JESUS—THE GREAT DIVIDER
Matthew 10:34-36 NLT
Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! No, I came to bring a sword. I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Your enemies will be right in your own household!
Luke 12:49, 51-52 NLT
I have come to bring fire to the earth! Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to bring strife and division! From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or the other way around.
Here’s the Most Important News Flash of The Century!—Jesus did not come to bring peace to the earth! Jesus came to divide us! You are either with God or against God! You’re either with Jesus’s definition of truth or against it. You’re either with Jesus’s definition of morality or against it. You’re either with Jesus’s definition of righteousness, of right and wrong or against it. You’re either with Jesus’s definition of justice or against it. You’re either with the just laws and policies that flow from the Jesus Code or you’re against them! There is no in-between.
Many are asking why our nation is so divided? Why are families so divided? While there may be many contributing factors for division, there is none greater than Jesus AND all He stands for. This, my friends, is the reason for our raging, national division. For all the acrimony, all the vitriol, all the hate and hostility. You cannot know Jesus, believe in Jesus, and not also embrace all He stands for. When you embrace Jesus, you embrace His morality. His righteousness. His divine set of values and moral principles. But, they are antithetical to the culture we live in. This is why we can never “coexist”, which is one of the most asinine, philosophical statements of all time. This is why the islamist has declared jihad on all of you. They hate and despise you. Your destruction is their “great commission”!
This is why there is such vitriol, such rage, such hatred in our “political discourse” today. Conservatism flows out of Judeo-Christian values. Democrat, progressive leftism flows out of godless marxism and demonic doctrines. For the first time in our nation’s history, over the last several decades, we’ve watched the evil, destructive redefinition of our moral code. The Jesus Code of morality, of righteousness, of right and wrong, of gender roles and family, of justice and truth, is diametrically opposed to the democrat, leftist code of immorality, unrighteousness, injustice, deceit and lies. Woe to those who call right, wrong, and wrong, right! This is the democrat left. It is the very essence of who they are.
We are enemies. We must courageously stand against them. This is why many of you are divided from family members. Jesus has divided you from them. This was precisely His intention. He came to divide us, not unite us. He came to set the world on fire! These divisions strike deep into our own families. Between those who fully, completely, unreservedly embrace Jesus Christ and all He stands for, and those who reject him, compromise with him, turn their backs on him, and reject the Jesus Code of morality, righteousness, right and wrong, justice and truth, the sacredness and sanctity of the unborn, and the precious value of children.
This is the cross we must take up. We must be willing to carry the Jesus Code proudly, unreservedly, unashamedly, walking through life, often divided from those who may even be the closest to us. We must stand with Jesus. We must demonstrably embrace the Jesus Code in all things, which is in direct opposition to all this world stands for, practices and propagates. Because of this, there will be people who cannot stand to be around you. They will treat you with great hostility, referring to you as garbage, deplorables, scum of the earth, and bitter clingers.
Friends, the time is now! Pick up that cross! Take your stand! Speak out now! Let your voice be heard. You cannot sit idly by and do nothing. You cannot cower in fear, or live to be liked. The world’s opinion be damned! If standing up for Jesus and His Code means you’re not invited to family Thanksgivings, so be it. We must love Jesus more, and most of all!
I gladly take my stand with all who stand for Jesus AND His righteous Code. You love Jesus, embrace the Jesus Code – I stand with you!
“Brother will betray brother to death, fathers will betray their children, and children will rise up against their parents and cause them to be killed. And everyone will hate you because of your allegiance to me.” – Jesus
Helping you become a Strong Disciple,
Because of Jesus,
Pastor Mark Darling
