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July 27, 2005 Mr. Rod Greig has asked: “I'll close this bit of "whatever" with a request that someone explain to me the full meaning of Matthew Chapter 10, verses 34-38. It's one of the passages I have great difficulty accepting--and I've never heard a sermon based on it.” “34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 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. 36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. 37 He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that takes not his cross, and follows after me, is not worthy of me.” (Mt. 10:34-38) Jesus did not come to deliberately sow hatred and division. His was his message of peace that naturally caused the divisions among natural, carnal and spiritual men. There would be some who heard his words and would believe he was the incarnate God. There would be many others who would reject him, even of his own household. Those who became believers almost automatically became anathema to the ones who could not or would not believe on the only begotten son of God. The message of Jesus is still as divisive today as ever. Families are split and lives upset by the suddenness of salvation upon one life and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is this sudden separation that sometimes causes “variance” within families that may have some who believe the words of Jesus and others that do not. It is actually a natural reaction to the fact that the believer becomes immediately separated from the world and everything in it. The world is not the home of the believer. It is the difference in being spiritually alive as opposed to being spiritually dead. Paul wrote: “You hath he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins.” Suddenly, the one made alive in Christ is so much more different than any unbeliever around him. Enemies indeed rise up within a believer’s own household. But this is what a believer gives up too. A true believer cannot call Jesus Lord and still cling to those family members that are trapped in unbelief. The believer does not dishonor the parents, but neither can he continue in the way of the parents if it is not the way of the Lord. A saved parent does not ever hate a child of blood, but the unbelieving children must not be permitted to drag the believing parent away from God. The parent who remains steadfast will always have the chance to set the right example for the unbelieving child. The fact is, there are true Christians and then there are other religionists. It is usually the Spirit indwelt believer that; as his relationship with God strengthens; his relationships which he may have held before salvation begin to falter. Why? Well, for one spiritual reason, he has become a new man in Christ. Christ said that the world will hate the new man because the world hates him. This is borne out every day. Another spiritual reason is because the believer has been “born anew”. He has actually become a baby member of a generation of men that does not belong anywhere but in heaven. Many times he is not speaking the language of the world and the world will not understand the message of the Gospel as it is spoken by the Spirit filled believer. Understand; there is a good and a bad, a black and a white, a true and a false. These are always at odds. There is also a True Christian and a Christian so-called. This division is recognizable through the knowledge of the Spirit of God. Jesus did indeed bring division. His was a warning based in the foreknowledge that not all men would believe. Even families would divide because some would choose life while others would remain dead in sin. Life and Death have always been at odds too. ------------ Email Skip: skiptoomaloo@hotmail.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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