Would you turn back to Luke chapter
12? The title of my message is the
first line of verse 49, where the Lord says, I am come to send
fire. That's what I've entitled this
message. I am come to send fire. I fear a Christianity without
fire. There's nothing more distasteful
and repugnant and nothing that I fear more for me or for you
than a comfortable Christianity. A costless Christianity where
there is no self-denial involved, no being put at risk, no persecution,
no making of enemies, No real change in my life. No one is offended by what I
confess. I fear that. Does comfortable Christianity
bear any resemblance to the Christianity of the New Testament? When they were first called Christians
at Antioch, they didn't call themselves Christians. They were
called Christians. And it was a term of derision. The Lord said, I am come to send,
to cast down fire, fire upon the earth. There's nothing comfortable,
there's nothing casual about that. Now let me give you a few
scriptures, several scriptures where Christ identifies why he
came. He said in Matthew chapter 10
verse 34, think not that I am come to send peace on the earth. I came not to send peace, but
a sword. He said in Matthew 9, 13, I came
not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He said in Matthew chapter 20,
verse 28, the Son of Man has come not to be ministered to,
but to minister. and to give his life, what we
just heard sung about on Calvary, to give his life, a bloody death,
an execution for many. Matthew chapter 18, verse 11,
the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost. Luke 9.56, I came not to destroy
men's lives, but to save them. Luke 19.10, for the Son of Man
is come to seek. Wouldn't it be something if he's
seeking somebody out this morning? He's come to seek and to save
that which was lost. He said in John 5.13, I am come
in my Father's name. John 6.38, I came down from heaven,
not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose
nothing. But raise it up again at the
last day. John 9, 39, for judgment I am
coming to this world, that they which see not, they can't see
any reason why God would have favor on them. that they might
see. And if they would see, I can
see why God would save me. They're made blind, given over
to judicial blindness. In John chapter 12, verse 27,
he said, What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour,
this hour of being crucified, this hour of being Forsaken by
God, this hour of bearing the full equivalent of hell, what
shall I say? Father, save me from this hour,
for this cause came I into this hour. He said in John 12, 46,
I've come a light into the world. And he said in John 18, 37, I'm
come to bear witness. And oh, how he bore witness to
the truth. Everyone that doth the truth
heareth my voice. Now, you will notice in those
scriptures I read, he didn't say anything about coming to
make me happy. He didn't say anything. about
coming to make me comfortable. He didn't say anything about
taking away the troubles out of my life. He said, I'm come
to send fire on the earth. In context, he's talking about
the fires of opposition, the fires of controversy, and the
fires of division. There always has been and always
will be a division because of him. You see, the carnal mind
is still enmity against God. And let me tell you when that
enmity comes out, when the gospel is preached. Everything may be
fine until they hear who God really is and who they really
are. And that is when the enmity begins. There always has been and always
will be a division. A division. The gospel is divisive. The gospel sets a division in
a household. Look what the Lord says in verse
51. 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, 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. In
Matthew's account it says a man's foes shall be they of his own
household. In the very first gospel story,
after the fall, The very first thing we read of is the story
of Cain and Abel. Cain, listen carefully to the
wording. Cain brought what he did. Abel brought what somebody else
did. What do you bring? Cain brought what he did. Abel brought what somebody else
did. The death of the coming Lamb
of God. The scripture says that God had
respect to Abel and to his offering. You see, Abel couldn't be separated from
his offering. If God had respect to that offering
that Abel brought that pointed to the coming Lamb of God, he
had respect to Abel. But to Cain and to his offering,
he had no respect, no regard. And what took place after that? There was a fight, wasn't there?
There was division. There was contention. Cain was
upset that God had respect to Abel's offering and had no respect
to his. And what did he do? He murdered
his brother. And thus, Abel became the first
Christian martyr. He died for what he believed. How many have suffered loss for
the gospel and counted it a privilege? What if you lost everything you
had for the gospel sake? If you're a believer, you would
count that a privilege and an honor that you don't deserve.
What if you were put to death for the gospel sake? If you're
a believer, you would count that a grace that you in no wise deserve. That's how people feel who believe
the gospel about the gospel. You see, grace and works cannot
walk together. They cannot. Now you take religion,
man's religion. Man can be a Catholic and have
all the smoke and mirrors of Catholicism and all the weird
stuff that they do and believe and the funny looking uniforms
they wear. And you can have a Baptist who believes that salvation is
by man's will. You can take a Reformed person
who has all this doctrine down pat and logical and so on. You can take a Pentecostal speaking
in tongues doing miracles, and they can all join hands in agreement
and then get along. Because every one of them believe
that salvation is in some way dependent upon what man does.
If you believe that salvation is dependent in some way by what
man does, you'll get along with everybody who believes that way. But a grace believer, a follower
of Christ, cannot join with them. Can't do it. Can't do it. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. It, the gospel, is the power
of God unto salvation, and this is a gospel that excludes all
that is contrary to it. And this gospel is intolerant
of anything that's different. It refuses to negotiate. It refuses
to compromise. God doesn't need to negotiate.
And God doesn't need to compromise. If you compromise that, you'll
be tolerated and people will get along with you, but you will
be a traitor to King Jesus. Now that's just so. Fire. I came to send fire on the earth. Fire is filled with energy. It burns up. and devours all
in his way. It's aggressive and it purifies. It purges away the dross. It
gives light. It gives heat. It gives warmth. It burns. I am come to send fire
upon the earth. The fire of the gospel is experienced
in the heart. It's no lifeless religion. It's fire. I am come to send
fire upon the earth. And what will I if it's already
been kindled? Look what he says in verse 50. But I have a baptism to be baptized
with, and how am I straightened till it be accomplished? Now, if the Lord had already
gone through water baptism, you remember when he came to John
the Baptist to be baptized of him. And John said, I have need
to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? Can you imagine how
awkward John felt when the Son of God came to him and said,
baptize me? I would have felt totally uncomfortable with that
as well. But the Lord said, suffer it to be so now. I realize this
seems completely inappropriate, he's saying that. I know who
I am, you know who you are, but suffer it to be so now. For thus
it becometh us. to fulfill all righteousness. I love the way he said that.
He didn't say thus it becomes me to fulfill all righteousness.
He said thus it becometh us. Speaking of all of God's people,
thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. I have a baptism
to be baptized with. Now he's not talking about water
baptism at that time. Now let me remind you. Baptism
is by immersion. You are immersed under the water,
you're completely submerged underneath the water, and you emerge from
the water. You know, when people baptize
infants, that's an abomination. It's a denial of what baptism
means in the first place. It's an abomination. To sprinkle
water on somebody is an abomination. It denies what baptism means
in the first place. The Lord says, I have a baptism
to be baptized with. And he's talking about being
straightened. He said, oh, how am I straightened?
My soul is straightened till it be accomplished. He came to
be immersed in the wrath of God. He came to be submerged completely
under the wrath of God, and bless God, he emerged from it. I have a baptism to be baptized
with and how is my soul straight until it be accomplished. Now
who's speaking? Jesus Christ. I don't know of anything I like
saying more than this. Jesus Christ is God. He's not like God. He's not like
God at all. He is God. The Creator of the universe. The One who controls everybody
and everything. Jesus Christ is God. God over all. Blessed forever. All the attributes of God, all
the fullness of holiness, all the fullness of sovereignty,
all the fullness of justice, all the fullness of immutability
dwells in His body. God manifests in the flesh and
the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus Christ is God. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God. But on the cross, he was no longer
with God. He was forsaken by God. He was baptized, submerged in
the very wrath of God. At this time, he was not permitted
to call God Father. My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me? Now he wasn't asking that because
he didn't know. You read Psalm 22 where that's
written. He said, but thou art holy. That's
why he was forsaken. He came for this very purpose.
Not to make me and you comfortable. Not to make me and you happy.
He came to be forsaken of his father. See, the Father wouldn't help
Him. When He was nailed to the cross,
the Father wouldn't help Him. When that cross was raised up
and put in the stand, and He was in agony and pain, the Father
wouldn't help Him. As people were making fun of
Him, His Father would not help Him. God is holy. I read another definition of
holiness that I'd never heard before in the last week. Apartness. Apartness. Other. He's just not like me and you.
He's holy and He's love. God is love. Not God loves, but
God is love. God is holy. God is love. How can God love an unholy sinner? the gospel. Jesus Christ coming as the sinner's
substitute and taking his sin in his own body on the tree and
putting that sin away. When he was on the cross, it
was not as if he was guilty. He was guilty. He took my sins
and my sorrows He made them his very own so that they were his
sins and his sorrows. He bore the burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone. He bore the full equivalent of
an eternal hell and he did what no one else could do. When he said, how am I straight
and agonized in narrow straits until it be accomplished? He did what me and you could
never do. He satisfied God so that God
is completely satisfied with me. He's not looking for anything
else. He cannot ask for anything else.
God is satisfied because of the death of His beloved Son. How is my soul straightened until
it be accomplished? Well, that's the same word that's
used in John chapter 19, verse 30, when the Lord said, It is
finished. It is finished. It is accomplished. The debt is paid. Fire cannot burn where it's already
burned. The debt is paid. We don't sing Jesus paid a half
and the other half I owe. We sing Jesus paid it all. All
the dead I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. God is completely satisfied. He's not looking for anything
else. Nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else. Don't dare
try to bring anything else. All of the elect are justified. Matthew 121, Thou shalt call
His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. Mission accomplished. He has saved His people from
their sins. How glorious is the cross when
God shows how a holy God can love unholy, ungodly sinner and
make him perfect in his sight. The Lord says in verse 51, suppose
ye that I am come to give peace on the earth, to make everybody
happy, make you comfortable, give you a easy life, You suppose
I've come for that? You know something I wish none
of us would ever say again is I'm not happy. I'm not happy. So what? Don't even think that way. I'm
not happy. He didn't say I came to make
you happy or to bring peace on earth where everybody gets along
and everything's fine and dandy. I came to send division. The gospel divides even within
homes. The Lord said in Matthew 10,
a man's foes shall be they of his own household. Now, how can
two walk together except they be agreed? That's what the prophet said. How can two walk together? except
they be of greed. The fact of the matter is they
cannot. Now, if you don't love Christ, and if you don't believe
that He is all in salvation, we'll not be walking together.
You won't want to walk with me, and I don't want to walk with
you either. How can two walk together? in fellowship and harmony,
except they be agreed. The gospel I'm preaching, the gospel you heard this morning,
if true, it's of infinite importance. It's nothing to be casual about
or be comfortable about. It's of infinite importance.
If false, it's of no importance at all. But the one thing it
can't be is moderately important. I don't want to be lukewarm. That's a state of comfort. I'm
comfortable in my life. I'm comfortable with my sin.
I'm comfortable with my relationships. I'm rich, increased with goods
and have need of nothing. I'm all right. Don't worry about
me. I'm doing fine. I'm doing fine. Comfort. And the Lord said, you don't
know that you're poor and naked, wretched, miserable, of great
needs. I fear a lukewarm Christianity. May the Lord cause us to have
the fire, the fire of the gospel in our hearts. He said, I came to sin division.
And this is a very solemn thing to think about. That division
may be over something that's never said. It could be that what is not
said is what is critical to the glory of Christ. The Lord warns
us of those who omit, leave out the weightier matters of the
law. Now, I don't want to fight, but I fear and dread no division. Because if there's no division,
the gospel of Christ is not preached. May God bless this to our hearts.
Let's pray. Lord, forgive us for our failure in confessing
thee before men as we ought. Lord, cause our words and our
lives to confess you before men. Lord, we would count it by your
grace a great honor to be persecuted for thy sake. Lord, fill us with
faith. Fill us with a love to thee. Lord, we fear bringing reproach
on my glorious gospel. Deliver us from that, for Christ's
sake, in His blessed name we pray. Amen.