00:05:30.760His ultimate goal was to bring unity, union, and peace with God,
00:05:36.080to reconcile sinners with God, but as a byproduct.
00:05:40.920So it's not saying my chief goal is to wreck families.
00:05:44.200No, my chief goal is to unite sinners with God by the blood of his cross.
00:05:49.940But by doing so, the byproduct of that, the consequence of that, is that some families would be disrupted, that some marriages would be divided, that some children would, in fact, turn against their parents, and some parents would, in fact, turn against their children.
00:06:08.660So Jesus is acknowledging that division is one of the consequences, an unavoidable consequence.
00:06:41.280who want to conceal and justify their sin
00:06:45.060by hiding in the darkness when light comes into that kind of context then necessarily one of the
00:06:52.020consequences will be twofold the the aim the actual aim peace with God but then the byproduct
00:07:00.120division with men so the aim of Christ he didn't come to condemn the world but in order that the
00:07:07.340world might be saved through him he didn't come in order to wreck families he came to unite sinners
00:07:13.500to God but his chief goal of not coming to condemn but to save and not coming to divide but to unite
00:07:21.320the the byproduct of that because the world does involve many wicked people the byproduct of that
00:07:30.080will be inevitably some shape or form or degree of division so that's important for us to recognize
00:07:38.280Division was not Jesus' goal, just as condemnation was not his primary goal.
00:07:45.080The goal was salvation, not condemnation, and union with God, not division with men.
00:07:52.460But when Jesus comes as light to save, and inevitably many wicked men don't want to be saved,
00:08:00.800then condemnation is one of the byproducts.
00:08:04.300When Jesus comes for union with God, but many people don't want union with God and will reject those who do embrace union with God, then division becomes one of the necessary byproducts.
00:08:18.960So truth does divide, not as its primary goal, but division will always be, in some various form or shape or degree, division with men will always be some byproduct of union with God.
00:08:37.500To unite with God is to experience some division with men.
00:08:42.480second point this division as it pertains specifically now to families to households
00:08:52.160I do believe and I think that this is important to mention and I think it's a consolation to us
00:08:59.160that this kind of division that Jesus is describing not just with the world in an abstract
00:09:05.820sense not just well you know the government won't like you you'll receive you know civil persecution
00:09:12.040You'll receive religious persecution from this group and these guys over here.
00:09:16.880But no, Jesus gets far more personal than that.
00:09:20.300And he begins to describe the division that will invariably take place within a man's own family.0.95
00:09:28.080And so I think that it's worth mentioning that, of course, the words of Jesus are true.
00:09:34.160Let God be true, though every man a liar.
00:09:37.200So you're not going to find me ever disagreeing with Jesus.
00:09:40.400That's not a good strategy, especially as a Christian pastor, right?
00:15:39.320but it also posed a threat to all the different forms of paganism because paganism was supposed
00:15:45.920to play nice with other gods it was polytheism friendly whereas christianity jesus doesn't play
00:15:53.800nice i don't know if you ever saw it's not that i hate even referencing uh marvel comic comic books
00:16:01.440because it's just they're lame not even because it's necessarily immoral but it's just it's like
00:16:07.680that's embarrassing so it's almost like referencing star wars it's quite it's almost on that level
00:16:12.980but there's one scene okay one scene where the hulk you know loki the you know the brother of thor
00:16:20.240is you know being arrogant and talking up his you know i'm i'm a god you know and then the hulk just
00:16:26.860grabs him and starts smashing him back and forth and he says puny god um it's a good line and that's0.83
00:16:33.200how christianity works with every other religion that jesus doesn't play nice with other gods0.66
00:16:39.300jesus like the hulk he grabs you know pagan gods pagan deities and he smashes them and says
00:16:46.720puny god jesus doesn't share his glory jesus will never be content to be one god in the pantheon
00:16:56.640of many that's that's not the way christianity works christianity is it's it's not only the
00:17:02.380supremacy of Christ, that he is above all of the gods, but the exclusivity of Christ. He alone is
00:17:09.440God. There are no other gods. There are other angelic beings. There are, you could even argue
00:17:16.280maybe like a demigod kind of theology. I think that some of the Roman and Greek mythology
00:17:24.000actually has many threads of truth to it. Things like Hercules. It's like, well, that's just made
00:17:30.140up maybe but the idea that hercules was like part god but then also part mortal and that he had0.96
00:17:37.100supernatural strength and was able to destroy dragons and things like that like call me a sucker
00:17:43.220for uh some of the nerdetry type stuff in the bible but i believe it i'm like so then how do
00:17:48.140you explain hercules nephilim that's how you explain it uh he had you know i think he had
00:17:54.000fallen angel um patriarch and a human mother um you know and he was part angel part human he was
00:18:03.840one of the nephilim with supernatural strength in a time where there were many uh creatures and
00:18:10.440dragons and monsters in the world i believe that dragons were real it's like oh well dinosaurs or
00:18:16.340just dragons you could just say that dragons um and i think hercules killed a bunch of dragons
00:18:21.940and saved the day and was also probably terrible though I don't think he was he was a hero in the
00:18:28.400physical sense and strength and those kinds of things like Samson but unlike Samson Samson wasn't
00:18:33.960fantastic but I think Hercules was probably much worse I don't think that Hercules is in heaven1.00
00:18:38.700I do not believe he was a Christian I don't believe he loved the Lord but I think that1.00
00:18:43.100there's some truth in those things so the idea of there being other gods if we're saying lowercase0.92
00:18:48.460g gods if we're talking about a divine council we're talking about angels cherubim those kinds
00:18:53.840of things and fallen angels being lowercase g gods then fine there are other gods in that sense
00:18:59.160but there's only one true god who created all of the things so jesus is above all the other
00:19:06.100lowercase gods baal molek all these other gods which i believe well i i i don't think it's just
00:19:14.760made up. I don't think all these false gods that we see in the Old Testament are just made up.
00:19:19.180That's my point of bringing up Hercules and Nephilim and these kinds of things and fallen
00:19:22.800angels, is I do think there is a sense in which there are other gods. But they're lowercase g
00:19:27.560created gods. They're fallen angels. And so in that case, it's the supremacy of Christ. He is above
00:19:32.880them. And then there are other cases in the sense of if we're talking about capital G God, then
00:19:38.320it's the exclusivity of Christ that there are no other gods in that creator type sense. So Jesus
00:19:45.100doesn't play nice with false gods. He doesn't play nice with false religions. This is a descriptive0.60
00:19:52.100text and it's immediately to his disciples in the first century, first generation Christians. It's0.71
00:19:58.780for us, but immediately to them. And because this context in the first century was a pagan
00:20:05.460polytheistic context and there's also judaism and many religious rulers who hated christ
00:20:13.680and turned against him produced false witnesses to get him crucified all those kinds of things
00:20:19.600being a christian in the first century was going to mean persecution it will always mean some level
00:20:26.420of difficulty some challenge some suffering in all times in all places there's always a cost we
00:20:33.140talked about this last week always a cost to discipleship the cost of discipleship but in the
00:20:39.680first century i believe that that cost was uniquely high so what does that mean and what does that
00:20:45.460mean for us what it means is it the description jesus is providing of breaking up families number
00:20:54.220one what we've already established this is not his primary aim there's a difference in jesus coming
00:21:00.540to save but people rejecting him and so then condemnation being one of the consequences
00:21:06.160there's a difference in Jesus coming to unite people with God but because men love the darkness
00:21:12.520and he comes as the light of the world and men love the darkness because their works were evil
00:21:16.800there's as a as a necessary byproduct of this union with God it creates as a consequence division
00:21:24.760with men right so that's the first thing is jesus chief aim was not to bring condemnation and it was
00:21:30.880not to divide families number two getting a little bit more contextual all these families breaking up
00:21:37.940what jesus is telling his disciples that was historically true it was absolutely true and
00:21:44.480sadly it was fairly common in the first century and so they needed to be aware this is what it's
00:21:51.440going to be like ordinarily not universally not in every case but it will be somewhat the norm
00:21:58.960there will be many households and many marriages and many families that will actually divide so
00:22:05.700not just division with with civil rulers or with religious rulers someone somewhere out there but0.84
00:22:12.700there will be division stark severe division in your own families and that was absolutely true
00:22:21.620and not only was it true in the first century but i think that principle is is normative not just in
00:22:28.700the first century but in any place where you have first generation christians and and we've seen
00:22:36.900this kind of like pan out without within church history wherever the gospel goes to a new place
00:22:44.580a new country a new nation a new people and it's and it's coming for the first time initially
00:22:49.540in that context where the gospel is introduced for the first time to a people who have never heard
00:22:57.020the gospel before there tends to be an incredible amount of division and division not just in the
00:23:04.960culture broadly or politically or religiously but even in at the level of the family there are0.94
00:23:13.300families that break apart you see muslim nations where the gospel comes to a nation that is um has0.67
00:23:20.580been islamic for centuries and and if god would be so kind to send a christian revival there
00:23:28.500evangelists and a bunch of muslims are converting getting saved i've talked to muslims who are like1.00
00:23:33.680yeah my parents um they tried to kill me when i converted to christ they put poison literally they1.00
00:23:40.080put poison my food and i ate it and i almost died you know or they called you know the the the
00:23:46.700authorities and i was imprisoned and beaten you know and that's that's actually a pretty common
00:23:51.960story um when when the gospel comes initially to a place that is ravaged by spiritual darkness
00:24:00.980false religion totalitarian civil rulers and governments and and there's never really been
00:24:08.640at least not at any significant number christians among that people in that place ever before so
00:24:15.680wherever you have first not just the first century this was true in the case of jesus speaking to his
00:24:20.960disciples but wherever you have not just the first century but first generation christians in any
00:24:26.540place in any century um you will experience in the beginning there will be incredible division
00:24:32.460now here's my point my point is that this text which is descriptive not prescriptive
00:24:38.960and which is for us but not immediately to us having established all that this text should
00:24:45.480not be used by christians in america to um to assuage the conscience and justify ourselves
00:24:54.840console ourselves for division in our families that should not be normative in all places for
00:25:02.620all times once the gospel has taken root in a culture among a people and you've had multiple
00:25:12.040subsequent generations of christians faithful christians and centuries of christianity you
00:25:18.940should not have in terms of it being normative a bunch of broken families you shouldn't
00:25:26.000that that would not so so if we're looking around and we're saying um i know a bunch of people who
00:25:32.620are following christ and because of that decision and that fidelity to christ um their their family
00:25:41.100is broken up and their kids grew up and don't serve the lord or their wife left them or this
00:25:47.900like and you know what but that's just that's what jesus promised and that's that's what the
00:25:53.240bible says he'll turn you know from now on the household of five there'll be two against three
00:25:58.100and three against two no no i refuse to believe that i i refuse to believe that jesus is saying
00:26:05.780that for all peoples in all places in all times if you have if you're fruitful multiply
00:26:12.780lie right children are a heritage a blessing from the lord and blesses the man whose quiver is full
00:26:18.420so if you believe the word of god and you're seeking to obey the word of god and having
00:26:23.400several children that jesus is telling us in this text that it's russian roulette and that if you
00:26:30.520have five children or more you can expect about a 50 percent ratio of about half of your children
00:26:37.680going to hell and abandoning the faith and abandoning you and being estranged and never
00:26:45.320talking to you again. I do not believe that is the meaning of our text today. I don't think that's
00:26:52.400what Jesus is saying. I don't think Jesus is saying, well, you need to get married because
00:26:57.600it's good. You need to have many kids because it's good and you should expect half of them
00:27:02.180to turn against you and to go to hell no jesus is saying in the first century with first generation0.94
00:27:10.520christians in a polytheistic context and in this this judaizing context with religious rulers in
00:27:22.580israel who are trying to crucify me and spoiler alert if you've never read the story they end up
00:27:29.140being successful in that context uh yes following me will there will be a heavy steep cost to0.72
00:27:38.980discipleship and it won't just be division in the broader culture but division even at the level of
00:27:45.540the family that that would be normative i think that's what jesus is saying but as the seed the
00:27:52.340mustard seed grows into an all-encompassing
00:27:56.980encompassing tree as the leaven works through the whole batch of dough
00:28:00.460as the christian gospel takes root among a people in a society in a culture
00:28:05.380and centuries go by then that should not be the case and here's
00:28:10.640the deal historically it wasn't it wasn't and we should be
00:28:15.040encouraged by that in europe for centuries the norm was my
00:28:20.120parents are christian and i'm christian and my kids are christian and the family was not broken
00:28:27.500up the households were not divided like the whole society the whole culture was christian
00:28:32.800it was because that's what happens with a society that has a gospel seed planted that matures
00:28:40.220over centuries now today this is now making it relevant for us what about us i do think
00:28:47.840to give some pastoral application i do think that we are in a unique moment that we are in a post
00:28:55.100christian context here in the west now i'm praying by god's grace that that he would be merciful
00:29:01.340and that the tide would turn and i think that there are some signs not that guarantee that's
00:29:06.920going to happen but there are some signs of hope lots of lots of signs that are discouraging and
00:29:13.280disheartening but there also are some signs of hope and so i don't think that we should
00:29:17.420ultimately utterly despair i think that the tide could turn however if you're in a context so our
00:29:24.660context is not like a muslim country like i described earlier or the first century in rome
00:29:29.520so our context is not a context where the gospel has never gone before but it is a context that
00:29:36.080has moved past the gospel that is in a post-christian season and because we are in many ways a post-christian
00:29:45.860nation a post-christian society or a christian country but that's currently in the midst of
00:29:51.320apostasy that describes america that describes much of europe they're even further along in that
00:29:56.340apostasy it's even worse because we're currently living in that moment a return to historic0.93
00:30:04.040Christianity. So in our context, you could talk about Jesus and the exclusivity even of Jesus0.89
00:30:11.460and not necessarily experience stark division in your household, in your family. Because we have
00:30:18.920had Christianity here today. The language is kind of there. It's not utterly foreign. It's not utterly
00:30:24.940foreign. But if you begin getting back to historic Christianity and what the Bible would actually
00:30:33.680teach in regards to some of the idols of our day I talked about this last week then because we are
00:30:40.020not just Christian nation but in many ways a post-Christian nation then I think you actually
00:30:45.840could experience some of those divisions even at the level of a household even at the level of
00:30:53.140a marriage for instance let me give an example biblical patriarchy so we are again it's not like
00:31:03.660our American context is, you know, Christianity is not a novelty for us. But historic Christianity
00:31:10.320for this particular generation kind of is a novelty. Historic Christianity in our context,
00:31:17.840in our nation, has been lost for so long that most people, when they hear, this is the Bible's
00:31:25.860historic biblical view of marriage and husband and wife. Most people today, because we have
00:31:35.420abandoned that for a few generations at this point, for most people today, even professing
00:31:42.160to be Christians, they would hear that as utterly strange and foreign. And that actually could be
00:31:50.260because feminism is such an idol people worship it that actually could pan out to be a point of
00:31:57.380division even division in the household even at the level of dividing a marriage that actually
00:32:04.500is possible in our context today and the whole while you know the two spouses dividing and and
00:32:12.240the one that is that is kicking at the goads and rebelling against the bible's view of patriarchy
00:32:18.360the whole time that person claiming blue in the face claiming i love jesus i'm a christian
00:32:24.560i'm a christian my favorite thing about christianity is um that it empowers women
00:32:31.200you know you're like what what christianity are you talking about you know the christianity that
00:32:36.940that says you can be anything you want to be and that men and women are equal and anything you can
00:32:42.280do i can do better i can do anything better than you right that was one of my favorite worship
00:32:45.620songs growing up so what what are you talking about but let's just be honest that has been
00:32:50.740christianity for all intents and purposes in our western context for about 70 years
00:32:57.060and arguably longer so so what i'm trying to say is our text today it is true that there is an
00:33:06.260immense there's always a cost to discipleship following jesus requires our willingness to
00:33:14.320take up our cross to embrace suffering for his name's sake that suffering comes in many forms
00:33:21.660but one of the main forms is division a sword divide that division will be with the world
00:33:29.360someone somewhere out there but in some cases it will be division even at home with the family
00:33:38.000I don't believe Jesus is saying that in all times in all places in all generations forever no matter
00:33:45.080what children having children being fruitful and multiplying is a crapshoot and you can just kind
00:33:52.580of count on 40 to 50 percent of them going to hell I just I refuse to believe that that's a
00:33:59.080biblical teaching I believe that that's not a prescription but a description of wherever
00:34:04.480Christianity comes in a first generation, first generation Christians. So it was true, it was going0.97
00:34:11.460to be exceedingly true in the case of who Jesus is immediately speaking to, his disciples in the
00:34:18.320first century. I think it is also very, very similar to that description of breaking up families
00:34:25.340even in other centuries, not just the first century, but in other centuries when the gospel
00:34:29.560goes to a new nation, a new context, and it's making first generation Christians. And although
00:34:37.540this is, I'm not happy about this, I do think that we should be aware of this. I think it could also
00:34:42.740have that effect, not saying always, not universally, but it could have that effect of breaking up even
00:34:48.860marriages and even estranging children, breaking up families in a nation where it's not first
00:34:55.920generation christians where the gospel has been there for a long time but a nation that is post
00:35:01.480christian that has abandoned the christian faith so that any any person who embraces historic
00:35:08.940christianity looks like it looks foreign it looks like they're out in left field and um and in some
00:35:20.240ways i think the division in that context so a a non-christianized context you're going to have
00:35:27.160some divided families and a post-christianized context where it's been christianized and then
00:35:33.720christianity at least historic christianity biblical christianity has been thoroughly
00:35:38.220abandoned that could actually i'm not saying this as as a hard fast rule but it's as a possibility
00:35:45.500that could actually be even worse because then you actually have a culture a populace that's
00:35:53.980immunized to christianity they actually have um other places it's like well we christianity is
00:36:03.200foreign but in a post-christian society they've had just enough of christianity to think they
00:36:10.460know what it is to think that they're the expert i mean how many times have you talked to someone
00:36:14.560who has terrible theology they're a raging feminist or they're a raging dispensationalist
00:36:19.700or whatever and and so at some point in the conversation you hear them say something like
00:36:24.740this well i i have been a christian for 40 years having my you know 15 minute quiet time every day
00:36:34.820i've been a member of you know blank church you know usually like first baptist or 17th baptist
00:36:44.540you know or whatever like for for 40 years i've taught sunday school and you're gonna come and
00:36:49.600you're gonna lecture me and it's like yeah you're wrong and if you're like i've never seen a scenario
00:36:54.240like that go and watch the interview between tucker carlson and tel avid ted ted cruz
00:37:00.800right i mean that's literally exactly what he said on the largest podcast one of the largest
00:37:06.000podcasts in the world so i'm not making up some kind of rare case that's hyperbolic that never
00:37:11.180happens he literally he it was an appeal right when you're arguing there's different logical
00:37:15.420fallacies one is um is a claim to authority when you're like basically what makes it a logic
00:37:21.220logical fallacy is when you're saying just believe me bro uh because of my title so what was his
00:37:28.620claim to authority in that moment he wasn't claiming he had authority as a state senator
00:37:32.860he wasn't saying his political position gives him authority his claim to authority is he's like
00:37:39.060I grew up in church and went to Sunday school. Remember that line? For those of you who watched
00:37:43.700the interview, I've gone to Sunday school. I've been going to Sunday school my whole life since
00:37:49.200I was a kid and I was raised in church. And my Bible tells me, and then he begins to quote a
00:37:53.660verse that's not in the Bible, you know, knows who bless Israel. And Tucker Carlson, he's, I like
00:38:00.500this about, you know, Tucker. Sometimes I'm like, I don't like that. But this, I like, like Tucker
00:38:05.240will um people like oh he's so charming it's it's a play that it's a play it's not genuine
00:38:13.760he's like really the bible says that support the government of israel support netanyahu the bible
00:38:19.220what verse is that where's that in the bible and he immediately says where it is in the like he
00:38:23.560knows the answer to the question but he also knows that tel aviv ted does not know the answer to the
00:38:28.060question and so he's making he's like being like plain coy plain innocent but also making tel aviv0.99
00:38:33.580Ted look really stupid. And he is really stupid. So it wasn't that hard to do. But my point is1.00
00:38:39.460that, I mean, that aired live, not live, but to millions of people. And so what I'm describing
00:38:47.060is not some obscure example that, you know, it's a one in a thousand scenario. No, this happens
00:38:53.020all the time. In a post-Christian context, in some ways, the division could be even more severe
00:38:59.440Because you have people who are immunized to Christianity.
00:39:04.540They've received just enough of a dose of Christian vernacular and some Christian traditions and a Christian veneer to think, to be convinced that they're Christian experts.0.58
00:39:17.800They're the most Christian of any Christian that's ever Christianed, you know.
00:39:21.660And so then when you say, well, I don't think that, it's like, well, I disagree with Pam Bondi because I think she's hiding the Epstein files.0.89
00:39:36.940And I'd be like, yeah, but also I don't like Pam Bondi because she's a woman and she shouldn't be in public, not in politics.0.72
00:39:46.760You know, like the meme is like, you and I are not the same.0.94
00:50:50.980And anyone who's willing to take up that cross will find, not lose his life, but find his life, eternal life, true life in Jesus.
00:51:02.120And anyone who's not willing to do that, who denies the cross, meaning he will not be willing to suffer reproach from the world for Christ's sake,
00:51:10.940ultimately has not just denied the cross but his denial of the cross really is a denial of Christ
00:51:20.100himself and then that references back to last week's text where Jesus says if you will not
00:51:27.940be willing to name me before men then I will be ashamed of you and deny you before my father
00:51:36.580and that's not just some crazy hypothetical jesus is being quite serious that in the final analysis
00:51:43.600if we deny christ before men he will deny us before his father and that does not mean that
00:51:49.640we lost our salvation but that simply serves as an evidence and proof that we never truly belong
00:51:55.380to christ to begin with we may have sat in a christian church we may have done some christian
00:52:02.060things outwardly. But if we're not willing, if we're willing to deny Christ by denying our cross,
00:52:08.740we're not willing to suffer any reproach from the world whatsoever. When the going gets tough,
00:52:13.840we back out. Your very soul is at stake. It is a big deal. So take up your cross, meaning be willing
00:52:24.000to publicly name Christ even at the cost of shame and rejection from the world knowing that by doing
00:52:32.800this by accepting the cross we are accepting Christ and if we accept Christ that's an evidence
00:52:39.760that he has truly accepted us and we know that that reproach from the world can come and in the
00:52:47.040most severe cases even as division and reproach from among our own families that's not prescriptive
00:52:54.540should not be the norm in all times in all places so let's work towards it not being the norm in the
00:53:00.980ways that we disciple our children the ways that we foster healthy christian marriages but we should0.96
00:53:07.620recognize wherever there are first generation christians there will be division not just
00:53:13.140culturally but even in families and sadly because we live in a post-christian context here in
00:53:18.760america anyone who is a first generation the first generation for a while in the last three
00:53:24.860or four generations first generation historic christian not just christianese but historic
00:53:31.120christian may experience division even in the context of the family and so it shouldn't surprise
00:53:38.240us but it's not fatalistic it's not written in the stars that's not what the text is saying
00:53:43.400doesn't have to be that way we should trust and work towards it not being that way and if it is
00:53:49.120that way it's because our nation for generations now has abandoned christ to where for all intents
00:53:54.780and purposes those who are prescribed to historic christianity really are first generation christians
00:54:02.500here in America. And that's sad. It's sad. And it didn't have to be that way, but it is that way.
00:54:08.940And it is the reality. But it doesn't have to be that way forever. Let's pray. Father, I do pray
00:54:14.300that our nation would repent. I do pray, Lord, that historic Christianity would be embraced.
00:54:19.620That liberalism, pretending to be Christianity, would be rejected. Secularism with Christian
00:54:27.160aspects would be rejected. And Lord, I pray that we would be, in your kindness, the generation that0.92
00:54:34.280returns, returns to traditional Christianity and to the truth of your work. And Lord, we pray that
00:54:41.640our children would embrace that too, that you would use us to train up our children in the fear and
00:54:46.800admonition of the Lord, and that they would embrace the Christian faith, embrace you as Savior,
00:54:51.560and that there would be a new heritage