where we have nations,
separate nations, and they waragainst one another as they vie
(02:29):
for supremacy in the world, andthe end of that is anarchy.
The end of that is anarchy.
And people struggle over these,they have a tension over which
way we should go, Because we dorealize, right, there basically
has not been a year where therewasn't war since Daniel wrote
(02:50):
his book.
I did a research on that onetime.
I was like I don't think thereis any years when there was not
war going on somewhere in theworld for the last 2,600 years.
So you know, I think people aretired of that right in the
world right now and they'rethinking well, maybe if we all
just come together and we get anelite oligarchy or an elite
(03:13):
ruler, then all the world's warswill go away.
That's the reasoning processthat is taking place.
Of course, you have to give upall your rights as an
independent nation to be a partof this right.
So that's an example.
Politics, Politics.
This is similar but a littledifferent.
(03:33):
Here we have the state versusthe individual.
Is it better to have a unifiedsociety where we sacrifice
individual rights to the stateand the state decides what is
right and wrong?
Or that's an all-powerful stateright?
(03:54):
Or is it better to giveeverybody their individual
rights and sacrifice the unityin society so everyone kind of
breaks up in their own littlegangs and clubs and races and so
forth and fights one another,fights for their rights.
What happened?
Here's an example what happenedwith COVID, Not just in America
(04:16):
but all over in other nationsof the world, which was an
attempt toward global unity andglobalism.
But what happened?
Well, we were basically toldyou need to take this shot.
You need to stay at home.
You need to socially distance.
In other words, you need totake this shot.
You need to stay at home.
You need to socially distance.
In other words, you need toforfeit your individual rights.
Let's just put it that way youneed to forfeit your individual
rights.
For the sake of what?
For the sake of one, for thesake of society, for the sake of
(04:37):
the state.
Why should we do it?
Because the government tells usto do it.
Sacrifice your individualrights, rights and we will give
you security.
And a lot of people didn't likethat and they said well, I don't
want to take the shot and Idon't want to stay home, and I
don't want to stay four feetaway, six feet away from whoever
(04:59):
you know.
I want to just be able tofunction here Instead of, like
I'm always, like you know,tiptoeing around everybody.
The lines are six miles longnow because I got to be, you
know, six feet apart fromeverybody.
See how this is a problem.
See how that decision, thatdecision was made in favor, once
again, of which one of the manydid individuals get favored,
(05:22):
their rights or the one?
The society as a whole?
Society as a whole and peoplewho tried to stand up for their
freedoms lost their jobs.
And now these companies don'thave good people to do those
jobs, and so they can't keep upwith the supply chains.
And here we are right supplyand demand price is doing what
soaring, inflation doing whatsoaring.
(05:43):
Okay, this is too hard to seethat at the root of this issue
was a determination that we aregoing to lean toward an answer
for the one rather than the many.
I read some of the SupremeCourt cases that came out of
this.
One of the judges actuallyappealed to a case from, I
(06:04):
believe, the late 40s, where anindividual was deprived of her
rights and the courts later cameback and realized you know, we
shouldn't have done that and hecited that in reference to cases
that were going on during COVIDthat what we're doing is
running roughshod overindividuals' rights and all that
(06:27):
does is move us toward thestate being more totalitarian,
doesn't it Controlling everyaspect of our lives?
So, yes, the one in the many isa problem right here in
politics.
How about in marriage?
Should we emphasize the unityof the marriage of two
individuals?
If you do, then each individualin the marriage loses their
(06:52):
individuality, their ownpersonal expressions.
They all get wrapped up in theconcept of the marriage.
Now, that would be an emphasison the one, the marriage being
taken priority over theindividuals in the marriage.
But the other side of it wouldbe emphasizing the individual's
rights in the marriage, and thatgoes.
If you do that, the end of thatis divorce, Because you've got
(07:16):
two individuals.
They're viewing themselves ashaving their own specific rights
, and if this person infringeson my rights, then I'll just
divorce you.
Which way has society tended onthis Individual?
They've gone individual.
In fact, the whole legal systemis set up around individual
rights, not around maritalrights.
Okay, so the whole legal systemis built on this.
(07:39):
It's an answer of the problemof the one of many in the favor
of the many.
Here's the problem.
See, I'm just starting to touchon the problem.
Okay, they can't get thebalance.
They're always swinging fromone side to the other side on
these issues and they can neverstrike the balance.
(08:01):
And I think what Christianityand the Trinity is doing is
giving us an answer for thebalance.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with
Jeremy Thomas.
If you would like to see thevisuals that went along with
today's sermon, you can findthose on Rumble and on YouTube
under Spokane Bible Church.
That is where Jeremy is thepastor and teacher.
We hope you found today'slesson productive and useful in
(08:27):
growing closer to God andwalking more obediently with Him
.
If you found this podcast to beuseful and helpful, then please
consider rating us in yourfavorite podcast app and until
next time, we hope you have ablessed and wonderful day.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.