Decisions, Definitions and Divisions

Intro:

The previous verses closed with Jesus giving an invitation to come to him and drink.

He promised that he was the satisfaction that we long for.

Jim Elliot missionary to Ecuador in July 1948 said "Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me."

In Western Society we don't even like the idea of exclusivity. Your opinion is as valid as mine is the story of the day.

It doesn't take long following Christ to decipher the fact that Jesus in our Western mind comes in many flavors, he is just a milepost. To some he is a punisher of evil to others he is their genie in the bottle and to others he is their worst nightmare.

Here are some books I found on Amazon to show you the flavor of Jesus that most people like.

Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen

Houston televangelist Joel Osteen is well qualified to write this book, having used the seven principles he shares to achieve his own "rags-to-riches" story.

Reposition Yourself by T.D. Jakes

In our day and age we tend to think that Jesus is there to serve us.

Living Life without Limits

Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson

to discover how they can release God's miraculous power and experience the blessings God longs to give each one of us.

You can even watch videos of "preachers" that will go along with absolutely anything you believe.

In our day and age we tend to think that Jesus is there to serve us.

John 7:37–39 KJV 1900

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

What he said in was exactly the opposite.

Preachers are like statistics. They are good to go ahead and prove YOUR point. You can find some that will say anything you want.

You can even watch videos of "preachers" that will go along with absolutely anything you believe.

Preachers are like statistics. They are good to go ahead and prove YOUR point. You can find some that will say anything you want.

Jesus in our mind is just like cereal, a brand for every palate. Lets see, what church do you want to go to, Jesus with flavor of Cocoa Puffs or Captain Crunch or Cheerios or Honey Nut Cheerios or Sugar Frosted Flakes or Granola or Oatmeal or Reeses Puffs.

Go ahead, this is the way we do it, YOU CHOOSE!

Just for kicks here is a short video that Bill edited for us today showing what I mean.

The sad part is that the Jesus that is preached can be seen on Vimeo and YouTube and sermon spice etc, it just can't be found in the Bible that is all about him.

Funny isn't it How God can serve us?

The sad part is that the Jesus that is preached can be seen on Vimeo and YouTube and sermon spice etc, it just can't be found in the Bible that is all about him.

In the previous verses we see Jesus say, I (the real me) is the only thing that truly satisfies.

Then the result of that message is what we are going to see today.

See Jesus was a fork in the road and after he preached we see the result of the startling words he said to them.

John 7:40a KJV 1900

Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.

They heard this saying, when they heard it, it demanded a decision.

This decision was of utmost importance.

Their decision had to do with whether they believed what he was saying or not, because if they did believe it would change everything about their life.

Is that not true for us as well? If we really believe what he is saying then it will change everything about how we approach life.

This decision would change everything about them and will change everything about us as well.

John 7:40–42 KJV 1900

Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Beth-lehem, where David was?

The crowds that were listening were divided into different groups.

Hey maybe he is a prophet. Maybe the one who will speak of the Messiah.

Others said He is the Christ

And still others would say, this can't be the one, he is from Galilee, the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem and be of the lineage of David.

They were not even interested in following up on the claims that he said.

John 7:43–44 KJV 1900

So there was a division among the people because of him. And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.

The Bible says clearly that there was a division and the center of it all the reason that the division happened was because of Jesus.

This is very different than the Cocoa Puff Christianity we push in America.

And this isn't the only time, this isn't an isolated verse about division.

John 9:16 KJV 1900

Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.

John 10:19 KJV 1900

There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.

Luke 12:51–53 KJV 1900

Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

John 7:12 KJV 1900

And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people.

So what happened with everything being great when we believe in Jesus.

THE BIBLE HAPPENED TO IT!!!!

G.K. Chesterton said: Sincere devotion to Christ always brings division.

THE BIBLE HAPPENED TO IT!!!!

Christ did not want to bring division. But because of the sinfulness of our hearts, because of our fallenness, because of our unwillingness to repent and bow to him, the Prince of Peace is Christ the Divider.

You can see this played out even in the story of John. Nicodemus came by night because he knew the division it would bring.

I took some time to talk to a few different friends of mine about the division that the gospel causes.

I hope that you understand that Jesus brings division.

I took some time this week to talk to 3 different missionaries about the division that the gospel causes.

I want you to understand that Jesus causes UNNATURAL DIVISION

People that would be tight and good friends no longer are because of him. That is what we see in the crowds here.

Here are some highlights from some of their stories and I am not even going to talk about Peru even though I know many stories from there as well.

Story from a friend in Mexico

Chucho accepted Christ, his Dad came to the church and pulled him out and hasn't talked to him since. This was years ago. He knew that the potential loss for him when he accepted Christ was losing his girlfriend, car, family, friends in school etc. When he stood up to give his testimony in Mexico with tears streaming down his face his said "NO REGRETS"

One friend said.

It is a bit difficult to think of examples because the name of Jesus and the Gospel is so divisive that it seems so common that it is not worth repeating examples.

I know in America from what I remember the name of Jesus and the word Gospel is so common place that it is accepted with indifference.

However, I know in America from what I remember the name of Jesus and the word Gospel is so common place that it is accepted with indifference most of the time though there are some jaded individuals who will get angry from some bad experience with some church so called.

Brendon took a Bible last week to the national library in Rabat since they didn't have one available and it is the most read book in history. He had a very nice conversation with the library manager and said that he had some books to donate but had only currently brought one. He handed her the black covered book and she still had a smile on her face until she read with a puzzled look: "Holy book". "Is this the Bible?" she asked. He confirmed that it was and her smile vanished and she retreated into numerous hushed phone calls in Arabic with her supervisor. They didn't know what to do with it maybe scared what people would think or scared themselves to read it or let some other Muslim read it. They accepted the book but have not placed it on their shelves yet.

Suffian is a young man who God is searching for. He got a Bible from us and took it home. His dad found it and was furious. He took the book, fired his son from the family business, and threatened to put him on the streets.

Said is the most famous story I have. When he met a young man to tell him about Jesus the young man's dad showed up and had him arrested. He was questioned for two days by police and investigators. The interesting thing about his questioning is that it didn't center on what he had done but on the fact that he had himself become a Christian and left Islam. Said says more than 40 police officers came in to ask him and hear him tell why he had left Islam and believed on Jesus. Many laughed. They couldn't believe it. They kept asking him over and over if he was really a Christian. They had never met one.

A friend in China told me:

Wei Tao wanted to be a preacher, his parents freaked out. His mother called him up on the phone and spoke with him for hours crying asking what in the world did I do wrong as a parent to make you go into this? He had pressure in School, pressure in work.

These divisions are unnatural in the world.

Even the world understands the separation that Christ brings. Here is the a part of one of Jim Gaffigan's CD's

Even the world understands the separation that Christ brings.

A famous comedian says:

I want to make sure everyone here tonight is comfortable...... so let’s talk about Jesus.

The question that this brings me to ask is why we have UNNATURAL CHRISTIANITY here?

Maybe it is because we are not living out true christianity.

A christian author points out in one of his books: “we say we are christian from our lips but the truth is that if someone were looking at us they would think that we were atheist.”

A friend of mine wrote on his blog wrote about the difference between China and Western Christianity.

There is cautionary instruction for Western believers in all of this as well. While Chinese people have to buck societal pressure to make a commitment to Christ, in many places in the West, there is considerable pressure in the opposite direction! When an American professes faith in Christ, it can be viewed as an altogether traditional and respectable sort of choice. But as all who resolve to follow Christ ultimately discover, there is no escaping the cross, whatever culture you happen to belong to. Even in America, where Christian faith is often lumped into the same category as table manners and college education, if a believer lives according to the radical message of the Gospel, there will be blowback. So while we are thankful for our good heritage and all the rest, we would do well to analyze our own walk and ask, ‘What has it cost me to follow Christ?’ If the answer is ‘not much,’ we should seriously contemplate whether or not our commitment to Christ is more cultural than we think.

People will only be offended if and when we return to TRUE Christianity.

It is impossible to follow Christ's commands and for the people that surround us to think we are normal.

After all he says.

Carry your cross

Die to yourself

Love your enemies

Jesus is my LORD

I don't separate the SECULAR and the SACRED

My life isn't lived the same way as others.

I don't leave God in my car with my Bible on Sundays.

Light offends and overpowers darkness. We are the light of the world.

Not only do I see in this passage UNNATURAL DIVISIONS and UNNATURAL CHRISTIANITY but there is one thing that screams to us as we look at this passage.

Christ divides but he also brings an UNNATURAL UNITY

Finally, although it is true that Jesus is the cause of these divisions, it is true also that he is the cause of the most profound and happy unity among believers. Jesus divides? Yes. But for those who know him he is also that which draws us together.

This unity was so important to Jesus that he said.

Christ gives us a unity that can only be found in him.

A couple of weeks ago a missionary that had been in language school moved to a city 12 hours away on the most uncomfortable train ride you can ever imagine.

there's pics of the train ride on levi's wall that i saw

miserable experience in itself - but they always turn it into a flash mob worship concert!

48 people from the different churches there got together and paid their own way and their own hotel bill to go help start a church.

People from all walks of life from every societal level with every job imaginable to man and with so many different interests rally around Christ and he unites us.

The cost was to the tune of $200 a piece to go plant a church that represents Christ that they didn't even know of 5 years ago. This is over a months salary for them.

Here are some pictures of this trip. Remember this is China. What you are about to see is anything but normal.

Here they are all wearing shirts with on it. Not too risky for China. Look at the rest.

A unity that can only be defined in and through Christ.

Are you living in a way that would make sense to Christians all over the world that Christ is the center of your life?

If you have about two minutes, I’d love to share with you a real-life event — when God actually used the words of an antagonistic atheist for His glory.

It’s actually the testimony of a national sports hero from England around the late 1800s. His name was C.T. Studd. (Man, with a name like that, how could he not have become a national hero?! Makes me wanna change my name to M.G. Studd!) 📷🤪

C.T. Studd was born into a wealthy family in England. His father was saved when D.L. Moody went to England, and soon thereafter, C.T. was saved at the age of 16. He went to Cambridge University and became a very famous cricket player.

God drew a line in the sand for C.T., when he read a tract written by an atheist — and as you will see by its content, an atheist who had been schooled in the teachings of Christ and the Bible, but didn’t become a believer. Here’s a portion of what the tract said...

“If I firmly believed as millions say they do, that the knowledge and practice of religion in this life influences destiny in another, then religion would mean to me everything. I would cast away earthly enjoyments as dross, earthly cares as follies, and earthly thoughts and feelings as vanity. Religion would be my first waking thought, and my last image before sleep sank me into unconsciousness. I should labor in its cause alone. I would take thought for the morrow of eternity alone. I would esteem one soul gained for heaven worth a life of suffering. Earthly consequences would never stay my hand, or seal my lips. Earth, it’s joys and its griefs, would occupy no moment of my thoughts. I would strive to look upon eternity alone, and on the immortal souls around me, soon to be everlastingly happy or everlastingly miserable. I would go forth to the world and preach to it in season and out of season, and my text would be, “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and lose his own soul?“

This is what C.T. Studd said in response to what he read…

“I at once saw that this was the truly consistent Christian life. When I looked back upon my own life, I saw how inconsistent it had been. I therefore determined that from that time forth, my life should be consistent — and I set myself to know what was God‘s will for me.“

May God somehow use the words of this atheist to speak to us the way it did C.T. Studd.

Would you be willing to say with your believers around the world that the cost doesn't matter, you are truly a follower of Christ?

Let us decide as Christians that we will live our lives for Christ with NO REGRETS

Decisions, Definitions and Divisions

Intro:

I. The Decision

II. Their Definition

III. The Division

Conclusion: