Sermon for Aug. 18, 2019

This morning I'll be reading Luke chapter 12 verses 49 through 56.

And I'll be reading the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

We are back in Luke again this week. This continues with the scripture that we had last week and the week before,,, where Jesus is still teaching the disciples,,, and us today. Hopefully we are learning as we study everything that Jesus taught as well.

49 “I came to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already set ablaze! 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how it consumes Me until it is finished! 51 Do you think that I came here to give peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now on, five in one household will be divided: three against two, and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” 54 He also said to the crowds: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, right away you say, ‘A storm is coming,’ and so it does. 55 And when the south wind is blowing, you say, ‘It’s going to be a scorcher!’ and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why don’t you know how to interpret this time?

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord, as we begin this morning, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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This morning as I told you earlier,,, we are back in Luke again.

I thought that after last weeks sermon,,, we would move away from Luke for awhile,,, but God has other plans.

It is useless for me to try to get anything together unless God helps me with it,,, and this was the only scripture that I was able to make any progress on earlier in the week.

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Today,,, every where that we look,,, we see division.

It appears to be getting worse instead of better.

Until everything improves,,, we must learn how to deal with it because it isn't going away anytime soon.

And as we will see as we look at this,,, it won't ever go away!

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Hopefully,,, you spend time each day in prayer and reading your Bible,,, that's a very important habit to get into if you don't,,, so be sure that you do,,, and as you spend that time each day,,,

You will come across scriptures like this that I read,,, and you will be tempted to just quickly read through it,,, or skip it,,, because the message that is there isn't really what we want to hear.

So let me encourage you today,,, be sure that you read the scriptures that seem hard to read.

Get a study Bible or Commentary,,, and use it as you read,,, if you need to,,, and ask for help if needed.

I'm always available and,,, if needed,,, you can get in touch by phone,,, text,,, or email

Ask anyone here in this congregation,,, even if we don't know the answer,,, your question can set off a chain of events that will open the door for further Bible study that will help all of us!

Just be sure that you spend the time really trying to understand what you are reading instead of skipping over it or skimming over it real quick.

In it says: 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,

This means that the words that Luke wrote here are supposed to be read by us,,, we are supposed to learn from them,,, and then,,, apply them to our lives.

We can't learn from them or apply it to our lives if we don't understand it.

That's why prayer,,, Bible reading,,, Sunday school,,, Bible study,,, church,,, seeking help from others with fellowship and questions,,,

All of these are important in our Christian life.

These are things that are necessary for us to stay on the right path.

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With that thought,,, beginning in verse 49 it says:49 “I came to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already set ablaze!

According to Google,,, fire is mentioned in the Bible more than 500 times.

Fire imagery is often used as a symbol of divine judgement and blessing.

We should work to receive a blessing,,, and to stay away from divine judgement.

Jesus knew that because of God's plan,,, there would be divisions,,, strife,,, persecution,,, bloodshed,,,

He didn't come to earth with the intentions of causing these,,, but they are the result or effect of His coming.

Jesus knew that all of these things must take place and He was willing that the fire of persecution should burst forth as soon as necessary against himself.

This fire that Jesus speaks of is a fire that comes out of Jesus' Holy love.

We must try to understand this because if we aren't careful,,, we will have a tendency to think that Jesus' coming was for judgement.

We may be led to believe that Jesus' fires only purpose is to divide and separate.

That's not why He came,,, but to certain degree it had that effect,,, but that was our fault not His!

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Verse 50 says: 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how it consumes Me until it is finished!

This refers to His baptism to the point of death on Calvary.

The shame,,, suffering,,, and death,,, were God's will for Him and He was ready to obey.

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In verse 51 Jesus says: 51 Do you think that I came here to give peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!

This appears in direct contrast to the idea that Jesus' name is normally associated with.

In just a few short months,,, we will be sending Christmas cards and on many of those cards will be words referring to peace.

These cards are talking about the joy and peace that Jesus brings and how happy we should be because of Him!

Yet here Jesus is talking about division instead of peace and it seems that Jesus is changing His reason for coming.

But what Jesus is actually saying is that these things will "happen",,, because some won't accept Jesus,,, and because of this we will have divisions around us.

You see,,, whenever you come face to face with the truth,,, then you must either accept it or deny it.

Simeon prophesied about this in : where it says: 34 Then Simeon blessed them and told His mother Mary: “Indeed, this child is destined to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed — 35 and a sword will pierce your own soul—that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

We see another scripture in where it says: 12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart.

is divisive as well: 14 Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 15 What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

These scriptures are a sample of scriptures that speak of the divisions that happen between Christians and the ones that don't believe.

(8:57)

This is something that we must be aware of and be ready for.

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Verses 52 and 53 says: 52 From now on, five in one household will be divided: three against two, and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

These divisions that Jesus spoke of before His death and resurrection have been occurring ever since.

Jesus knew that this would happen and He wanted the disciples to understand and also be prepared for it.

The message that Jesus was bringing was intended to unite everyone in love,,, unite us in God's love,,, but to do that,,, it must be received.

And to receive it,,, it must be believed and accepted as truth.

Many in Jesus' day,,, and many today,,, reject His love because they don't want change.

They want to continue living their life the way that they want to!

They don't understand that it's only when they give God complete control over their life that they can really live.

Or maybe,,, we as Christians don't let them see the change that it's made in our lives because we live differently once we leave church today.

And if they don't see it in your day to day life,,, then they think that it's phony and they don't want anything to do with it!

(10:31)

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Once we get to verse 54 Jesus begins speaking to the crowds also.

The previous verses He had been speaking to the disciples primarily.

Verses 54 through 56 says: 54 He also said to the crowds: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, right away you say, ‘A storm is coming,’ and so it does. 55 And when the south wind is blowing, you say, ‘It’s going to be a scorcher!’ and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why don’t you know how to interpret this time?

Jesus told the people in the crowds that they could pay attention to the weather and interpret what was coming.

When they saw a cloud rising in the west,,, they knew that it would probably rain soon.

And when a south wind was blowing,,, they knew that it would be hot.

But then,,, Jesus calls them hypocrites!

He does this because they knew how to interpret the appearance of the earth and sky but they didn't understand the times that they were living in.

They should be able to see what was happening there that day but they couldn't see it.

These were God's chosen people and they were familiar with the scriptures that foretold of Jesus' coming and they appeared blind,,, when they should have been able to see clearly.

But they couldn't see or understand what was going on.

As we see later,,, during the arrest,,, trial,,, and crucifixion of Jesus,,, even the disciples really didn't see and understand.

(12:06)

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What about us today?

What can we learn from this scripture?

We need to be aware that division will come from our decision to follow Jesus.

There will always be those that don't believe and they will do all they can to change our mind.

There will also be those in our immediate family that might not accept Jesus as Savior.

For these,,, we must be in constant prayer for,,, praying that God will open their hearts and minds to accept Christ as their own Savior.

We can't force it or make them accept it.

Actually trying to force the situation might make it harder,,, but you never know.

But prayer is never a bad idea about anything,,, so let that always be part of your decisions about everything and everyone!

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Another thing is the fact that today,,, people are doing their best to make Christianity only about Jesus' love without repentance.

Yes,,, God is "love"!

I'll never deny that part,,, but God is also "just"!

We are still at a crossroad here in the United Methodist Church,,, we have been for awhile now,,, where they are wanting to lower the standards of holiness and purity.

They say that if we would do that then we could reach so many more people.

They believe that if we only concentrate on the love of Jesus and leave out the parts that divide us,,, then we would have many more coming to church.

What good will it be to have more in the church today,,, if they can't hear all of the words of God preached!

And I don't mean a watered down version of God's word but every word of the Bible that is needed to keep each one of us out of hell and headed down the path that Jesus intends for us to take to make it to Heaven!

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So as we leave here today,,, remember this scripture and the fact that our decision to follow Jesus will result in conflict with those of the world and might even lead to conflict with those in our family.

Remember to Pray continuously about those that don't agree with Jesus' teachings and that God will continue to work on them and guide them to make that decision.

And if you haven't made that decision to accept Jesus as your Savior,,, then please do so today,,, because we aren't ever promised tomorrow.

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So as we sing our final hymn,,, let me remind you that the alter is always open,,,

If you feel God speaking to you,,, don't hesitate to come,,, maybe you just have questions,,, God will answer,,, you just have to ask Him,,, whatever the need may be,,,

As we sing the final hymn,,, come if needed!

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