No Matter What, the World Will Be Divided

[0:00] Good morning, it's good to gather round God's word. There's nothing quite like it in all the world. We've just sung Bind Us Together because in many ways what we're going to be looking at this morning is division.

[0:17] The causes of division. The division that's good and the division that's bad. And it's hard for us sometimes to understand that some kinds of division are good.

[0:27] But we must let God be God and teach us what we might otherwise not see without his help.

[0:39] Let's just pray for a moment. Living God, your servant, your suffering servant, your precious son, the Lord Jesus Christ, speaking to his critics, said, you search the scriptures because you think that by them you have eternal life.

[1:02] And these are they that speak of me. But you will not come to me to have life. And so, Father, as we gather round your word, we pray that we may have an encounter with the Lord Jesus today in all his glory and all his majesty, in all his reflection of your glory and majesty.

[1:28] All that he has shared with us, Father, your son has made you known. That was your intention all along. Our race has not known you since Adam and Eve hid from you in the garden.

[1:43] We are born ignorant of you. We are born with our faces pointed away from you. We are born with our hearts cold towards you. Which is precisely why your son came saying you must be born again.

[1:59] And so, Father, we pray in Jesus' name that you would minister from the pages of your word into our hearts this morning.

[2:10] And it could well be, Father, that what really speaks to us today might have nothing to do with the preacher and everything to do with the one who wrote and authored the word by the power of the Holy Spirit.

[2:22] So may your word speak deeply into each of us this morning. May none of us miss what you have for us. In Jesus' name. And may you be glorified in our lives as your word refuses to return to you empty and accomplishes in our hearts and in our lives and in our communities all that pleases your holy purpose.

[2:45] In Jesus' name. Amen. Well, Paul and Barnabas have been having a rough ride we saw that last week where they were literally driven out of Pisidian Antioch by a mob.

[3:07] They just had to it was time to make themselves scarce. They saw the writing on the wall it was time to go. What's all the fuss about?

[3:19] Why are people so offended by the best news in the universe? Why is it that the best of good news has such a violent response from the majority of people?

[3:36] It's one of the things we want to look at this morning. What was it Paul and Barnabas were preaching? Tell you what they were preaching the news was so good that it had been prophesied and put into print 700 years before by the prophet Isaiah.

[3:54] Let's just read what Isaiah said before we do anything else today. Many were amazed when they saw him. He's speaking of the servant of God who will come in due course the suffering servant the man of sorrows.

[4:09] Many were amazed when they saw him his face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human and from his appearance one would scarcely know he was a man.

[4:24] Now dwell on that thought for a moment here. Because we're talking about Jesus who was the image of the invisible God he was God in human flesh and he could honestly and truthfully say to people he who has seen me has seen the Father.

[4:44] If you want to know what your God is like all you have to do is look at me. That's how wonderful Jesus is. But here he is so disfigured that you could hardly tell that he was a human being at all.

[5:03] How did that come about? Because even before he got to the cross the Romans had thrashed him to within an inch of his life and the blood loss was so terrible that this man who was a carpenter he was he was he was of decent stature you can assume.

[5:20] He was a carpenter. There were he didn't go down to B&Q and get power tools to do his job. it was all muscle power by which this carpenter produced his work in Nazareth.

[5:33] So by the time he was a full grown man he would have been of good stature. But here was a man who had been reduced to almost nothing by the blood loss that had been inflicted upon him and he couldn't bear the weight of the cross and someone else had to carry it for him.

[5:51] he will startle many nations kings will stand speechless in his presence. That day has not come yet brothers and sisters but that day will come willingly or unwillingly kings will stand speechless in his presence.

[6:09] For they will see what they have not been told they will understand what they have not heard about who has believed our message to whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm. My servant grew up in the Lord's presence like a tender green shoot like a root in dry ground.

[6:25] There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected. A man of sorrow was acquainted with deepest grief.

[6:38] We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried.

[6:51] It was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God a punishment for his own sins. But he was pierced for our rebellion.

[7:07] He was crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us like sheep have strayed away.

[7:20] We've left God's path to follow our own yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. Now excuse me brothers and sisters but it's hard to understand how that is bad news to anyone.

[7:38] The living God has taken all our sins and laid them on his own son. Where is the bad news in any of that?

[7:50] Where is the offensive message in that? But this is what Paul and Barnabas had been preaching and vast crowds were coming to hear them because you see there's a secret ally within every human being that God has and the devil can do nothing about it and that secret ally of God is your conscience.

[8:20] Every man woman and child has a conscience. The tiniest toddler crawling about on the carpet has a conscience they know when they've done wrong.

[8:30] and when people hear this great news that this God who is so offended that the only remedy for that offense is the crucifixion of his own son that God himself would take human flesh and go to the cross in our place as a substitute yes we are talking about a substitute in our atonement that God takes our sin and places it on himself in the form of Jesus of Nazareth.

[9:15] That's what Paul and Barnabas were preaching that's why vast crowds were coming to hear because it was good news instinctively it's good news but then something else sets in and here we are we're going to start our reading today in Acts chapter 13 at verse 49 they've just been chased out of or they're about to be chased out of Pisidian Antioch at verse 49 the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region the whole city had turned out to hear the message that they had brought the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region but the unbelieving Jews and I've put unbelieving in there okay we're not going beyond what is written as brother Bill said at the beginning but just to clarify these are Jews who don't believe okay the unbelieving Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of the district but they shook the dust off from their feet against them and went to

[10:18] Iconium and the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit now at Iconium they gathered they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed but the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers so they remained for a long time speaking boldly for the Lord who bore witness to the word of his grace granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands but the people of the city were divided some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles when an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews with their rulers to mistreat them and to stone them they learned of it and they fled to Lystra and Derbe cities of

[11:19] Lycaonia and to the surrounding country and there they continued to preach the gospel now that's the short section we're looking at this morning folks so let's let's just look at what's happening here there are three little three tiny little words in that short section that we read three small words which actually give us our structure to think this through at verse 52 and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit and and we've just read they shook the dust off from their feet against them and went to Iconium and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit there are some things that don't make any logical sense to us when we read them in the Bible why would they be filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit they've just been sent packing they've been booted out in no uncertain terms and all the important people in inverted commas all the A-list people in

[12:29] Pisidian Antioch have made it absolutely clear that they are not welcome and they've stirred up as much hatred and persecution against them as they possibly could so they shook the dust off from their feet that's a big statement to make when you shake the dust off your feet you're basically saying there is nothing in this town I want to take to where I'm going not even your dust I have no use for anything that's in this place if you're rebelling against the living God if you can take his good news and call it bad news and seek to prevent other people from believing this good news then I have no use even for the dust of your city that clings to my feet I will take nothing from here to the next place it's a big statement to make we're looking at division on a colossal scale here because you know just a few days before these people were gathering in huge crowds and everybody was eager to listen and then suddenly the whole mood changes and you wonder how can that be how can the mood swing so quickly like that it's like an echo of Palm

[13:56] Sunday when the Lord Jesus came into Jerusalem and people thought this is the Messiah this is the real deal you know Hosanna in the highest and the palm branches are waving and they're putting garments on the road for him to ride the donkey over and it's such a glorious exciting wonderful time and everybody's happy and a few days later they're shouting crucify him give us Barabbas let Barabbas out of jail put this man on a cross how can the mood swing so quickly the mood swings so quickly my brothers and sisters because we don't take account of one of the terrible realities that sin has put us in league with the devil and unless our sin is dealt with by the blood of Jesus Christ and fully atoned for unless we're trusting him as Savior and Lord we're going to end up on the side of the devil every time

[14:59] Paul spoke to the Ephesian church about the spirit that is at work in those who are disobedient the children of disobedience he called them you see you need to understand that there are two spirits at work in the world there's the Holy Spirit and there's the spirit of disobedience the spirit of rebellion and unless we're filled with the Holy Spirit and walking and keeping in step with the Holy Spirit then rebellion will set in and a whole crowd of unbelievers they can be in one mood one minute and then because the devil has so much control of their lives through this spirit of rebellion their mood can change in an instant please don't ever think that because you've got a crowd that agrees with you that you're in a safe place very often the crowd is in the opposite frame of mind to the living God it's not safe to go with the crowd and that should be a warning to us all today when mass media is influencing opinions so much let's be very very clear that we're getting our understanding of truth and reality from

[16:24] God's word and not from the media because you see the fact is that the effect of the gospel in this world is always going to be division there's always going to be division in the world because of the gospel it will always bring division and it must bring division and it's good that it brings division let's read on a wee bit and see if we can understand this at Iconium they enter together into the Jewish synagogue now as Carl said last week this was Paul's invariable pattern every time he went to a new location the first place he would head for would be the synagogue why because Jesus had commanded his disciples don't go to the Gentiles but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel you remember when the Canaanite woman came to him and said my daughter is sick will you heal her he turned to this

[17:29] Canaanite woman and he said but I've come only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel Jesus was very clear about that why was that that seems terribly partisan on the part of Jesus doesn't it doesn't it seem as though God has got his favored race and he's really not interested in anyone else actually it's the other way around it's exciting to expound this it's really the other way around the reason Paul goes to the Jews first is because the Jews first were chosen by God to take the light of God to the world they were always chosen for that reason that's why they were drawn out of the nations and set apart and given the word of God and given the law of God they were supposed to be a people so filled with the light of God's presence and the wisdom of his mind that the nations surrounding them would look at them and say where did these people get this wisdom from our lives are chaos compared to these people they've got order they've got kindness they've got mercy they've got justice look at all the things they've got that we haven't got our society is in complete and utter chaos could that not be said about Britain today so where is going to be the equivalent of the ancient chosen people today in

[19:01] Britain answer it's going to have to be the church the church is God's chosen vessel to shine the light of his presence into this world for the Jews as well and first of all for the Jews as well as for the Gentiles so Paul went first of all to the synagogue taking his whole passion was for his own people to become believers in Jesus of Nazareth so they went into this synagogue and need to understand it's so important that we grasp this the first thing that God did after he said let there be light you can read this in Genesis 1 verse 3 as soon as he said let there be light what did he do he separated the light from the darkness he separated the light from the darkness God has been in the division business for a very long time because

[20:06] God must separate what can't be joined there can be no fellowship between light and darkness you can't mistake the one for the other you can't blend them there must be a separation between light and darkness why because the people living in darkness are never going to see light if the light looks like the darkness and the majority of the world is living in darkness Paul and Barnabas spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed here you are Paul and Silas in complete continuity with Peter who had discovered that God would give the gospel to the Gentiles in Cornelius house and this is Paul and Barnabas doing exactly the same thing it's the Jews and the Gentiles that are gobbling up the gospel here but then there's the division there's the unbelieving

[21:07] Jews who stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds this division is absolutely this can't be avoided let me read you something from Martin Lloyd Jones the doctor as people love to call him he said this the idea that we ought to feel disappointed when people do not believe the gospel that we ought to think that something has gone wrong is altogether mistaken the idea that the gospel is a message that must appeal to men and women is all wrong by nature people have always hated and rejected the gospel but in doing so they do not realize that they are proving the truth of the gospel and of our Lord's prediction the tragedy is that the world does not realize that in rejecting this message it is rejecting the only thing that can save it we live in a world that makes enemies of its friends and celebrates its enemies everything is upside down and back to front the world doesn't know what is good for it the world is like a big version of ancient

[22:24] Nineveh where the Lord said should I not have compassion on these people who don't know their right hand from their left they don't know what's good they don't know what's evil they have no boundaries they have no fences there is no protection for them should I not have compassion on these people and so the Lord is looking at our confused and tired and weary world right now and he's saying should I not have compassion on this world Dr. Billy Graham addressed crowds of 120,000 in Wembley Stadium he was invited by Margaret Thatcher to Downing Street in 1989 his name is synonymous with a message that captivated the hearts and the minds and imaginations of countless millions of people around the world they estimate that he spoke to about 10 million people in his lifetime and everything he spoke about was the gospel he used to get invited frequently to the White

[23:43] House and Ronald Reagan would often say to him Billy why do you always say the Bible says and he would say well because the Bible says and that was his invariable reply our gospel is hated folks and if we weren't sitting here today by the grace of God we would be numbered amongst those who hate the gospel too that's why we can have the mercy that Bill was talking about in his prayer at the beginning we owe mercy to our blind and deaf and confused world because we yourselves are debtors to mercy Moses said this to his people this is in

[24:45] Deuteronomy 4 he said look I'm teaching you these decrees and regulations just as the Lord my God commanded me so that you may obey them in the land you're about to enter and occupy obey them completely and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations when they hear all these decrees they will exclaim how wise and prudent are the people of this great nation for what great nation has a God as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on him and what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I'm giving you today that was how Moses tried to help the people of God to understand their unique place in the world that's why Paul would head for the synagogue before he even began to speak to the Gentiles apart from anything else he had enough wisdom to know that if he tried to talk to the

[25:47] Gentiles before he talked to the Jews there would be a riot there was a riot anyway but he did it the right way round the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles they poisoned their minds the enemy will always attack people's minds the God of this age said Paul has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see and come to a knowledge of the truth it's the mind that's the battleground between good and evil it's the mind that's the battleground and that's why the word of God is so so important so they remained for a long time speaking boldly for the Lord there's another of those little words you see the first word was and they've just been driven out they've been booted out in no uncertain terms and they were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit that's not logical but that's the way it is in the kingdom of

[26:49] God because the living God gives you joy when you're in a place of obedience obedience is a joyful place to be in God it's not because God is like some cosmic policeman who's out to get us or monitoring our every movement and ready to pounce on us at a moment's notice that's not God when God said thou shalt not kill he was being descriptive rather than prescriptive he wasn't just telling his people this is what you're to do and I'm going to condemn you if you don't he was saying this is the kind of people you will be if you live by my decrees you will be people who don't murder you will be people who don't build nuclear bombs you will be people who don't rape and pillage you will be people who express mercy and kindness because in these things

[27:50] I delight the people of the city were divided some sided with the Jews and some sided with the apostles but you know sometimes you need to read between the lines in the Bible because some things are not stated explicitly but when some sided with the Jews and some sided with the apostles what you're really saying is some sided with the devil and some sided with the living God some believed the message that was meant to bring them eternal life through the Savior and some opposed that message and that will always be the case the world is always going to be divided over the message that we bring now I had problems with that principle as a young minister when I first set out of course I'm still young you understand but when I first set out

[29:01] I really thought my father my dad dad was just a lovely guy he was a really likeable guy and he was popular throughout this town and so I kind of gathered from dad that you know win friends and influence people and one of the first books he ever gave me to read was Dale Carnegie's book of that title how to win friends and influence people but by the time I became a young minister I had really got it into my head that somehow or other I was just going to be Mr.

[29:37] Nice Guy and I was going to win people around just by sheer force of personality and just being a nice bloke you know because what I was really saying to Jesus was well Lord I know you said love your enemies but it's okay I've got this Lord I've got this I've sorted it it's alright I can win these people around but I had some painful lessons to learn in those early days of ministry my personality wasn't going to win people around at all because you see our struggle is not against flesh and blood it's not against people it's not people essentially that are the problem it's people who are under the power of the devil and don't know it you see you're either under the devil's management or you're under Jesus' management there's nothing in between I'm going to say that again this is really important if we haven't really grasped this we need to grasp it before we leave here today you're either under the devil's management or you're under

[30:46] Christ's management there's nothing in between there is no neutral ground the God of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see and come to a knowledge of the truth if you're not a disciple of Jesus Christ your mind has been blinded and you need God to open your eyes and it may just be that this particular word that I am preaching in my own poor way is the word that you need to hear today that's going to make the difference between life and death for you and heaven and hell the reason for the division is actually God himself Jesus is the only viable peace process between sinners and God the Middle East is always talking about peace processes we've had the Oslo Accords we've had the Camp David Agreement we've now got the Abraham Accords and there are all these peace processes the very fact that we talk about peace processes in the plural means they don't work but there is a peace process that works and his name is

[31:56] Jesus he has made peace through his blood shed on the cross but they said a strange thing Jesus said lots of strange things do do do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth no I have come to divide people against each other from now on families will be split apart he said this is still Jesus speaking three in favor of me two against or two in favor and three against father will be divided against son and son against father mother against daughter daughter against mother mother in law against daughter in law daughter in law against mother in law what strange thing for the prince of peace to say but he's had to say this he had to point this out he had to make it clear that the world has to take a position relative to Jesus Christ we are either for him or we're against him we either enjoy all the benefits of his glorious presence in our lives from

[33:04] God because there's no other way to know God than through Jesus Christ you know it's an interesting thing that back in chapter 13 verse 47 when Paul and Barnabas were getting rid of the dust from their feet as they were being driven out of Pisidian Antioch he quoted this to them he said the Lord gave us this command when he said I have made you a light to the Gentiles to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth this is why Paul was being divided even from his own people because his own people had failed to see what their holy status was about holiness you see is a light bridge holiness is a light bridge it's intended to be a bridge from the kingdom of light into the kingdom of darkness to give the people who are living in darkness an opportunity to meet with

[34:19] God through the witness of his holy people holiness is a light bridge but the religious Jews had built a barricade they had come to the conclusion that their chosenness meant they were elite they weren't elite they were elect they had been chosen but they weren't chosen because they were better than others they were chosen to become better than others so there would be light for people to see brothers and sisters that's what sanctification is about for you and me we're not chosen because we're better than others we're chosen to become better than others when my wee friend who was dealing drugs out of his kitchen window a few years ago said I asked him to come to church he says I couldn't come to church I'm not good enough I said that's good that makes two of us he says what are you talking about you're a minister I said you don't think ministers are good because they go to church do you he said well are you not good

[35:26] I said well no I'm not I'm not good none of us is good I said I go to church to be made good because God is at work in my life and it's through the church that he helps me to become the person that I could be rather than the person I really am the religious Jews had built a barricade there was there was nothing there that was shining out into the darkness they were just keeping God's goodness to themselves when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers to mistreat them and to stone them they learned of it and they fled they fled I remember when I read that I thought to myself surely that was that's a bit unlike them I mean Paul experienced so many hardships he was persecuted in so many different ways he had so much suffering inflicted upon him why would he flee this guy was brave why is he fleeing well

[36:39] I was having a wee dip into Kent Hughes I love to read Kent Hughes every now and again and Kent Hughes was saying this he says Paul and Barnabas were born again they weren't born yesterday they were born again they weren't born yesterday they saw the intention of the crowd and they knew it was time to flee and if you go back to Matthew 10 and verse 23 you'll see Jesus saying to his disciples when they persecute you in one place flee to another now brothers and sisters this is maybe going to sound a wee bit off the wall but please ponder it when you go home because I want to suggest that there is a time coming when we are going to want to be able to sit very lightly to the things that we possess there is a time coming in our society because powerful agencies are at work behind the scenes and they intend to take possession of your possessions and mine but more than anything else they intend to stamp out

[37:46] Christianity in this country and there are lots of powerful agencies at work to do that just now now I don't say that to be morose or to get anybody despairing or anything like that quite the opposite just let's be realistic these guys were only able to flee because they had no possessions to take with them but many people today have got we're so rooted in our materialistic society that even if we do need to flee we'll not really want to because our roots are too deep down in the wrong things and the Lord may want to strip us of a lot of stuff that we think we can't live without in a Philippian jail there's nothing you really need except the presence of Jesus and that's all they had here's

[38:47] Paul in fact before I do that I want to tell you a story that this came from the reader's digest many many years ago one night in 1945 an American aircraft pilot a captain brought his crippled B-29 in for a safe landing amidst waiting fire engines and red flares he unloaded the plane and entered the group headquarters tent his face was completely white he was in a state of shock and it was several minutes before he could talk an incredible feat had been accomplished as the captain piloted his pathfinder plane toward the enemy coast because his mission had been to drop phosphorus smoke to mark the target for the bombing mission that would come behind him so it was a pioneer job that he was doing on B-29s it was the radio operator's job to release the bomb through a narrow tube and on this particular night

[39:57] Sergeant Henry Irwin received the routine order he triggered the flare and dropped it down the tube but there was a malfunction and the bomb exploded and bounced back into the sergeant's face it blinded both his eyes and it seared off one of his ears burning phosphorus melts like metal melts metal like butter and the bomb was now at the sergeant's feet and it was rapidly eating its way through the deck towards a full load of incendiary bombs he was all alone because the navigator had had to go up into the transparent dome at the top of the plane to make some computations with the skies and the stars so he had no one there and not had the luxury of time to analyse his situation he picked up this white hot bomb in his bare hands and he stumbled forward toward the cockpit groping along with his elbows and his feet and the navigator's folding table was down and latched and blocking the way and this sergeant hugged the blazing bomb under one arm as it burned the flesh over his ribs he unfastened the latch and he lifted the navigator's table and he stumbled on like a walking torch his clothing and his hair were ablaze dense smoke filled the plane and the captain opened the window beside him to clear the air the captain said I couldn't see the sergeant but I heard his voice right at my elbow he said pardon me sir and he reached across to the window and tossed the bomb out of the plane then he collapsed on the flight deck amazingly the sergeant survived and he went on to regain the use of his hands and the partial vision of one of his eyes he was given the congressional medal of honour which is their equivalent of the victoria cross that's an incredible story of courage and bravery but this is

[42:16] Paul here's Paul the apostle the man who said the love of Christ compels me and he's boasting here he's not boasting because he wants to boast he's boasting to give the Corinthians a taste of the way they're behaving and he's saying you drove me to this but I'm going to tell you this is my biography Paul says this is me this is the way it's been five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes minus one three times I was beaten with rods once I was stoned three times I was shipwrecked a night and a day I was adrift danger from Gentiles danger in the city danger in the wilderness danger at sea danger from false brothers in toil and hardship through many a sleepless night in hunger and thirst often without food in cold and exposure and apart from other things there's the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches who is weak and I am not weak who is made to fall and

[43:23] I am not indignant if I must boast I will boast of the things that show my weakness the God and Father of the Lord Jesus who is blessed forever knows I am not lying about these things at Damascus the governor under King Aratas was guarding the city of Damascus to seize me and I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands there he is this man with all this being put in a basket for bread and help to escape over the walls of a city these are the things that happened to him and here's Jesus Christ is the image the visible image of the invisible God he existed before anything was created in his supreme overall creation for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth he made the things we can see and he made the things we can't see such as thrones and kingdoms rulers authorities in the unseen world everything was created through him and for him he existed before anything else and he holds all creation together he is the beginning he is supreme over all who rise from the dead so he is the first in everything let me ask you this folks is

[44:56] Jesus first in everything for you is he what lights you up in the morning when you wake up just to have a word with the saviour to know his presence to walk with him through the day he is first in everything for God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ so who was it suffered on the cross then was this God being barbaric as some Christian teachers claim was he being barbaric was he committing some kind of cosmic child abuse because he put his son on the cross in place of guilty sinners listen listen to this God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ who suffered for our sins it was God himself who suffered for our sins it was the will of God that he should be bruised to save us and through him

[46:03] God reconciled everything to himself he made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood on the cross brothers and sisters the world is always going to be divided over the gospel the world is always going to be divided and we can't preach a gospel that will be acceptable to people we can't preach a gospel that will be comfortable or cozy we are going to have to preach a gospel where we are telling the best possible news to people who don't want to hear it and we'll have to come to terms with the fact that if we're going to reach this town with the good news of Jesus Christ we will receive abuse for our care and concern because Jesus said they persecuted me they will persecute you also and

[47:05] Jesus had hardly gone back to heaven hardly had sent the spirit down when Peter and John were going up to the temple at three in the afternoon and there was a man who had never walked in his life couldn't do a thing for himself he just sat there begging every day people would just carry him to that place and put him down and he would sit there with his begging bowl and he saw Peter and John and he looked up at them as if they would give him something and the two of them fixed him with their eyes can you imagine what he saw in their eyes because they were reaching out to this man with the compassion of Jesus and they fixed him and they said to him we have no silver or gold to give you but what we have we'll give you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk and the man who had never walked went leaping and jumping and praising

[48:14] God and the town was abuzz with this because everybody knew the man he'd been there for years he was an institution he was a piece of furniture and suddenly here he is bouncing around and shouting the praises of God and what's the reaction of the religious authorities do they hold a celebration no they arrest Peter and John and they begin to question him by what authority do you do this you see the division is there all the time so what I'm really saying folks is the gospel does not cause division the gospel simply reveals the division that's there all the time between sinners and God sinners are divided from God that's our natural state until Jesus comes into our lives and we're born again we are divided from

[49:15] God we may fool ourselves into thinking because we're a bit religious or because we have some kind of belief in God I talk to dozens of people every week and they tell me that they believe in God the devil believes in God but this is the reality the gospel doesn't cause division the gospel just reveals division it reveals the gulf between the creator and his creation between the father and his children between a loving God and a self-interested group of sinners who desperately need to be born again so brothers and sisters as we ponder this today as we go home thinking about this bear in mind that you're going to be living in a world where in order for us to preach the gospel we're going to have to deal with this dividing reality and it's a good and wonderful thing that the gospel divides because once the gospel separates us from this world and from our sin we begin to walk through this world with

[50:36] God and we become a bridge of light across which other people can come to meet the saviour let's just pray God our father we we thank you that you have bound us together with yourself through the gospel and as you bind us together with you you bind us together with each other and of course it means father that bound together with you and with each other we often experience division and separation from people we love and they just don't get it they don't understand they don't see and neither would we be able to see had you not opened our eyes neither would we have come to Jesus unless you had drawn us so father in the name of

[51:41] Jesus will you place on our hearts the names and faces of the people you are drawing to Jesus in these days will you wake us up in the middle of the night to pray for these people when the enemy is crushing them pressing them tempting them seeking to keep them in permanent blindness lord will you share your great compassionate heart that reached out even to Nineveh will you share that great heart with us bind us together in love with you and with each other and let no division come amongst us here lord but let us also be comfortable with the division that there must be between us in an unbelieving world help us to grieve over that division but to be comfortable with it too help us not to try to preach a comfortable gospel help us not to try to get people saved without the cross lord help us to make sure that if they're going to find their way to you it will be by way of the cross and help us lord in jesus name to remember that we are debtors to your mercy and to preach the cross to ourselves every day in life and marvel until we can sing amazing grace and not keep our faces straight help us to sing amazing grace with amazed faces help us to sing blessed assurance and not blessed that we're hoping we've done enough father you have done it all for us your son has finished the work that you gave him to do and now he looks back and sees what his suffering has accomplished and he smiles and he rejoices we bless you father that we are his handiwork thank you for the cross lord in jesus name amen