Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
In the northeastern area of Africa you will find one of the longest rivers in the world. It is over 4,000 miles long, running through eleven different countries, has an average depth of around 30 ft, and in some places is over a mile and a half wide. This waterway has been used since ancient times to cultivate and trade wheat, flax, papyrus, and many other crops. But as vast amounts of water flow down this river, it eventually divides into two. Just north of Cairo Egypt, it splits into the Rosetta Branch to the West and the Damietta Branch to the east, going their separate ways out onto the delta until they eventually empty into the Mediterranean Sea.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
There are many rivers throughout the world that flow as one for a period of time, but then they eventually split off and go in different directions. The same thing happens when we are confronted with the gospel of Christ Jesus. For a period of time you were going with the flow with the rest of the world, but somewhere along the way, you must make a decision to either believe in the gospel and submit to the will of God or follow the path of the world instead. The decision that you make in regards to Christ Jesus and His teachings are going to cause great division, especially within your own household.
Luke 12:51-53 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.
To divide means to separate into two or more parts or groups. For example, when I go out to the woodpile and swing my axe, it will split a piece of wood in two pieces, and one will fall to the left and the other to the right. When we begin to follow Jesus and the teachings of scripture, you are going to be taking a different direction than others around you. Your opinions are going to be very different from people that you have known for many years. Sometimes your own relatives are involved with false religions and when you choose to become a Christian it’s going to create great conflict and will upset them greatly. Living in the world is smooth sailing, as long as you don’t raise any waves and are going in the same direction, but as soon as you begin to follow Jesus and take a stand for the truth, things are going to change. This is because you no longer want to live the way the world does but prepare yourself for the coming kingdom of God. It’s like driving down a large interstate with everyone else, but then deciding to take the off ramp in order to begin the drive down the narrow path of Christ.
Matthew 7:13-14 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Many of us have had close relationships with others while living in this world, acting and behaving just like they do. But when you begin to follow Christ Jesus, a lot of the people that you knew in the past are not going to like you anymore, and will even cast out your name as evil.
Luke 6:22-23 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
Where there was once love, kindness and affection, now there is hatred, malice and persecution, simply because you chose to follow Christ. Peter and the rest of the disciples went through the same type of division, when they walked away from the world and converted to the Christian faith.
1 Peter 4:1-5 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
But not everybody who becomes a Christian is going to last. Some of them want everyone to be at peace and get along with each other, but the truth is, that’s just not going to happen.
2 Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Rather than enduring suffering, they will throw in the towel and walk away from the Christian Life.
Matthew 13:20-21 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
Many people want peace on the Earth, but this is a wicked place that we live in. Jesus didn’t come to bring peace, as this is an active battlefield between Good and evil.
Matthew 10:34-36 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
The world loves the world, but will hate and persecute those who choose to walk in the light.
John 15:18-21 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth 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 have kept my saying, they will keep your’s also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.
Division begins here on the Earth, but remember that eternal division will happen at judgment Day when the Lord separates the sheep from the goats forever.
Matthew 25:31-33 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Like an approaching fork in the river, people will need to decide which path that they are going to take. Either they will believe the gospel, repent of their sins and follow Christ Jesus, or they are going to go off in a completely different direction. Becoming a Christian will most certainly cause conflict and division, especially among those whom you have known very well. The choice that you make about Jesus Christ is going to create division, dividing people into two different directions, just like the Nile River, a little bit……
……North of Cairo
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️
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