Luke chapter 12 and verse 49. The Lord Jesus is speaking to his disciples and he says, I am come to send fire on the earth and what will I if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with and how am I straightened till it be accomplished? 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. Amen.

May the Lord bless to us this reading from his word. It has been a question in the minds of some writers as to what exactly is meant by this fire of which Jesus speaks. when he speaks about fire on the earth. And indeed, what is his reference to baptism? What baptism still remained to be experienced by the Lord Jesus? And I'm in the happy position of being able to share with you today what I believe the Lord is telling us here.

The Lord Jesus says, I am come to send fire on the earth, and what will I if it be already kindled? I believe the fire of which the Lord is speaking is the gospel, and perhaps more specifically, the transforming and converting effect of the Gospel in the hearts of men and women when it is effectually applied by God's Holy Spirit. It was part of the work and ministry of the Lord Jesus to set the world on fire by sending out his disciples as preachers of light and truth. And this is what the psalmist was seeking for, was asking for in Psalm 43 and verse three, where he says, O send out thy light and thy truth. Let them lead me. Let them bring me unto thy holy hill and to thy tabernacles.

So when the Lord Jesus came into the world, he came as the light of the world. He came as the manifestation, the personification of truth. Christ is light and truth and his gospel is light and truth. It is a gospel that brings light and sheds truth abroad. And he set a flame burning. He lit a lamp. and he kindled a fire whose light has shone throughout the earth ever since, forming the kingdom of God, gathering the church from out of the world, calling God's elect to salvation. And Christ's light and truth, preached in the gospel, brings illumination and faith to sinners. all who receive Christ's light and truth, all who experience the transforming effect of the pure and purifying fire of the gospel, are led, as the psalmist desired, are led to the holy hill, meaning they are led into the church of God. They are led to the tabernacles which are the blessings of worship and fellowship with the Lord's people.

And this leading, this translation, this conversion, it isn't an end, it's a beginning. It's the beginning of Christ's work in our lives, in the lives of his people. It's Christ in you, it's Christ in me, the hope of glory, as the Apostle writes in Colossians 1, verse 27.

And the Gospel, when it comes into a man's heart, when it comes into a woman's life, it changes things. Let me say, the gospel changes people. When a sinner becomes a saint, old things pass away. And often, others, other people, be they family, be they friends, be they associates, they don't much like the new things that replace the old things that have passed away.

The gospel of grace can be compared to a fire because it comforts and blesses the believer in their union with Christ. It purifies the dross of sin in our life and yet it is a source of trouble. to those around about. It's a source of contentment to the elect, but it burns, but it scorches those who touch it who are outside of Christ.

And Christ set this gospel fire loose by his own preaching and by appointing his disciples to preach the gospel in all the world. Then the Lord goes on to tell us that the commission, however, could not be fully implemented until the Lord's own ordeal to atone for sins had been undertaken and accomplished at the cross. And here the Lord calls this ordeal a baptism because in it, he was plunged, he was submerged in an ocean of fiery wrath and fury, as God's anger at our sin was poured into the soul of his own Son.

And our Lord Jesus Christ endured the depths of divine retribution against our sin. And he did so that sinners who were lost in the abyss of everlasting condemnation might find forgiveness and grace in God's sight. And here is another one of those wonderful phrases from the lips of the Lord that speaks of his willing sacrifice and his voluntary death for us. We encounter these with some frequency in the Lord's ministry as he anticipates his own death, as he anticipates his own suffering.

And here he says, And how am I straightened till it be accomplished? So he's thinking about this baptism, he's thinking about this death that he must die, he's thinking about this suffering that he must endure. And he says, I am straightened till it be accomplished. I'm bound up, I'm longing for it to be accomplished. And this shows that while the Lord knew the magnitude of the price that he must pay to redeem his people, yet he longed for the arrival of the appointed time, that their deliverance might be accomplished, that their release from the captivity of Satan might be secured.

and our Saviour was a willing and eager substitute for his people. The commentator, John Gill, speaks of Christ cheerfully laying down his life. That's a lovely thought, isn't it? It's a lovely phrase. Christ cheerfully laying down his life. He did so wholly out of the love that he had for those committed into his charge and for whom he stood everlastingly as surety. It was the Father's will that he should lay down his life. It was Christ's covenant duty to do so. He had undertaken to do so in the eternal councils and he willingly complied and obediently embraced his role as the Redeemer of his people.

his father was glorified thereby and Christ was glorified and his church was glorified and eternally saved in that great act. The Lord Jesus Christ knew that carrying the sins of his people and his submission to death was needful for the salvation of his beloved bride, and he was straightened in his own soul until that be accomplished, and he eagerly anticipated the completion of his work.

But now as these verses continue, the Lord presses some of the implications of this fire on the earth. of which he has spoken. And while his successful death secured peace with God, the redeemed of the Lord should not imagine that they will have peace on this earth. We shall have peace in heaven. We shall experience a sense of peace with God. We shall possess a peace that passes understanding because we cannot rationalise and explain why the Lord should do for us as he has done.

But we will not be at peace with this world. On the contrary, the effect of Christ's death and the difference it makes in the lives of his people is a source of trouble, separation and division. The conversion of a heart and the transformation of a soul by grace does not engender peace with the world, but rather opposition from it. And sadly, that opposition is often very close and manifests itself in division within households and families.

And I dare say there are few of us who do not carry with us constantly some knowledge of the division of which the Lord is speaking here in this verse, and the personal hurt and heartache that that experience brings.

The Lord's very clear. When his death had been accomplished, And when the gospel was sent forth by the preaching of these apostles to whom he was speaking, the effect would be to bring division to households and families. Three against two, two against three. Father against son, son against father. Mother against daughter, daughter against mother. Even relationships of marriage are not spared. The mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law. The daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And I think we all know something of the cost that this division brings.

For a believer, it is a breach produced by our faith in Christ and our allegiance to the gospel. There is an offence in the cross because the world and the people of this world remain implacably opposed to the Lord and their hearts are at enmity with God. And anger towards God manifests in anger against the people of God. And again, it hurts. Make no mistake. I think this family division is perhaps the great burden that a believer has to endure in this life. When we long to see our children, our spouses, our relatives saved and brought to faith in Christ and brought to the knowledge of their sins forgiven and yet they reject and oppose our deepest convictions and they despise our Lord that we love. It hurts.

And furthermore, we live with the implications and the consequence of that opposition and we recoil from it. We know that they are rejecting the Lord, not us. And that puts their soul in a very fearful situation. Can there be a greater anxiety for a believer than the fear that their child is going to hell or their spouse will spend eternity enduring the anger of divine wrath against their soul. And the Lord is teaching his disciples that the gospel would bring this division. That is not to place the blame at the foot of Christ or his gospel. It's the natural enmity, it's the innate inborn rebellion of the Adamic nature of fallen creatures against God that is to be blamed. And yet, that would be the effect that the Gospel would have as the Lord sent this fire into the earth.

Those of us who find ourselves in divided houses, wrestling with the implications of divided families. We can but bring this matter to the Lord and leave it at the footstool of his mercy. Job prayed for his children. David prayed for Solomon. Lois and Eunice prayed for Timothy. and we shall pray for our children and for our grandchildren as well. We will pray that the God who does right, who does all things well, will yet be merciful to those for whom we pray. And we do so acknowledging his sovereignty and salvation and we do so while giving thanks for the mercy and grace that he has shown to us personally.

And furthermore, we shall, as the Lord gives us grace and wisdom, endeavour to be faithful to his calling, faithful to his word, faithful in our witness, and wise to know when to speak and when to be quiet. And may the Lord give us faith to trust him, even when our natural inclinations are to oppose the opposition and assert ourselves in anger or dread. May the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Amen. Amen.