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[0:00] Again, thank you for your fellowship today. Thank God for you and those that are not with us that are watching as well.!

[0:13] Welcome to today's maths lesson. Now, maths wasn't one of my favourite subjects at school. I'm not very fond of maths. I'm like my dad, who's a maths genius.

[0:25] The Bible talks quite a lot about mathematics. Mathematics, and there's some points I'd like to make about, in particular, division. But let's look at some other things that the Bible talks about.

[0:39] The Bible talks about addition. It says in 2 Peter 1, verse 5, it says, And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and it goes on, numbers of things to add to your faith.

[0:58] As a Christian, we want our faith to be added to, to grow, to blossom. It says the church too. The Lord added to the church.

[1:11] God wants His church to be added to. And it says, not only just to add it to, as in numbers, but daily, such as should be saved. Of course, the church is the saved.

[1:24] And we could fill this church with, maybe we could have some special disco, or some entertainment, and it could draw multitudes and multitudes, but they wouldn't be saved.

[1:38] But God helping us, God's Spirit drawing those who should be saved, the church will be filled with such. And they were added to the church. They become the church.

[1:49] Because the church is the saved. The Lord adds to the church. There's addition. There's multiplication too. It says that the churches in Acts 9, the church has had rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified, and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.

[2:11] God wants His churches to be multiplied. Wouldn't it be good to have multiple churches? I like this one. Maybe God's sending you out from this church to start another one.

[2:23] We hate it when people leave, like when Brad left and Adam, there was a loss. But then there's a multiplication. And that's a good thing, isn't it? Because we need more churches.

[2:34] More churches that are preaching the truth. God's will is that there be a multiplication. And there's also a subtraction. Now I really love this one.

[2:45] In John 1.29, subtraction. I especially like this. It says that John, John the Baptist, he saw Jesus coming, unto him and he said, Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

[3:01] Don't you just love that? That's a blessed subtraction, isn't it? To have your sin taken away. Don't you want that? Your sin taken away by Jesus, our Lord, as the Lamb, it is taken.

[3:13] The burden, the weight of sin, it's taken away. So, we've seen addition, multiplication, subtraction. Now, for our subject today, for today's maths lesson, we're going to talk about division.

[3:28] Division. And I'm going to bring a divisive message, if you like. A divisive message. Because the Bible is divisive. On three fronts, you could say.

[3:40] Firstly, our Holy Bible brings division, doesn't it? This book is divisive, isn't it? There's nothing like it. There's no other book like it. It's controversial.

[3:51] It's radical. Too hot to handle. Our Holy Bible brings division. Point one. Our Holy Bible brings division. We see that in Hebrews 4, verse 12, where it tells us of the Word of God, that it is quick.

[4:05] In other words, it's alive. And it's powerful. And it's sharper than any two-edged sword. Piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

[4:20] Wow. That's divisive, isn't it? It cuts us to shreds, as it were. The Bible talks about people being pierced by the Word. Or being cut. Or being pricked in their hearts.

[4:31] And of the sword that is, that is cutting. It's a cutting tool. As a surgeon's scalpel would cut and divide and pierce and operate.

[4:43] The Word of God is such that it opens their hearts to the living Word, the Word of God, to Jesus the Word. And it speaks to our hearts, the Word of God, to our needs.

[4:56] It gives us our very Maker's instructions for life. Think of it. God has written to us. That's what it is. Shouldn't we take heed then?

[5:07] If God has written this to us, shouldn't we listen to what He's written? And when we read God's Word, as someone has put it, let us constantly say to ourselves, it is talking to me and about me.

[5:20] Precious, the Word of God. Once, and someone has put it like this, when once you and I are face to face with the Word of God, we can only accept or reject it.

[5:33] Jesus becomes the two-edged sword that cuts right in, right down the middle, dividing between believers and unbelievers. Friends, the Word of God, it divides, doesn't it? It says, there's a way to heaven, and that's the one way.

[5:48] One way. And that's divisive. That's a divisive message. And, you know, we notice it. I know when we go witnessing, I know, Paul, you made a remark to me yesterday, how there's this, it's like darkness and light, isn't it?

[6:07] It's like, it's like, this huge contrast between those who say, yes, I believe, and those who say, I don't believe.

[6:20] And it's about the words, isn't it? It's about His words. This book cuts the world in two. We're either with Him, or we're against Him. Just like, as we could reflect, of that division between various ones in the Bible, Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, Isaac and Ishmael.

[6:41] The Bible has been more widely read and more frequently attacked than any other book in history. Think of it. Critics have tried to fault it.

[6:53] Dictators have banned and burnt it and executed those who would read it. And that still happens today. There's nations around our world today. You're caught with this red hot book and it's your life.

[7:07] That's what it's going to cost you. We've got such freedom, don't we, to take it, treasure it, read it, study it. It's been said, soldiers have carried it into battle, believing it more powerful than their weapons.

[7:25] Franklin and Solomon have been smuggled into solitary prison cells and have transformed ruthless killers into gentle saints. It's a different book.

[7:37] It's a divisive book. It's quick and powerful. It's sharper than any two-edged sword. It's divided people down through history. And think of the power of this book.

[7:48] There was one time a missionary committee was meeting in England and the chairperson startled the people at this committee meeting to say that he had founded a growing Christian group in India.

[8:00] And they knew this man had never been to India. And he explained that way back as a youngster, as a five-year-old, he was hearing about the story of missions and he was impressed by the need there and he wanted to do more than just put his penny in the box.

[8:16] And the pastor who addressed challenged the boy and this little boy, he bought a Bible, he wrote his name in the cover and he mailed it to India.

[8:31] And the missionary gave it to a poor man who had walked miles to ask for a Bible. So this little boy's Bible, a five-year-old, went to India 20 years past and a visitor to a remote Indian village found some people there.

[8:48] They were Christians. No missionary had ever visited them. But they showed the visitor a well-used New Testament with the boy's name on the cover.

[9:01] Amazing, isn't it? The power of this book to save because this is God's saving message. Believe it and the message of it and you will be saved. Believe the one who is the saviour that it speaks of and you can be saved.

[9:18] It's truly a transforming book. Someone has said trying to absorb the depths of the Bible is like trying to mop up the ocean floor with a sponge. You know, at our Bible study nights we like to encourage questions and sometimes I'm almost fearful what's the next question because, you know, the depths of the Bible is so deep, isn't it?

[9:40] I don't know that we can always have a ready answer for every kind of tricky question that comes to us but yet if we search the Scriptures we'll have that help of God to know His will.

[9:53] Those soul-saving directions if we will apply it, His Word. We talk about rightly dividing the Word which we aim to do as a church and let the Word also divide us from sin and set apart us unto God.

[10:10] It's that dividing. The soul and the spirit gets the very core of us, doesn't it? When the Lord Jesus spoke about His Word as we reflected about this on our Bible study night of late John 10 verse 19 there was a division therefore among them among the Jews for these sayings.

[10:31] When Christ spoke His Word it brought division. This is the Word of God. It brings division, doesn't it? The division, notice the division was why?

[10:42] Because of His sayings, because of His Word. He was talking about Himself in the context about being the Good Shepherd about laying down His life with a sheep. Friends, it's a controversial book.

[10:55] There's a division because of His sayings, because of His words. And His words still do that today, don't they? They're either for them or they're against them.

[11:07] They either say, yes, I believe what the Bible says or they say, no, I don't want a bar of it. They deny it. These words create a division.

[11:20] They provoke people to either follow Him or to forsake Him. And they still do. The Bible still divides. It's either loved or hated. And if we apply God's Word to our lives, it makes a difference.

[11:34] It causes change. It's been said other books were given for our information. The Bible was given to us for our transformation. It's unique. As Moody said, sin will keep you from this book.

[11:48] This book will keep you from sin. God's Word shows us our need to be divided, separated from sin and uncleanness. When Christ spoke, it was different.

[12:00] It was radical and it brought division. Which brings us to our second point. Not only does our Holy Bible bring division, but our Holy God brings division. We see that there in Luke 12, 51.

[12:13] When our Lord was asked, He says, supposedly that I've come to bring peace on the earth, I tell you nay, but rather division. And He goes on to say about a house of five, three will be divided against two and two against three.

[12:28] The father shall be divided against the son, the son against the father, the mother against the daughter, the daughter against the mother, the mother-in-law against the daughter-in-law and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

[12:39] Sounds very divisive, doesn't it? That's what can happen, can't it? As we see, even within families, you're either for Him or you're against Him. It's a division among the people.

[12:51] And the division is because of Christ. Either we love Him or we hate Him. If we don't love Him, in effect, we hate Him. As the Gospel writer John says, and we reflect it again as I say in our study time about, it's repeated some three times, a division, a division, a division.

[13:09] There was a division among the people because of Him. Jesus is a divisive person. People across the religious world are still divided about Jesus Christ.

[13:22] Who is He? Is He just a man? Just a good prophet? Maybe one of the best prophets? Maybe even the Messiah? Or is He Lord?

[13:35] Lord? Lord and God? As Thomas confessed Him, Jesus Christ still causes division in the world today. He provokes us.

[13:46] He challenges us. His claims, His call, is divisive. We see God is divisive. And that's a good thing actually, isn't it?

[14:00] You're either one of His or you're against Him. There's no in-between. You can't sit on the fence and say, oh, I kind of believe in Jesus.

[14:11] Oh, He's a good person. Oh, there's good, it's good philosophy. There's good teachings. Oh, but I don't believe what He said. But He is the way, the truth, and the life, the only one who can bring us to the Father.

[14:25] That only by believing in Jesus I can get eternal life. They deny that. They're against Him. They're against His words. They're against Him. And so, God is divisive.

[14:36] Friends, He always has been. Right from the first pages of your Bible, Genesis 1, verse 14, from the very first chapter, in creation itself, God is divisive.

[14:49] As we read, God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night, to divide the light from the darkness, and God saw that it was good.

[15:02] Friends, the light is divided from the darkness. It's one or the other, light or dark. God saw this division in creation was good. In salvation, He divided. As we read of the Hebrews, as they were divided from the Egyptians, we see in Exodus 8, verse 22, He says, He's going to sever.

[15:23] That's a harsh word, isn't it? He's going to cut. He's going to set apart. He's going to distinguish, it says. He's going to sever, and this is the time of the plagues and such, He's going to sever between Israel and Egypt.

[15:36] Verse 23, and I will put a division. Bang. It's a dividing line. A dividing line. A division between my people and thy people.

[15:46] This was the Lord through Moses' voice addressing Pharaoh. He's going to sever, He's going to create a division. Make sure you're on the right side.

[15:58] It's important. Don't sit on the Egyptian side, sit with the people at God's side, right? And again, it says, Exodus 11, verse 7, and it's talking of the ultimate, the Passover time, of the judgment that fell, of the firstborns taken, and of that disastrous night that it was to the lost.

[16:22] That against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast. So even the dogs, you know, you get those, we've got one up the road sometimes, a noisy, barking, annoying dog.

[16:35] That dog's not going to bark against you if you're one of the children of Israel. That's the difference, you know. You're going to bark against them, but even the dogs know that there's a holy God who brings division.

[16:49] Know that the Lord makes a difference. There's a difference. There's a difference. There should be, shouldn't there? If you're one of God's people, there should be a difference between you and the ones who are not God's people.

[17:00] The Lord puts a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. So He's divisive in creation, divides the darkness and the light. He's divisive in salvation. You're either saved or you're lost.

[17:12] Don't pretend you're something else or you're nearly saved. Nearly saved is not enough. Like the man who said, you almost persuade me to be a Christian.

[17:23] Friends, it's almost just not enough. So He's divisive. He's divisive in creation. He's divisive in salvation. And what's more, He will be divisive in judgment.

[17:34] Friends, judgment day is coming. Surely it will come. And Matthew 3, verse 12, it says of Him that He will be like this man with a winnowing fan in His hand.

[17:46] As you see, these ones who have some vessel, some tool that they raise up as a fan and the wind blows the chaff away, the rubbish, but the wheat is stored and held.

[18:01] As the man who has the winnowing fan is representative of Christ as the judge, that He's going to throw up the grain and the chaff, the lost will be burnt up and the wheat will be gathered.

[18:17] Friends, there's a division there. There's a clear-cut division. And likewise, we read in Matthew 13, verse 47 through 40, 15, it talks about the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, cast into the sea, drawn to the shore, and they gather the good and they cast the bad away.

[18:38] So shall it be, it says, verse 49, at the end of the world, the angels shall come forth to sever, bang, cut, to sever, the cut, the wicked from among the just.

[18:50] Friends, there's going to be a dividing, a tearing apart of the just and the unjust. And it says that he's going to serve the wicked from the just and he's going to cast them, the unjust, into the furnace of fire and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

[19:05] Friends, you want to make sure you're saved because this holy God is going to bring division, he's going to bring division at judgment. And then we read of the sheep and goat nations of Matthew 25, he shall separate one from another as the shepherd divides his sheep from the goats and he shall set the sheep on the right and the goats on the left.

[19:26] Now sometimes you get some sheep that look a bit like goats. I know people look at, we've got some mangy looking sheep that look like goats half the time because they're hairy sheep.

[19:38] And some people would think they're goats but actually we know they're sheep. But you wonder whether, you know, in this time it's almost like the sheep and the goats look quite alike to a degree.

[19:49] It's almost like the, what is it, the tears and the wheat. They look quite similar. You know, you might be coming to church, you might be one of the ones who look, you play the part.

[20:03] You might look like you're a Christian, you might come and yet not be saved. You know, I saw this thing here.

[20:15] You know, if you're in a McDonald's, it doesn't necessarily make you a McNugget. You know, there's this thing where, you know, we can come to church and not be Christian.

[20:26] Honestly, you might say, well I've always been a Christian or I've grown up in a Christian home. And you must decide for yourself. Decide for Christ for yourself. Otherwise, you're still a goat.

[20:38] You might look like a sheep but it's not enough. You might sound like a sheep but it's not enough. Friends, you've got to be sure that you're a sheep. It's very important. I don't want to make light of that because one day judgment is coming.

[20:52] Be sure that you're saved. Be sure of that. Please. I urge you. Because judgment is coming. And there was a time in AD 79 in Pompeii there was a Mount Vesuvius erupted and exploded so suddenly and residents were killed while they were just going about their everyday life.

[21:13] The women and men at the market the rich in their baths and the slaves working in the fields. They died in the heat and the volcanic ash. Even family pets suffered the same quick and final fate.

[21:25] It was dramatic. It was kind of bang. These people did not have to die. There were several weeks of rumbling and shaking before the main explosion.

[21:37] There would have been a plume of smoke erupting for days before the day of disaster. disaster. If only they hated those warning signs. If only they noticed and heard.

[21:50] Friends, there's rumblings today isn't there? I think there's some rumblings going on. There's warfare, there's earthquakes, there's nuclear threat, there's economic disaster, there's plagues, there's the breakdown of family, of morals.

[22:05] There's a coming day of judgment people. There's rumblings. Don't be like the people of Pompeii when Mount Vesuvius erupted.

[22:16] There's a coming day of judgment and that judgment day will separate. It will divide the just from the unjust, the saved from the lost. Friends, the Lord divides. He divides in creation.

[22:28] He did that then when He created light and darkness. There's salvation He divides between the Hebrews and the Egyptians as a picture of us between the saved and the unsaved.

[22:42] And He'll divide again one day at judgment day. And He's called us to be a people who are divided, not divisive, but divided from the world.

[22:55] It tells us in Leviticus 10 verse 10 how there ought to be a difference between the holy and the unholy, between the clean and the unclean.

[23:07] There's a distinction. So friends, the Bible is divisive, God is divisive, and thirdly, salvation is divisive. There's a dividing line.

[23:19] Now you hear that kind of picture of you've got to step over the line, don't you? I used to be on the unsaved side of the line and I stepped over the line.

[23:31] Now not to make you people feel bad on this side of the room, I'm just using it figuratively here. But there's this immense picture of this line. You've got to step over the line, you've got to trust Christ for yourself.

[23:45] And so we've seen that our holy Bible brings division, our holy God brings division, and thirdly, our holy living brings division. You know, you people are kind of, you know, respectfully a bit weird.

[23:59] You Christians, you're a bit weird to the world. Our holy living brings a division. We've got to look and act a bit strange to the world. And living for Christ divides, doesn't it?

[24:12] When the subject comes up, you'll say which side you're on. You'll confess Christ. You'll stand for Christ. You'll say I'm a Christian.

[24:24] When the rubber hits the road. And there'll be a different devotion. Now this world is caught up in fame, in riches, in glory, and pleasure, in all these substitutes.

[24:36] But we that know him, we have a different Lord and master from them. And it says in Leviticus 20, verse 26, ye shall be holy unto me, for I, the Lord, am holy.

[24:50] I've served you, cut you off from other people, that you should be mine. That's a precious thing to be used, isn't it? To belong to him as his special people.

[25:00] It says in Psalm 4, verse 3, know that the Lord has set apart, set apart, him that is holy, him that is godly, for himself. To think that he would gain to grant you his gift, of everlasting life, that you could be the glad recipient of that, and that he has taken you to himself.

[25:25] As your faith in him has made a division. We love him, and we are divided. That's a wonderful thing. To be set apart to God, isn't that something important that's blessed?

[25:39] And it's not for any merit of our own, any claim we can credit, such a gift. We've got a different, a different devotion.

[25:51] And another thing we have is a different desire. It says in the Bible, Romans 12, verse 9, abhor, which means utterly detest, hate, it says.

[26:04] Hate, abhor that which is evil, and cleave to, cling to, hold on to that which is good. Friends, as a believer, we are made holy, and God gives us different desires, such that we hate that which is evil, and we cling to, we cleave to that which is good.

[26:27] That's pretty different, isn't it? That's divisive. As we know, we've been transformed by the renewing of our mind to please God, to our desire is to please God, to serve Him.

[26:39] There was a story told of a, a long ago, a Greek soldier, Spurgeon tells of this one, of a Greek soldier had an extremely painful disease that was going to kill him.

[26:51] And this soldier was always the first into a battle front, the bravest of the brave. His pain prompted him to fight that he might forget it, and he was not afraid of death.

[27:02] He knew that in any case he did not have long to live. And the king admired the valour of this brave soldier, and he brought the greatest doctors of the day and cured him. And from that moment the warrior was absent from the front line.

[27:15] Now he sought after pleasure, and he had something to live for now. Health, wealth, family, home, comforts. He would not risk his life now as he had before.

[27:28] And in a way it's a picture isn't it, how sometimes when we have troubles, we're courageous in serving our God, but we can get comfortable such that we lose that zeal, that love, that fervor, that fight.

[27:42] Christ makes a difference friends, he still does. It tells how the saved, 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 9, that he's turned people from the idols to serve the living and true God.

[27:57] There's a turning happens, it's repensing, there's a revolution, there's a turning about, it's a wonderful thing. And we're told that as believers we're meant to be simple concerning what is evil, but wise concerning that which is good, that's Romans 16, 19.

[28:16] In other words, we should be a bit, I mean, just to put it in colloquial language, we shouldn't actually be minded about the things of this world.

[28:31] We don't have to hear the latest gossip and the Hollywood shock stories. We can be simple concerning that. We don't even need to know what their names are, what's happening on the latest shows and all that.

[28:47] We can be simple concerning that, but rather be wise unto that which is good. Let this be your wisdom. Let this be that which occupies your thinking. Who cares about the world news, let's have the good news.

[29:00] Amen? He puts within us that desire, that longing to learn of him. And it's like, it's chalk and cheese, it's the old man and it's the new man. It says the old man is corrupt according to deceitful lust.

[29:12] The new man is renewed after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness. So we want to place our thoughts upon him. It says in Ezekiel 44 about, again, that difference between the holy and the profane, between the unclean and the clean.

[29:29] clean. It's a marked difference, either you're clean or you're not clean, isn't it? As believers, we're clean. We ought to be clean, have a clean heart, a clean mind, a clean affection.

[29:45] Our devotion is different, our desire is different, and lastly, our delight is different. It says of the man, of the woman, of God, it says this one, his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law does he meditate day and night, day and night.

[30:00] It's a different delight, isn't there? We delight in the Lord, not delighting in what the world would count as delightful, but our Lord is delightful. That's the true enjoyment and satisfaction, the true fulfilment.

[30:14] Our motivation is that, to delight, and to bring in glory, whether we eat, drink, whatever we do. His glory. Friends, there's a difference, there's a difference.

[30:26] I'm just trying to capture this, as many references we could give. Ezekiel 36 talks about a new heart, a new spirit that he gives to us. He takes away the old. There's a dividing there.

[30:38] He's the great heart surgeon, isn't he? He takes that old heart away, a stony heart. He gives us a living heart, a heart of flesh, a soft heart. Friends, that's our Lord, a different heart.

[30:52] heart. There's a story of a surgeon attending a young boy, and the heart surgeon says, tomorrow morning I'll open up your heart.

[31:05] And the little boy, he was a Christian, he said, you'll find Jesus there. And you might have heard me say this one before. The surgeon said, I've got to cut your heart open to see how much damage it's done. And the boy said, but when you open my heart, you'll find Jesus in there.

[31:18] And the surgeon looked to the parents, when I see how much damage, she was just being a cold, hard, clinical, when I see how much damage has been done, I'll sew up your heart and chest and I'll plan what to do next.

[31:30] But you'll find Jesus in my heart. The Bible says he lives there. The hymns say that he lives there. You'll find him in my heart. The surgeon had enough. I'll tell you what I'll find in your heart.

[31:41] I'll find damaged muscle! And low blood supply! And weakened vessels! And I'll find out if I can make you well! You'll find Jesus there too! He lives there! The surgeon left. The surgeon sat in his office recording his notes.

[31:54] Damaged aorta, damaged pulmonary vein, widespread muscle degeneration, no hope for transplant, no hope for cure, therapy, painkillers and bed rest, prognosis, death within one year.

[32:07] He stopped the recorder but there was more to be said. Why? He asked aloud, why did you do this? You've put him here, you've put him in this pain, you've cursed him with his early death, why?

[32:18] And it was this the Lord answered and said, the boy, my lamb, was not meant for your flock for long, for he is a part of my flock and will be forever here in my flock.

[32:30] He will fear no pain, he will be comforted as you cannot imagine. His parents will one day join him here and they will know peace and my flock will continue to grow. And the surgeon's tears were hot but his anger was hotter.

[32:43] You created that boy, you created that heart, he'll be dead in months, why? The Lord answered, the boy, my lamb, shall return to my flock for he has done his duty.

[32:54] I did not put my lamb with your flock to lose him but to retrieve another lost lamb. And the surgeon wept. The surgeon sat beside the boy's bed and the boy's parents sat across from him and the boy awoke and whispered, did you cut open my heart?

[33:09] Yes, said the surgeon. What did you find? Asked the boy. I found Jesus there, said the surgeon. You know, Jesus devised, doesn't he? He's in our heart.

[33:19] He gives us a new heart. He can give you a new heart today. By faith, you can trust him and know a new heart, a new life. He can be born again. That's the miracle that he still can perform in human hearts by faith today.

[33:34] Friends, to sum up, let's see what we've covered today in this mathematics lesson on the subject of division. The holy book that divides. History tells us that people love this book and they love it still.

[33:47] And people love this book such that they'll face torture and death, suffering, simply to proclaim it faithfully while others try to ban and burn it.

[33:57] It divides between the people of God and the lost. It says there's a heaven and there's a hell. It says there's light or darkness. It says there's God or the devil.

[34:08] It says there's salvation or damnation. It's a different book. It's a divisive book. It contains our makers, life-changing, soul-saving instructions.

[34:19] No other book compares with this book. And if we follow the instructions of this divisive book, the holy Bible, we can be divided from the pathway to hell and set apart as a man, a woman, a God.

[34:35] This book divides. There's a precious holy God that divides. He created light and darkness. He extends his hands of grace by which he divided his people from the Egyptians, by which he rescues the saved.

[34:52] And on judgment day he will divide the chaff from the wheat, the just from the unjust, the goats from the sheep. We'll be on the right side. Now for believers, there's a privilege of a holy living that divides.

[35:06] You are holy that know him. He's made you holy. He's called you to be holy. And he's set apart, it says, the godly for himself. As God's people we're called to be holy.

[35:19] And it's only by him, isn't it, that it's possible. There's a division, there's a setting apart, there's a dividing line, step over it. There's a difference, a division.

[35:32] And he's called you that trust him to be especially in his. In our devotion, to turn us from the idols to serve the living and true God. In our desire, we've got a longing to please him, our maker and Lord.

[35:47] In our delight, the joy of our heart, the joy of our heart is to delight him to do his will. And what is the difference? Jesus, in our heart.

[35:59] In our heart. heart, it says he comes to dwell in hearts by faith. Wow. How could that be? There must be some little door there and the password is faith.

[36:14] Jesus comes in. You can't fathom it, can you? But there's a dividing line. If you believe, he comes and resides as permanent.

[36:26] He's not going to come and go. as a residence there. Jesus is in residence there in the heart. And there's a dividing. And it's because Jesus is in the heart.

[36:38] Friends, there was a division among the people because of Jesus. It's because of Jesus. There's a division. It's still true today. So there's a line, there's a division.

[36:49] Are you a sheep or a goat? Sometimes it's hard for others to tell. You know, you might be able to trick the pastor or trick your friends. Trick the people sitting next to you.

[37:00] My friends, I urge you today, trust Christ. There'll be a division. It's because of him. You're either with him or you're not. If you're not with him, you're against him. And I don't mean to make light of that or make some careless remark about that because it's a very serious matter.

[37:21] It is a serious matter because there's a division that is absolute. And I urge you in simple terms, trust Christ as your Saviour.

[37:33] Trust that Jesus died for your sin, rose again. He's alive. He's coming back. He wants to receive you as a born-again man or woman today.

[37:50] God. Let's pray. Our Lord God, we thank you that you are the mighty God and it is to you that we come.

[38:01] Lord, we know this book is holy and it divides. You are holy. You divide. And Lord, you want a people holy that will make a right division in our lives, right choices.

[38:12] We'll be discriminating in a rightful way. We'll discriminate between right and wrong. We'll determine, we'll define, we'll judge between truth and error.

[38:24] We'll divide such that we'll be willing to stand, no matter the cost, to stand for Christ. Lord, we pray each one might know that wonderful comfort of heart that you reside in our hearts by faith and it's permanent, that you can dwell in our hearts by faith.

[38:44] Lord, we pray that each one might know what it is to say, Lord Jesus, I believe, I truly believe in you as Saviour, as Lord, Master, and King, in your saving power at the cross.

[38:59] Lord, help us to be such a people that will be our desire, our delight, our consuming love will be to be yours and distinctly yours, divisively yours.

[39:13] We pray for our loved ones, our friends, our family members who are on the other side of you. Lord, our heart goes out to them that they truly too might know that great gift of salvation.

[39:25] And Lord, we don't want to be divisive in such a way that will spurn them or turn them away, but rather we will be part of your work to draw them unto your dear self.

[39:42]  Lord, we pray, help us to be such a people. in your precious name, Lord Jesus, we ask. Amen.