Let's see, I've got to turn something
on. There we go. How about being, while
I mention a thing or two, you look up Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12. Now, if you were in the Bible
class this morning, and many of you were not, of course, but
Brother West is tracking down the same road I'm on this morning,
and I'm not sure how this will turn
out. Well, I'm never sure how it's going to turn out. But it's an unusual subject. in one
sense of the word, but it's about Christ, and therefore it's not
unusual. It's our usual. My title is this. Maybe you can figure it out from
that. Christ, the divider of men. And there's a lot of passages
that we need to look at, one of which is here in Luke chapter
12. Now before we begin to read and
comment, I don't know about you, but I
know about me. I need to beg God to help me. And while we're at it, we'll
beg Him to help you listen and understand. Lord, it is an awesome thing to stand behind this pulpit and
claim that we're preaching the truth of your Word, the truth
concerning our Savior, the Lord Jesus, the truth about your grace
and your mercy to us in Christ, how wonderful and glorious these
things are, and yet you teach us in this
same book that when the Lord Jesus walked this earth and lived
a public life of ministry for some three to three and a half
years, that he often met with opposition, with what appeared
to be threats to his life, though there could never really be a
threat until he was ready to die. And here we are over 2,000
years later, and we're still surprised because
people don't like the God whom we worship, and will in a heartbeat
declare to you that The God they worship and serve is not the
one we worship and serve. Lord, we have come to this place
as to who you are and who Christ is and what he's done and why.
And we're absolutely certain that this is the only gospel
there is. We have been taught, well taught, that the true and false gospels
are easily divided with one simple question. Who gets the glory? In the free will gospel, the
sinner gets the glory. But in the precious gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the glory belongs only to him. Lord, help
us, preacher and listener. Open our minds and our hearts. Take your own word and speak
it to our souls in power. Lord, if the only voice we hear
in this place is mine, Nothing has happened, but if
you speak, oh, if you speak, the blessed Lord Jesus Christ,
the Word of God, if He speaks, be like it was when He made this
universe. It was spoken and done. Help
us, we beg, for His namesake and for His honor and His glory.
Amen. Or right in chapter 12 of the
book of Luke. Now, this is narrowing it down
as much as I can in this particular chapter. Beginning at verse 49,
and reading 5 verses. Or is it 4? Let me count. Yeah,
5. 5 verses. That's a few for me, isn't it? Verse 49, Christ the divider
of men. These are his words. I am come
to send fire on the earth, and what will I if it be already
kindled? Already at this early point in
his public life, it has become obvious that these people have
no time nor interest in this God-man Christ Jesus. But I have a baptism to be baptized
with, and how am I straightened till it be accomplished? Suppose
you that I am come to give peace on earth, well that's what everybody
and his brother believes, but that ain't the truth. Now trust me, the people that
are saved by this gospel and by this Christ, that's the only
place peace with God can be found. But I'm telling you, when Christ
was here in person, and when His true gospel is preached today,
it's rather war than peace. I've been on the receiving end
of some of them, so have some of you. Suppose you that I have
come to bring peace on earth, I tell you no, 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, the daughter-in-law against the mother, and the mother-in-law
against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against
her mother-in-law. Now that, my dear friends, is
the natural course of events where the true gospel of Christ
is not only preached, but believed and confessed before men. It
divides families. It divides friends. It's just
inevitable. And many people who hear the
gospel and like what they hear when they begin to count the
cost, what's my friend going to say? What's this person going
to say? It doesn't matter what they're
going to say, what does God say? That's what it's all about. The
second text is in John chapter 7. Now, I've got to add a few verses
to this one. I can't cut you all the slack I did in the Luke
passage. John chapter 7, we begin to read
at verse 40 and we'll read through the end of the chapter, which
is verse 53. When our Lord was here, people were divided in their
opinions of Him. Some thought he was wonderful
and some called him a blasphemer. Let's see what happens in this
passage. Verse 40 of John chapter 8, chapter 7, excuse me. Many of the people, therefore,
when they heard this saying, said of a truth, this is the
prophet, referring to Christ. And the Scriptures call him our
prophet, our priest, and our king. Others said, this is the
Christ, the Messiah. But some said, shall Christ come
out of Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that
Christ comes of the seed of David out of the town of Bethlehem
where David was? These people are too smart for
their own good. The Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem,
but he grew up from just a child until 30 years of age when he
left to begin his public ministry. So there was a division among
the people because of him. And some of them would have taken
him, that is, to drag him before the Sanhedrin, the high ruling
court among the Jews. Some of them would have taken
him, but no man laid hands on him. These people had been sent,
we'll learn in just a moment, to go fetch the Lord Jesus Christ
back to them. They're going to dispense with
him, dispose of him. Verse 45, Then came the officers
to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said unto them, Why
have you not brought him? We sent you to get him. Where is he? Where is he? The
officers answered, Never man spoke like this man. Now that's the understatement
of the year, but that's pretty good for these characters. Never man spoke like this man. Have you ever heard a human being
that you know in your life in this world, have you ever known
a human being that said to you, I am God? Well, he did, and it's true. Well, bye-bye. I like my fan too well to get
rid of it, so we'll do it this way. So in verse 47, Then answered
them the Pharisees, Are you also deceived? Are you his followers? Have any of the rulers or of
the Pharisees believed on him? Well, perhaps not to this point,
but there's one who's sitting on the fence at the moment. His
name's Nicodemus. But the people who know not the
law are cursed. The law of Moses, the law of
all the extra commandments that had been added by these Pharisees
and scribes. Nicodemus said unto them, for
he came to Jesus by night, being one of this group, being one
of the Sanhedrin, does our law judge any man before it hear
him and know what he does? They answered and said to Nicodemus,
Are you also of Galilee? Search and look, for out of Galilee
arises no prophet, none. Now that's progress, isn't it? In John 3, when the Lord talked
to Nicodemus about the new birth, he went away confused. Well,
he wasn't as confused as he was disappointed. But now he actually
takes at least almost a stand in the defense of Christ. But
by the time we have the body of our Lord taken down from the
cross, it is Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea that requested the
body of Christ from Pilate. That's a bold move. Something
has happened between John 3 and John 7 and the end of the gospel
accounts and the death of Christ. And every man went to his own
house. Alright, one more right here
in John. It's just a little bit to your right. It's in John chapter
10. And again, it is a short number
of verses. And what I'm trying to paint
for you is a picture of the Christ of the Bible. This is the God-man Christ Jesus. This is what He did during his
public ministry. These are words that he said
and words that people said about him. And why am I trying to tell
you this? It is simply for this reason.
The Christ of modern day religion is not the Christ of the Bible. It's an absolute travesty. And
a person has to be beyond ignorant Not to see the difference. I'm
telling you it is as different as night and day. The modern Jesus can't do anything
unless we supposedly let him. And if that's the case, he ain't
no Jesus at all. And that's what I'm trying to
say. Chapter 10. beginning our reading
at verse 19 and reading through verse 21. Our Lord has been, at this point
in John 10, speaking of Himself and His sheep. He calls Himself
the Good Shepherd, for the Good Shepherd gives His life for the
sheep. But here in these verses, We
read that there was a division, verse 19, there was a division
therefore among the Jews for these sayings. And many of them
said, he has a devil, or I think better rendered, a demon and
is mad. Why hear you him? And others
said, these are not the words of him that has a demon. Can
a demon open the eyes of the blind? And that's exactly what
transpired in John chapter 9. Our Lord gave sight to a man
that was born with no eyes. And before the chapter is over,
our Lord has revealed himself to that man and the Lord has
received him unto himself. Now that's the introduction,
that much reading. Stay in John and turn to chapter
15. Now I have a question for you. Have you ever questioned the
Jesus of modern day religion? Has the thought ever come to
your mind that something is not right? Chapter 15, the book of John,
beginning at verse 19 and reading through verse 25. If you were of the world, Our
Lord is speaking now to His disciples. If you were of the world, the
world would love its own. But because you are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hates you. Remember the word that I said
unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they
have persecuted me, They will also persecute you. If they've
kept My saying, they'll keep yours too. But all these things will they
do unto you for My namesake, because they know not Him that
is God that sent Me, that is the Lord Jesus Christ. If I had
not come and spoken unto them, they would have had no sin, but
now they have no cloak. No disguise for their sin. He
that hates me hates my Father also. Now, we're going to get to that
more fully in a little bit, but if that's not awfully close to
that, I don't know what is. Which is this. Jesus Christ is
God Almighty. And if He's not that to you and
me, then we have no Savior, we're still lost in our sins, and we're
doomed for an eternity in hell. I'm telling you. You can't change
Jesus into somebody that isn't God and expect to have the same
salvation. It does not work. Verse 24, If I had not done among
them the works which none other man did, they would have not
had sin. But now have they both seen and
hated both me and my Father. But this comes to pass, that
the word might be fulfilled that is written of me in their law.
They hated me without a cause." Without a cause. There's nothing
in our Savior that should give us one negative thought. Everything about Him is glorious. Glorious. If He says it, it's
truth. And we honor it as such, or we
have no part with the Lord Jesus. I'm going backwards now to Matthew
chapter 23. I'm just trying to tie all of
these texts together that address this obvious difference between
the Christ of the Bible and the Christ of today. Sometimes I
ask myself the question, do preachers who preach a humanized Christ,
that's not really God, He's somewhere less than God, You reckon they
ever read this book? I mean, it's here plain as day. I think I know the answer. They
probably do, but we conveniently skip places that we don't particularly
like. We just jump over them. Go around
them. John Matthew chapter 22 verses
1 through 15. You can't expect
them all to be two or three verses now. All right, Matthew 22, verse
1, And Jesus answered and spoke unto them again by parables,
and said, The kingdom of heaven. I'm in the wrong chapter. It's
supposed to be chapter 23. Excuse me. 1 through 15. I was on the right page and went
to another one. Then spoke Jesus to the multitude,
and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees
sit in Moses' seat. All therefore whatsoever they
bid you observe, that observe and do. But do not you after
their works, for they say and do not. For they find heavy burdens
and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders,
but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works," listen
up, all their works, they do in order to be seen of men. Everything has to do with the
outward, with the physical, with the literal. They make broad
their phylacteries. Now, I don't think we've used
that word probably in a year or two or more, or never. But
I looked it up in the dictionary, it's actually in there. And they were real kind about the
people that wore such as this. But the Lord Jesus is not that
kind, at least on this occasion. These Pharisees and other scribes
and how many others, I don't know, but they took little leather
boxes of a fairly small size and put commandments from the
Old Testament in these things and had them attached to their
outside garment, which was usually a robe of some kind, around the
hem and around the sleeves and probably around the neck. They
wanted everybody they met to see how religious they were. But the problem is, they didn't
keep what they advertised keeping. And like we read in the last
passage, they put burdens on men's shoulders, but they didn't
shoulder the burden themselves. They said, you've got to do this,
that, and the other, but they didn't tell themselves they had
to do it. So these people were false and fake, And they still
are. And modern religion is ruled
by Pharisees. Phylacteries. Let's see. A cross on your bumper or around your
neck. That is pure idolatry. Pure idolatry. And dozens and dozens and dozens
of other things. People have a fish on the back
of their vehicle. They want you to know they're
Christian. These people wanted people to
know that they were holy. And they told them they were
and that they kept the law and they did all of this stuff, but
it wasn't so. So in verse 5, let me read that
part again. But all their works they do to
be seen of men, they make broad their phylacteries and enlarge
the borders of their garments so they can make more room for
more leather boxes holding verses of Scripture. And they love the
uppermost room at feast and the chief seats in the synagogue,
and greetings in the market, and to be called of men, Rabbi,
Rabbi. That's teacher, teacher. Or reverend,
reverend. Did you know the word reverend
is only in our Bibles one time? And it says, reverend is God's
name, not my name, not your name, not any other human being's name. The Lord Jesus says, but be not
you called rabbi, for one is your master, even Christ, and
all you are brethren. And call no man your father upon
the earth, for one is your father which is in heaven. Now, does
that include that fellow Vionner in Rome? Oh yes, indeed. And any others like him? I don't care what their denomination
is. Believers are born by the grace
of God in Christ. Men like you and me. We do not
produce another believer. It is a miracle of God's grace
on every occasion in which it happens. And for me to say that
I'm someone's spiritual father is to say that their life in
Christ depended on me. And that ain't so. Verse 10, Neither be you called
masters, For one is your master, even
Christ. But he that is greatest among
you shall be your servant, and whosoever shall exalt himself
shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be
exalted. But woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites." You mean the Lord Jesus actually calls
somebody a hypocrite to their faith? On several occasions. He is not quite as bashful as
the little Jesus of our generation. For you shut up the kingdom of
heaven against men, for you neither go in yourselves nor suffer you
them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites, for you devour widows' houses And in
order to cover it up for a pretense, you make long prayers standing
on the street corner so everybody can hear you. Oh look, he's so
religious. Yeah, he's also a crook. Therefore you shall receive the
greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees
and hypocrites, for you compass sea and land to make one proselyte,
one convert. And when he is made, you make
him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves." Our Lord
is calling them children of hell and producing offspring that
are in the same condition, the very same condition. So in his true character, according
to our Bibles, the Lord Jesus is redemption and he is the gospel. The gospel is Christ and him
crucified. And this Christ is just as despised
today as ever. The top lady wrote, what's the
song, Rock of Ages, had this to say, every religion except
one puts you to doing something in order to recommend ourselves
to God. Now think about that. Religion
is due. Christianity is done. It is the business of all false
religion. to patch up a righteousness in
which the sinner is to stand before God. But in the business
of the glorious gospel to bring near to us by the hand of the
Holy Spirit a righteousness ready wrought, a robe of perfection
ready made wherein God's people to all the purposes of justification
and happiness stand perfect and without fault before the throne
of God. You've got two choices, guilty
or absolutely perfect. If you're in Christ, you're as
holy and as perfect as He is. And if we're not in Christ, oh
my goodness. All right, I got another question,
and I want to answer it with scriptures. Hey, I got 15 more
minutes. What am I talking about here?
How about turning to John chapter 10? We're back in John again,
and we'll leave it in just a moment and catch another one. Before I tell you the verses,
let me, as a friend of mine used to say,
let me tell you a question. What caused such hatred for Christ? I mean, these people weren't
just in mild disagreement with Christ. They hated him with a purple
passion. Now let's look at some scriptures
that address that question. What caused this hatred for Christ? John chapter 10, verses 24 through
33. I suppose I should tell you that
the Lord is, in verse 22, is at Jerusalem. Chapter 23 is in
an area of the temple called Solomon's Porch. Now you understand
that when you went to the temple, you didn't go into the temple
proper yourself. Only the priesthood could do
that. And then, in that most holy place of all inside the
temple, only the high priest could go once a year. And he
had bells on his outer garment because nobody could accompany
him with that sacrifice, that blood atonement. And the only
way to tell he's still alive is you can hear the bells ringing.
Otherwise, God has refused the sacrifice and he's dead. Verse 24, Then came the Jews
round about him, and they said unto him, How long do you make
us to doubt? You remember what Adam said when
God chided him for eating the forbidden fruit? He said, It's
Eve's fault. And you gave her to me, so it's
your fault. I mean, ultimately, there ain't
but two people you can blame, yourself or God. How long do you make us to doubt? If you be the Christ, the Messiah,
tell us plainly. You just haven't stated it clear
enough. I hardly think that's the case. Jesus answered them, I told you
and you believed not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. Who can give a blind man his
sight? Or raise the dead? Ain't but one answer, God. But, verse 26, Now, you can't
turn this verse around. You've got to take it just like
it is. But you believe not because you are not of my sheep. Now, it does not say that because
you believe not, you're one of my sheep. You're not one of my sheep. But
you believe not, because you are not of my sheep. As I said
unto you previously, verse 27 is a virtual repeat, my sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father who gave them
to me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand." The word my here in verse 30 is italicized. It's not in the original. But
some people say, and I'm thinking they might be right, our Lord
said, I and the Father are one. are one. God and Christ are one. It is a triune God in three Persons. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
But there is but one God. Then the Jews took up stones
again to stone Him. There are several of those references
now, by the way, in the Gospel accounts where people actually
tried to stone Christ to death. Jesus answered them, many works
have I showed you from my Father. For which of those works do you
stone me? The Jews answered him, saying,
For a good work we stone you not, but for blasphemy, and because
that you, being a man, make yourself God." What is the issue then that causes
this hatred for Christ? It is the absolute deity, the
absolute Godhead of our Lord Jesus Christ. He and His Father
and His Spirit are one. One in three and three in one. Alright, the next passage is
Luke chapter 4. Now, we've been to that passage
many times over the years, and I'm just going to make myself
not read you the half of the chapter. I want you to still
be listening when I stop reading, okay? Luke chapter 12, and that's
crazy. I'm just too excited I reckon. Luke chapter 4 is when the Lord
Jesus went back to Nazareth for the
first time after having left to begin his public ministry.
He had been in towns and villages all over Galilee and also in
Judea. And the reports just kept coming
in to Nazareth of the wonderful things that he did. He healed
this person. He did this, that or the other.
And boy, when they find him here on this Saturday in the village
of Nazareth, their expectations are through the roof. And they virtually tell him,
what you did in other places, in other synagogues, you must
do here for us. You owe us. You owe us. I can't go into all these. It
starts at verse 16. The statement about the other
villages and so forth is in verse 14. And beginning at verse 16,
our Lord comes to Nazareth and the events that take place and
what our Lord says to them. In essence, they tell him, let's see, In verse 23, our Lord is putting
words in their mouths. He says, You will surely say
unto me this proverb, Position, heal yourself. That is, prove
yourself to us. Whatsoever we have heard done
in Capernaum, do also here in your country. And He said, Verily I say unto
you, no prophet is accepted in his own country." Alright, the
question is what? What caused this hatred for Christ? Here we are in Nazareth. What
caused this hatred in Nazareth? I can answer that with just two
verses of Scripture out of this whole passage. The first one is in verse 25. The Lord cites an example from
the days of Elijah the prophet, which has been centuries before
this. Yet these people are well versed
in these things because the only Bible they possessed was the
Old Testament. Verse 25, but I tell you of a
truth. Many widows were in Israel in
the time of Elijah the prophet. When the heaven was shut up three
years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the
land, but unto none of them was Elijah sent, except unto Sarepta,
a city of Sidon, to a woman that was a widow." Now, what's wrong? They were not Jews. This is a
Gentile city. in a Gentile country, and this
is a Gentile widow. And the Jews, probably down to
the last man, would insist that God owes them far more than any
other people on the face of the earth. Of course, that's not
true. And I'm afraid they're not going
to be on the receiving end of God's mercies and grace He said there were plenty of
widows in Israel when Elijah went to this Gentile woman's
house. And if that's not enough, he
talks about Elisha the prophet in verse 27. And many lepers
were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet. And none
of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian. He had leprosy. God healed him. There were many
lepers in Israel that God did not heal. Oh, and this man was
a pure devil. You know, he thought he had to
buy the healing, and so he brought a ton of outfits and change of
clothes and all kinds of stuff. And when Elisha told him what
he had to do was to dip in the Jordan River seven times, and
when he came up the seventh time, he did not have any leprosy.
He is so proud, he got in a huff and got in his chariot and lit
out. And it was only his servants who reasoned with him and finally
got some sense in him. And he turned around and came
back and did what the prophet said, and God healed him. This
man had killed plenty of Israelites. The only way he found out about
Elisha the prophet was through a girl that was taken in captivity
from their battle against Israel. A young girl told him about God's
prophet. Now, I guess I should, before leaving
the passage, I need to go down in verses 28, 29, and 30. This is
in Nazareth. And all they in the synagogue,
relatives, friends, people he had known for 30 years, All they
in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with
wrath, and rose up and thrust him out of the city, led him
to the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they
might cast him down headlong. But he, passing through the middle
of them, went his way." One more scripture, Matthew 23. No, I'm wrong. Excuse me, I'm
looking at the wrong paper. Excuse me. John, chapter eight. And the last two verses in the
chapter. John chapter 8. And the final
two verses in this chapter. The Lord Jesus is talking with
some people who have given some kind of outward evidence that
they want to be His followers, and so they have begun to follow
Him. That's back in verse 30. And by the time the Lord Jesus
speaks two little statements, like in verse 32, you shall know
the truth and the truth shall make you free. And that word
just sticks in their craw. And they can't stand it. And
in verse 36, he adds to it, if the Son therefore shall make
you free, you shall be free indeed. They said, what do you mean this
business of free? We've never been in bondage to
any man. But what they did not know or
knew and would not confess is that we're servants of sin and
of the devil. So why this hatred of Christ? He is so brutally honest. He
doesn't withhold things from us that we need to hear. Whatever
is good for the welfare of our souls must be done. Verses 58
and 59, Then said Jesus unto him, No, I'm sorry, I need to back
up just a little bit. In verse 56, the Lord Jesus said
to these persons, your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day,
and he saw it and was glad. Then the Jews said unto him,
you're not even 50 years old, and you've seen Abraham. Now
here is the kicker. Here is why he is so despised. Verily, verily, amen, this is
verse 58, amen, amen, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. That's the name that God in Christ
at the burning bush in the book of Exodus gave to Moses to take
back to Egypt Tell him what God sent him, and he said to him,
I am God. There is no such thing as I was
or I will. It is always I am. Verse 59,
Then took they up stones to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself
and went out of the temple, going through the middle of them, and
so passed by. Until He's ready to die? Until
He's ready to go to the cross? You can bring all the armies
this world can contain and not move Him one inch. He's God. But that ain't enough. He's the God-Man. I'm gonna walk.