Turn back to Matthew chapter
10. Matthew chapter 10. When the
angel announced the birth of our Lord, he said, peace on earth and goodwill
toward men. And then here in verse 34, the Lord of Peace, the Prince
of Peace, said to his disciples, think
not that I have come to send peace on earth. Now you have to think about that
one a little bit. I had to look at that for a while. The angel says, peace on earth,
goodwill toward men, and the Lord said, don't think. Change your way of thinking.
Change your thinking about me and what I came to do. They were
ready for him to set up the kingdom. They were ready for him to deliver
them from the Roman empire, set up the kingdom, and there would
finally be peace. But that's not what he came to
do the first time. The Scriptures tell us that his
ways over in Isaiah are not our ways, and his thoughts are not
our thoughts. When we come to the Word of God,
we might as well leave our thoughts outside. Just leave them outside
and submit to the Word of God. His ways are higher than our
ways, he said in Isaiah. He said, and my thoughts are
higher than your thoughts, as the heavens are higher than the
earth. So my ways and my thoughts are higher than yours. These
men had been taught this throughout their lives, and this is what
they were looking for. But he's saying you missed it.
You missed it. You've got to change your way
of thinking. You can pretty much bet that
whichever way the religion of this world, the mass of religion
is going, God is the other way. Truth is the other way. Whichever
way the religion is going, the massive religion of this world,
you can just be sure to go the other direction. He says, think
not. Think not. Most people, when
they think of Jesus Christ, they think of Him as some old guru who wants everybody to get along. He just wants everybody to just
get along. Well, that's not so. That's not
so. The Christ of the Scriptures
is very different than men think that He is. And religion thinks
that He is. False religion, that is. And
our Lord starts out with this. Think not. Change the way you
are thinking about me and what I came to do. You thought I came
to establish a kingdom right now on this earth? that I came
to establish peace at this time? I think not. I think not. A young man came
to him one day and asked him, he said, will you make my brother
divide the inheritance with me? Would you come over to my house
and make my brother divide the inheritance with me. And the
Lord said, who made me a judge over you? I didn't come into
this world to settle your squabbles. I didn't come to settle your
differences. Not at all. That's not why I
came. Now, He came to establish peace. Let's not miss that. He came to establish peace, alright. But not between men. Not men
and men. It's between God and men. Not God and man. But God and
men. Men given to Him by the Father.
We must understand that there is a peace that He came to establish.
And there is a peace that He did not come to establish. And
I need to look at it in both of these lights. Now, we know
that Christ is the Prince of Peace. This is the Prince of
Peace saying this. He preached the Gospel of Peace.
The Gospel is called the Gospel of Peace. And we are told in the Scriptures
to live peaceably with all men as much as is possible, as much
life within you. He says to live peaceably with
all men. And we are to seek peace and
pursue it. That's what we are told to do. And the Prince of Peace came
into this world. He came into this world to satisfy
a law that had been broken. Not just by one man, but by all
men. All men and women broke God's
law. You know, God thinks a whole lot of His law, even though men
don't. He sure does. He thinks a lot of it. And He
came into this world to satisfy the justice of God and make peace. To establish peace between God
and man. To make reconciliation. That's
what he came to do. But not make peace between men
and men. Not to establish a kingdom on
this earth of peace. That's not what he came to do.
He came to establish reconciliation and peace between God and his
elect. That's so. That's what he came
to do. And the peace that we have with
God the Father is His Son. It is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look over in Ephesians chapter 2. In Ephesians 2.14. Let me read verse 13. But now, in
Christ Jesus, Ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by
the blood of Christ, for He is our peace." He came to establish
peace. He came to shed His blood. He
came to establish righteousness. But the Lord Himself is our peace. "...who hath made both one, and
hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us." Look
over in Romans chapter 5. He's the Prince of Peace, and
He came to establish peace. That's so. In Romans chapter 5, in verse
1, it says, Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now look over at Colossians
chapter 1. Over here in Colossians chapter
1, in verse 20, verse 19, For it
pleased the Father that in Him, that in Jesus Christ, should
all foolish dwell. And having made peace through
the blood of His cross by Him to reconcile all things unto
Himself by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, for
things in heaven. He came to establish peace. He
came to shed His blood. He came to establish righteousness
through which we have peace. And He is our peace without a
doubt. But there is a peace which He did not come to send.
There is a peace He did not come to send on this earth. And it's
a peace that is not established in righteousness. He didn't come
to establish that kind of peace. We're not to have peace at any
expense just to get along. Not to compromise in order to
get along. Not at all. He did not come to establish
a peace between light and darkness. There will always be a warfare
between light and darkness, between the children of darkness and
the children of light. There will always be a warfare. Always. He did not come to have a truce
between his seed and the seed of Satan. No, he did not come
to send that kind of peace. He did not come to establish
a peace that compromises the truth. No, he said, I didn't
do that. I didn't come to change your
way of thinking. I'm the Prince of Peace, and
I came to establish peace. But understand the peace I came
to establish. It's one on righteousness. That's
for a people that was given to me. He said, I came not to send
peace on earth, but now listen, I came to send a sword, a sword. And it's not one made of metal.
It's his word. It's a truth. I came to send
the truth, to tell the truth. His Word here is the sword, and
His Word, the gospel of peace. See, this is such a paradox.
Believers are a paradox. We have peace, yet we are at
war inwardly and outwardly. We're happy, yet we're sorrowful.
Paul said, I have a continual sorrow in my heart, yet he's
happy. And here the Prince of Peace, preaching the gospel of
peace, said, I send a sword. And it divides. It divides. It cuts to the heart. The sword
that I send will cut to the heart and will reveal who and what
we really are. Some will like it and some won't.
Some will repent. Repent and some won't. Some believe
and some believe not. The gospel of peace will divide
the sheep from the goats. It does. And the problem is not
with the gospel. It's not the message. It's the
heart of people. It's the heart of men. It's the
wickedness of the heart. That's the problem. It's not
with the gospel. You know, Paul said, I love God's
law. There's nothing wrong with God's
law. God's law is good. The problem is with men. It's
with men. You see, the gospel does not
paint a pretty picture of us, does it? I tell you what, it
paints a true picture of us. A true picture is what it paints.
You ever have someone take a picture of you? I've heard people say
this. I've said it. Take a picture of you. You look
at that picture and say, well, I don't like that picture. Well, it's you. It's you. It's just the way you
looked at that time. It got you. Well, you didn't
give me time to fix my hair and do all this. No, it's you. And
that's what the gospel does. The gospel takes a picture of
you and you look at it and say, well, I don't like that. That's who you are. That's who
I am. And that's the gospel. And that
divides. And that upsets people that if
God leaves a man alone, it'll make him mad. He'll go away mad
and he'll live mad and die mad. But that's it. Look over in Hebrews
chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4. In verse 12. For the word of God is quick
and powerful. I'm talking about the word that
you and I are reading this morning. This word that you have in your
laps. He says it's quick, it's powerful,
and it's sharper than any two-edged sword. piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and
is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and
open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." This is
the sword that he sends. And this sword, he says, divides. It divides. A gospel that does
not divide the sheep from the goats, light from darkness, is
not of God. It's not God's gospel. And a
man's foes shall be they of his own household. What a blessing it is if God
is pleased to save a household But that doesn't happen very
often. That doesn't happen real often. He says here, a man's
foes, a man's enemies, will be they of his own flesh and blood. They'll be the ones to turn against
you. They'll be the ones to hate you. And when our Lord was telling
these men this, there were people at this time who confessed Christ
that were excommunicated not only from the synagogue, the
place of worship, but from their own families. They were cut off
from their own families. Not allowed to come back in the
house. Because they confessed the Lord Jesus Christ. Now they
had peace. They had peace. They had peace
with God. They had peace in the heart.
They had that peace that Christ gives. But they didn't have peace
now with their family. The family members, they liked
you better when you didn't believe. I had a man tell me that one
time. I had a man tell me that. I liked
you better when you didn't believe. But a man's foe shall be they
of his own house. And this is where it really gets
tough. When it divides flesh and blood. When it divides a
mother, a daughter, a father, a son.
When it divides the family, it gets tough. That's where it really
gets tough. And these people, and our Lord's
forewarning them, that they're going to be kicked out of the
house. They're going to be kicked out of the family. You know, sometimes I
fear. I fear sometimes in this day,
in this country we live in, we've become so tolerant of everything.
I fear our silence more than I do anything. We don't keep silent to keep
peace in the family. We don't purposely go and try
to make somebody mad. When the opportunity is there,
you tell the truth, even if it divides the family. And it will. Here's a question I asked myself
last night as I was writing these notes down. It's just a thought
that I had last night. Could you, any of you, ask anyone
in my family what I believe? And could they tell you? Could
they tell you what I believe in my family? Could you ask my
brother and sister, my mother and my father? Could you ask
them? What does he believe? Why did he move? You don't know
how many times I've been asked this question. Why did you move
to Ashland? And I've always replied, because
of the gospel. And almost invariably, the answer
comes back, but there's a lot of places between here and Ashland.
No, there's not. No, there's not. Now, then you
see, what? You see this look comes on their
face. What are you talking about? And
then you tell them the gospel. And then they realize, well,
you're right. You're right. There's not any place between
here and actually believe that. But could you ask anyone in my family?
And this is a thought that hit me last night. Would they say, I don't know?
Or would they just give you the typical religious answer? Oh,
he believed Jesus Christ died on a cross for his sins. Well,
that's just a thought. But our Lord says here, your
commitment to me is going to be tested. Your commitment to
me is going to be tested. In verse 37, let me get back
over here to Matthew. A man's foes are going to be
they of his own household. Your enemy is going to rise up
from your own flesh and blood, and that's the toughest to deal
with. Then he says to them, he that loveth father or mother,
and here's the key word, here's the key word, more, more. A lot of weight on that word, more. He that loveth father or mother
more than me, he is not worthy of me. He that loveth son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me. We know that we are to love our
parents. We know that. We are to love
our wives, our spouses, husband or wife. We are to love them
as we love ourselves. We are to love them as Christ loved
the church. But he says, not more than me. And here's what he's saying. He that loveth mother and father
more than me to the degree that you don't confess me. You see
down here, he said, whosoever confesses me before me and him
I'll confess before my father. If you love them more and you
know that, well, they don't believe this. They don't believe this.
And you don't confess me, and you keep silent, and you hold
that back. He said, you're not worthy of
me. You're not worthy of me. If we try to hang on to that
relationship, and this is what he's telling them, if you try
to hang on to that relationship and keep quiet over the gospel,
he says, you're not worthy of me. You're not worthy of me. And we have a cross to bear,
and a lot of this cross is right here with your own family. He that takes not his cross and
follows after me, he's not worthy of me. It's not an easy road. That's what he's saying. He's
saying it's not easy. Following me is not easy. We
have a cross to bear and a person to follow. Abraham had to leave his homeland. He had to leave all his relatives.
He had to leave all them and go where God sent him. Go where
God called him. We have a cross to bear, a person
to follow, and the Lord says if we draw back from it because
of family or any other reason, He says, you'll not be counted
worthy of me. In other words, you'll perish with the rest of
them. You'll perish with the rest. And here's a, for lack
of a better word, in verse 39, here's a decision. I hesitate to use that word,
but I think here it's appropriate. Here's a decision that everyone
who's confronted with the gospel, everyone who's confronted with
the gospel, will be faced with. He that findeth his life, there
is some joy and some happiness and some temporal things to be
enjoyed in this life. You can have a job you enjoy.
You can have a home you enjoy. You can have these things to
enjoy. But a person, a person, Who looks at those things, like
that rich man. Here's a good example. That rich
man who came to the Lord. And he said, what must I do to
inherit eternal life? And the Lord said, go sell all
you have. Give it to the poor and come,
follow me. And you know what it says? He went away sorrowful
because he was very rich. I thought of this. Probably,
if he had went away and done that, he probably wouldn't even
have had to do it. Like Abraham. Abraham! Abraham! I want you
to offer your only son. I want you to take Isaac up on
that mountain, and I want you to tie him to an altar. Now this
is real. And Abraham believed, he believed
he was going to kill his son. Now he believed God was going
to raise him from the dead, but now he believed that he was going
to have to literally kill Isaac. That he was going to have to
take a knife and plunge it into the heart of his son. And as
he had that knife drawn back, the angel said, Abraham, Abraham,
stop! Now I know you believe God. Well,
he knew that all along. He knew it. God knows all things.
He doesn't do anything for information. Now Abraham knows it. Abraham,
he was willing to do it. But that young man, he was a
rich young ruler. He would not, he just absolutely
would not, could not do what our Lord said to do. He loved
those riches more than he loved Christ. And he went away sorrowful. And I bet you he's more sorrowful
now than he was then. He that finds his life in this
fleshly life, this worldly life, he that keeps it, he finds it,
he's going to keep it at all costs at the expense of denying
the gospel. He's going to lose it. He's going
to lose his life in the end. But he that loses his life, he
that loses his life, his ambitions, his life, his goals, for my sake,
Lord, thy will be done. Believers here, you've lost your
life for Christ's sake. It's His will. You want His will
to be done, don't you? Look how blessed you are, though. You
live where you want to live, don't you? I live where I want
to live. I enjoy what I'm enjoying. But
He said you've got to lose your life. You've got to lose your
life. Lose this earthly life, your
earthly ambitions, and maybe comforts. Nothing can rival the love and
commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing. Nothing. But if I count all things as
loss, as the Apostle Paul said, then I've gained it. I've gained
it. And he that receives me And he that receiveth you, receiveth
me. However you treat God's messenger
is the way you treat Christ. And he that receiveth me, receiveth
him that sent me. You see, the Jews at that time,
they rejected Christ as men do today. But they didn't believe
they rejected the Father. They didn't believe they rejected
God. And Christ said, no, you reject me. You've rejected the
Father also. It's a serious business. If you
receive the one I sent, my messenger, you've received me and you've
received the Father. It's a package deal. They all
come together. You can't receive. You cannot
have one and not the other. It's not possible. It's not possible. He that receives you, receives
me. And he that receiveth me, receiveth him to send me. And
he that receiveth a prophet, and I'll close, he that receiveth
a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward.
And he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous
man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall
give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water
only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall
in no wise lose his reward. What's he saying? What's he saying? To just simplify it. The least
thing done for his servant, if it's just to take a cup of cold
water and give it to his servant that's thirsty, the least thing
done for his servant is taken notice of by your Heavenly Father. You see, we think that the things
that are taken notice of are the great things, the great things
given, the great things done. He says, no, God the Father takes
as much notice, every bit as much notice, if you take a cup
of water and give it to his servant as if you gave a million dollars.
The least thing you do for his servant is taken notice of by
your father. Nothing goes unnoticed. Nothing
goes unnoticed by your Father. So here's what our Lord is teaching
us. Don't expect everyone to hear
you to like and fall in love with the message. Don't expect
it. It's not going to happen. The
Word of God is a sword. It divides. Some men it will
make glad, and some it will make mad. Some it will make sad, and
some it will make happy. Some, the Scripture says, is
a saver of life unto life to some, and a saver of death unto
death to some. And we have a cross to bear,
and a life to lose, and a life to live. And bear it, for my
name's sake. And your Father, your Father
will take care of you. He knows everything goes on. Even if you just give a cup of
cold water to somebody, it's recorded. It's recorded by God the Father
that you gave a cup of cold water to His servant. Okay, Mike.