Luke chapter 12 please, and we'll read from
verse number 49.
Now this reading might seem a little strange,
I hope it does.
Luke chapter 12 and verse 49 says this,
the words of the Lord Jesus, I am
come to send fire on the earth and
what will it be or what will I
if it be already kindled but I have
a baptism to be baptized with and how
am I straight and to let 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 father shall be divided
against the son 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 and he
said also to the people when you see
a cloud rise out of the West straightway
you see there cometh a shower and so
it is and when you see the south
wind blow you see there will be heat
and it cometh to pass ye hypocrites ye
can discern the face of the sky and
of the earth but how is it that
you do not discern the time ye and
why even of yourselves judging judging not what
is right when thou goes with thine adversary
to the magistrate as thou art in the
way give diligence that thou mayest be delivered
from him lest he hail thee to the
judge and the judge deliver thee to the
officer and the officer cast thee into the
prison I tell you I tell thee thou
shalt not depart offence till thou has paid
the very last might that's our reading we
trust the Lord will bless it to us
and I'm just going to get a drink
of water the subject of my short address
to you this afternoon is really contained within
the verses that we've read and it's this
Jesus divides Jesus divides that doesn't sound particularly
good news the gospel says or the gospel
word means good news and yet here is
a message that is entitled Jesus divides well
here's a little illustration taken from your fair
land I don't know much about your geography
but I know this that there is what
they call the continental of the Great Divide
I'm sure you know all about it and
the continental of the Great Divide runs right
down doesn't it through the whole continent from
the Rocky Mountains down and I suppose you
would have learned in school that that Great
Divide has a significance for your rainfall the
rain that falls in the west of the
Great Divide that imaginary line so to speak
it all flows west and all goes to
the Pacific the rain that falls on the
east of the Great Divide goes into rivers
that all go east and to the Atlantic
you see the ultimate destination of the rain
that falls is determined upon which side of
the divide it falls west of the Great
Divide the Pacific east of the Great Divide
the Atlantic and that divide goes right down
the continent and that really is a picture
of what this is saying in this section
that the Lord Jesus Christ spiritually is like
that Great Divide in your land whatever side
you are on in relation to him will
determine your ultimate eternal destination without exception the
rain that's falling over New Jersey at the
moment isn't going to land in the Pacific
never you see it determined by which side
of the Great Divide it landed and when
it landed in one side of the Great
Divide it traveled in a distance determined by
where it landed out to a destination determined
by the direction that it traveled and there
was absolutely no exception spiritually it's the same
the Lord Jesus Christ is the Great Divide
for time and eternity determined determining whether we
will travel a journey in life out into
eternity toward heaven or whether we will travel
in our journey toward what toward hell and
toward judge excuse me judgment and towards separation
from God and where we stand in relation
to Christ determines that journey and destination without
exception so here's the question I know you're
sitting but metaphorically where are you standing in
relation to Christ there are only two positions
to have in relation to Christ you're either
for him or you're against him you either
trust him or you don't you're either saved
by him or you're not he's either your
Savior and Lord or he's not you cannot
have a third position there's not a third
way there's third ways in politics there's no
third way spiritually it is either yes or
no for or against so I ask you
again where are you standing in relation to
Christ a lot of youngsters here and those
I can't see all of you I can
see most of you even those of you
big hats on I can see you I
was seven when I get saved I've told
you that before and even at the age
of seven I knew I needed to trust
the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved for
all eternity I didn't know much more than
that but I knew that and because I
knew that I decided to trust him because
he had died for me and across and
risen again from the dead and that was
enough to know in order to be saved
that was enough and it's enough tonight you
might be 70 or you might be 7
or you might be some other age but
if you're understanding what I'm saying then you're
old enough to trust the Lord Jesus Christ
as your Savior young or old what side
of Christ do you stand upon the Lord
Jesus speaks of this he's speaking to thousands
of people he's preaching a sermon that we
won't go into that had not three points
but five points shock horror a preacher with
five he five points in his sermon and
he preached it to that audience that day
and he was bringing home spiritual truth to
bear upon the people and not everyone was
pleased to hear it surprise surprise but they
listened and his first point really was just
this turn away from the influence of false
religion that's what he preached I won't take
you one step nearer to eternity with God
in heaven turn away from false religion and
then secondly he preached stop fearing man fear
God don't fear man who can destroy the
body but fear God who can destroy both
body and soul and hell fear God who
will determine your eternal destination and your spiritual
welfare fear him don't fear men now maybe
I'll be that some of you are sitting
there and you're not saved and the reason
you're not saved is that you're afraid of
what people will say or you're afraid of
the unknown or you're afraid of losing things
in your life because of this decision well
at least you understand that this decision will
have consequence and it will and you may
lose things but you will gain that which
overshadows all you may lose if you gain
Christ stop fearing men then he preached that
you need to confess Christ before men as
your Lord and Savior he's preaching this he
preached that you need to reject the love
of material things and pursue the kingdom of
God through faith in Jesus Christ and lastly
he preached that this is a matter of
absolute urgency for the Son of Man is
coming at an hour that you do not
expect that was one of his points and
so he's preached his sermon now he comes
to the crunch point decision time that's always
really the end of all gospel preaching or
within all gospel preaching there needs to be
a decision and there needs to be the
requirement of a decision decision time the Lord
Jesus knew that and so he gave the
people the information they required he gave the
people the the challenge of the information but
he didn't just leave it there he brought
them to the point of decision and that's
where we entered into our text and so
he brings the decision to bear upon them
in this way now follow this with me
I know it's the end of a day
and most of you have been sitting for
a long time but you've not long to
go now so follow this with me if
you would he said this I have come
I am come to send fire on the
earth the Lord Jesus was using that language
to describe his mission here upon earth it's
graphic language elsewhere he will say I am
come that they might have life and they
might have it more abundantly but here there's
a different aspect to his coming he says
not that I am come to seek and
to save that which is lost that's another
aspect but he says not that I've come
to be a light that's another aspect he
says I've come what I have come to
send fire on the earth he's speaking about
his message his message his mission and he's
speaking about the gospel and he's saying this
will be kindled at the cross it hasn't
been kindled yet he says but it's going
to be kindled at the cross and it
will spark a light and it will spread
across the whole world like wildfire I was
in Halifax last weekend and I landed and
there was wildfires in Halifax I didn't know
that but it's a big emergency and rightly
so people were losing property and authorities were
you know they were under so much pressure
trying to contain the wildfires because the fires
had got out of control and they were
spreading at up speeds of up to a
hundred miles an hour you can hardly envisage
that well I can't because you know our
country's so full of rain that fire doesn't
spread anywhere but you know these wildfires were
going at a hundred miles an hour and
they were spreading all over the place and
taking everything in their path the Lord Jesus
said I have come and there's something going
to be kindled at the cross so he
speaks about and it's going to spread like
wildfire across the world and it did it
did and the gospel spread from city to
city it spread from town to town it
spread from nation to nation it's come across
continents it's been unstoppable it is encompassed the
globe the Lord Jesus said my mission is
to send this fire across the world and
it's come and it's come as far as
here right throughout your nation that's come here
tonight and this purpose this mission that he
speaks about he says this mission is only
possible because he says I have a baptism
to be baptized with and he says how
am I straightened until it be accomplished he's
anticipating an experience that he will undergo that
will set this fire and set the world
ablaze he uses this analogy of a baptism
in other words he's going to be immersed
in something he's speaking about being immersed in
the flood of suffering and the flood of
pain and judgment and wrath that will experience
that he'll experience at the cross of Calvary
and he's anticipating this and it's gripping his
soul and it's such a major thing it
was the purpose of his coming he came
to suffer and to bleed and die in
order for this message of the gospel to
spread across the world so the very heart
of the message but you see this message
is all about the cross and this message
is all about forgiveness and salvation and judgment
and the truth of it is just this
that the Lord Jesus Christ came from heaven
and he'll preach it elsewhere he came from
heaven to die upon a cross to be
immersed to suffer to be completely overwhelmed by
the judgment of God against sin he came
as a Savior he came to give himself
and sacrifice to pay the price of sin
so that sinners like you and me can
be forgiven and such was the value and
worth of his life and his death and
his resurrection that God is able to come
out in the gospel not just to a
single location but all over the world with
this message of forgiveness and salvation that is
accomplished and received through trusting the Lord Jesus
Christ as your Savior the gospel and the
gospel is built it's not a message that
some man-made philosophy it's not a message
that comes and goes with fashions it's not
some philosophical thinking that comes back to Greeks
or Athenians or Romans or whatever this message
is based upon the reality and the history
and the three-dimensional experience of Jesus Christ
on that cross the gospel is a message
based upon an experience and and the cross
is something that was marked by the blood
and the gore and the violence and the
suffering of crucifixion and the wrath of God
falling upon his son and causing him to
suffer and to bleed and die the price
of salvation that's offered this evening is immeasurable
and it was only Christ that could pay
it and he paid it in full and
he paid it in blood and the gospel
is a message that's built upon the firm
righteous foundation of the finished work of Christ
at the cross it's not full of holes
you can't argue it away you'll not find
errors in it you'll not find a weakness
in it it's solid it's real it's historical
it's fact it's accomplished and it spreads spreads
and as it spreads it divides and so
he says this suppose ye that I am
come to give peace on earth oh we
sing about at Christmas I'm not gonna sing
it to you but peace on earth peace
on earth well there will be peace on
earth but before that ever could be peace
on the earth the required to be this
first upon earth he says I am come
to bring division what's the division the division
happens when the fire spreads you know up
there in Halifax in these wildfires it was
quite important which side of the fire you
were on but as the fire came through
at a devastating effect that's what the gospel
does let's not think that the gospel is
some religion that we can pay mental assent
to or smile at the gospel is a
message of devastation it devastates our pride it
devastates our self-righteousness it takes away from
under our feet all our religious hopes and
all our feelings of superiority and satisfaction and
it absolutely devastates it it brings home the
reality of our standing before God and brings
the truth of our sinnership to us that
we're sinners and we are we are without
any not that we've got no value that's
not correct we were without any standing before
God on our own merits that's a devastating
message to hear but it also divides the
Lord Jesus said this it divides families it's
divided my family I have a brother who's
not saved he says the father shall be
divided against the son and the son against
the father the mother against the daughter the
daughter against the mother the mother-in-law
get what's he say he said even the
closest relationships that you can have upon earth
the family are divided by the gospel salvation
is not a family affair salvation is not
a group thing salvation is individual response to
the gospel and because your dad is saved
doesn't mean you are saved and because you
are saved doesn't mean your dad is saved
and so you can come on the gospel
divides because it's an individual response to the
gospel that's the response that's required and you
cannot decide for someone else if I could
decide for my brother I would decide tonight
if I could pay for his salvation I'd
give you everything I've got but he can't
pay for it and I can't pay for
it and I can't decide for him he
needs to decide for himself and until he
does the gospel is dividing my family some
that are saved and some that are not
and I suspect the gospel is dividing some
families in here you may have sat at
the back that's okay but you're not outside
of the reach of my voice nor of
the challenge of the gospel if you and
your family are divided by the gospel this
is for you and he brings that devastating
divisive effect of the gospel to be not
to scare us not to intimidate us but
to waken us up so that we might
decide for Christ to remove complacency to think
that all's well because I'm brought up in
a family where Christ is honored or brought
up in a family where everyone's saved and
I'll get saved some point this is urgent
this is your decision and if you don't
decide for Christ you'll not only be separated
in time but you'll be separated in eternity
that's a sobering thing to say but it's
true it's true so the Lord Jesus Christ
is going to tell two stories to bring
to bear upon people the urgency of the
opportunity and the necessity of acting now so
he says this you will all get this
here he could have told this story in
this area he said to the people in
verse 54 when you see a cloud rise
out of the West straightway you see there
cometh a shower and so it is he
says you know by looking at the sky
you can work out by looking at the
sky you can read the sky you know
of rains coming you're all talking about rain
coming at the moment the fact it's not
coming and as soon as you see the
signs in the sky you'll know you'll know
some of you can taste it in the
air the old fishermen back in Scotland used
to be able to taste the weather out
in the sea and they knew what was
coming I don't know how they did it
they just knew and he's saying that's true
that's accurate and then he says when you
see the south wind blow you say there'll
be heat he says you're reading the weather
by the signs in the sky and you're
doing it accurately and you're right and you're
basing your life you're basing your farming you're
basing your day upon what you see in
the sky you're reading the signs and you're
responding here upon earth just put that in
your mind I wonder if you and I
spend more time worrying about the weather than
we do about our soul is that so
are we experts in the weather and completely
ignorant and the spiritual realities all around us
you see evidence in the sky but what
about the evidence in the Word of God
and in the lives of those round about
us would you not read that and respond
to that as you respond to this and
then he's got a second little story to
tell not just so much the weather in
the sky but he says look ye hypocrites
you discern the face of the sky and
of the earth but how is it that
you do not discern this thing he says
listen you hypocrites you read the sky you
know what's going to happen and so you
act accordingly he says that you cannot look
around yourself and understand that time is short
the spiritual realities that you face then he
says this listen why even of yourselves judge
ye not what is right when you go
to thine adversary with your adversary to the
magistrate he says listen you've got a problem
with someone else and you're going to the
court to get it sorted what's the wise
thing to do speaking as an ex-lawyer
I can tell you this is true you're
far better getting the thing sorted before you
get to the court far better getting this
sorted before you get to the court you
take a big risk if you go to
that court that things aren't going to go
your way and so the wise thing to
do before ever you put your case in
the hands of the judge is get it
sorted out before you get there can I
tell you this the wise thing to do
spiritually is to get your life sorted now
before ever you face a judge in eternity
you don't want to put your case into
his hands we do not want to live
and then die and find herself before the
the throne of God the great white throne
and receive his righteous judgment upon our life
which will be that we are sinners without
forgiveness and therefore we need to experience the
righteous wrath of God throughout all eternity the
time to get yourself right with God is
not then that's too late it's now you're
on a journey toward that judgment get right
with God now now is the accepted time
now is the day of salvation so here
is my little challenge at the end of
my message Lord Jesus Christ came in a
mission that mission was to suffer and bleed
and die on the cross to provide salvation
for guilty sinners the news of which spread
across the world like wildfire and every time
it's preached and every time it spreads it
divides let me ask you again upon which
side do you stand are you for Christ
or against him this is urgent read the
signs this is urgent get right with God
while you can before you ever meet him
in the great eternity and experience his judgment
Jesus divides and I wonder this evening what
an end to the conference it would be
some soul here decides that that division will
no longer exist I'm going to trust Christ
and I'm going to trust him now simply
accept him in my heart right now and
take him as my Savior and be saved
for the great eternity I trust you will
don't put it off don't delay trust him
where you are trust him now and receive
him as your personal Lord and Savior