[0:00] We're in Luke chapter number 12 this morning. I love that we have truth-filled music, but one of the things that it does is that when somebody is singing, as Brother David is, it causes me to think and meditate upon what he is saying as I had exactly what I had planned to say when I started this morning.
[0:15] But as I hear him singing about giving something to the Lord that cost us nothing, I was thinking through the Bible and throughout history, we know that receiving Jesus Christ is a gift.
[0:27] It's nothing that we could earn. We would never have the ability, if it was to be offered to us at any price, we would never have anything to give the God of heaven. So it was a free gift to salvation. But the cost of discipleship does cost to carry our cross.
[0:42] And that has always been true. But it seems that we live in a world today where we offer something that costs nothing. And it isn't that the world has changed and began accommodating Christians.
[0:54] It's that as Christians, we have accommodated to the world so that we have a type of Christianity that doesn't cost us much, where it doesn't really matter much to us.
[1:05] They don't mind. People don't mind the way that we live our Christian life as long as it doesn't go against the grain of what they're doing. If you have an unbelieving moral person, you have a moral Christian person, there's not many times where our faith costs us something.
[1:18] But Jesus Christ is the Lord of our lives and he deserves it all. And in the areas in which he would ask you to give, whatever it is, we should never lay our hands upon what he would have for us.
[1:30] So we have here in verse number 49, we see the cause of division. If I was to say a house divided, what do you think about? Maybe a license plate, maybe Georgia Tech versus Clemson.
[1:42] There's a house divided over there. Maybe it's Georgia Tech and Georgia or Alabama and Auburn or whatever it is. But you think a house divided, it typically today means a house that delights two different college sports teams.
[1:56] That's not what we're looking at here in this passage. Growing up in the summers, for a few summers, I had a stepbrother and a stepsister that would come to spend the summer with us.
[2:07] And we were all the same age for one day a year. So the summer of 8, 9, 10, and 11, we'd spend the summer together. And so some of you are running the math on how that worked, right?
[2:18] But on one day, we were all the same age. So we're very close in age. And I can think of many times with me and my stepbrother, Chad, how many times I drew a line and I said, if you cross this line, I'm going to knock you out, all right?
[2:33] And so Chad crosses the line. And I don't want to fight because I'm not going to win. All right, so I'm like, but if you cross this line, I mean it this time, mister. You better not cross this line.
[2:44] And I've created a lot of artificial lines that meant absolutely nothing. And we live in a world that likes to draw lines and that likes to bring the vision. And there could be a whole series of messages that we have passages in the Bible about where Jesus erases those lines.
[3:00] We celebrated with our brother Sam, who grew up Jewish a couple weeks ago, how Jesus erased that line, how there's no other Jew or Gentile, but we're now one in the church.
[3:11] That is a line that needs to be erased. In areas of race and social class and all the different ways that the world wants to draw a line, we love that Jesus Christ says, it's all even at the foot of the cross.
[3:23] And that's wonderful. And that's glorious. It's worth celebrating. It's worth studying. It's worth talking about. But in this passage, what we have is that a line is drawn by him and not by me, and it doesn't move.
[3:36] And you have to realize that. And we have to live with the consequences of the division that it will bring in life for us. And so there is a line that comes as a result of knowing him that cannot be moved.
[3:51] It runs from here all the way through eternity. And some of you feel the consequences from being on this side of the line. Verse 49, I have come to send fire on the earth, and what will I if it be already kindled?
[4:05] Verse 51, Suppose you that I have come to give peace on earth. So that statement, I have come to send fire. I have come. We will see that several times in this portion of Luke.
[4:18] These are mission statements. This is summarizing. This is the reason that I have come. And so he says, I have come, and it says that I have come to send fire. In the Bible, fire, it teaches us about judgment.
[4:31] It also teaches us about the Spirit. In the Old Testament, the image of fire describes the purifying message of the prophets. And so Jesus' message reveals a judging and a purging work that his ministry represents, provides a way for people to make decisions about where they stand, and offer them an opportunity to repent.
[4:52] I read a story about a guy named Robert Fulgham. He tells about a fire crew. Brother Brett, you'll like this, maybe. A fire crew had to break into a house with smoke pouring out of the windows, and they found a man.
[5:04] He was in a smoldering bed. And after the man was rescued and the mattress was doused, they asked, How did this happen? And the man replied, I don't know.
[5:15] It was on fire when I laid down on it. All right? And this is kind of a funny story to us because it's so strange. Who in their right mind would lay down on a mattress that was already burning because you can't be passive about fire.
[5:30] It's never not a big deal. You have to deal with it. It is all-consuming. And so unlike this man, we know that fire causes you to make a decision.
[5:41] There has to be a movement. Jesus draws a line that forces us to take sides. This all for the gospel necessarily divides people into two opposing camps.
[5:51] There is no neutral ground when it comes to him. And so this line that is drawn, how is it drawn? The next passage verse is going to tell us that it's drawn by the cross.
[6:03] And it says it like this, I have a baptism to be baptized, and how am I straightened till it be accomplished? This baptism he's talking about is about the cross that is quickly coming in his life.
[6:15] There's a joy that is set before him, but there's also the agony that is there. He will be immersed under the flood, of God's wrath for our sins. The great agony of the cross, he felt it physically in every way possible, that any human would ever fill it.
[6:31] He felt it on every area, every aspect of his life. 2 Corinthians 5, 21, For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that he might be made the righteousness of God in him.
[6:43] So the agony of the cross is the reality that the sinless one became the sin bearer, and that was coming in his life. And that event, historical event that divides time, it divides everything in this world, and it draws a line here.
[7:00] And so many of us, and I pray all of you here today, have recognized your sinful state, you've embraced the cross, but others, maybe here, watching online, or in other places, have rejected this message of the cross, not seeing themselves as sinners in need of a savior.
[7:16] And so the separation runs along that line, and it runs even through families. We have missionaries, as we do on most Sundays and services, that are here with us.
[7:29] And there is a line that is drawn between us, and there are geographic lines where they will serve in a different place. But the only real line that matters in all this world, I'm so grateful, it does not divide us, but we are together on the right side of that line.
[7:48] Because the geographic lines, and the space lines, that is a heavy line to pay, to be separated. We have family in South Africa, we miss most of them. All right, now we miss them, when they are gone, and that is of harm for us.
[8:04] Miss Lori's mom is here with us today. She, as a mother of a missionary, knows what it is like for that. That's a separation, that's something that on this earth is hard, but one day we get to celebrate for all eternity.
[8:16] But isn't it so wonderful to have family that is all on the same side of the line? That in Jesus Christ, that we both, we know him, and we worship him. And regardless of what happens in this world, no matter where you may live, knowing Jesus Christ can bring a closeness to us that is unlike anything else.
[8:34] That you can meet somebody who's another believer, and in a short conversation, you realize we are on the same side of this line. We see Jesus in the same way. He is worthy of praise, and it creates a closeness.
[8:47] You may have also felt what the division is like. A person could be a brother, a sister, a mom, a dad, somebody in your life, and that for every reason possible, there ought to be just this closeness, but you don't get to enjoy that, because there's a division.
[9:04] We're looking at King Jesus differently. He is the Savior that I need, and he is just a story. He is the one who paid for my sins, and he is the one that pulls my family away during holidays.
[9:16] He is the one who died for my sins, and he is the one that just takes up too much time for my family. Whatever it is, and however it is viewed, Jesus creates a crossroad.
[9:27] He brings us to a point of division. Suppose ye that I come to give peace on earth, I tell you nay, but rather division. This has to be one of the most staggering phrases that comes from Jesus' lips.
[9:41] Jesus knows that this forces a decision, but he brings division, and then every possible combination is mentioned. Father, son, mother, daughter, in-laws, and all those things are mentioned, just to say that this division runs through families.
[9:57] So what are we to make of this? Jesus tells us to love our enemies. Isaiah 9, he's called the prince of peace. John 13, he promises that the world will know us because of our love for one another, and then we're told that we are to, there's a division in our lives, and at times we're even told that we should, our love would be as hate for our family.
[10:24] Ephesians 5 tells us that I'm to love my wife, and I love my wife, especially love my wife when she's serving in the nursery because that's a great ministry for everybody, especially for me. I really appreciate those serving in the ministry today.
[10:36] I'm told to love my children, and I'm told to love my parents, but then it says that I came here to create division. How do we reconcile this?
[10:48] How do we reconcile this? We know there's no contradiction in God. We know there's no contradiction in his word, and so you can expect how staggering that is to us.
[10:59] In Matthew 10, giving some more insight upon the story that's happening here, it says in Matthew 10, 36, and a man's foal shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.
[11:14] He that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Kind of a key here for us to understand what is being said here, is that our love for the Lord Jesus makes any other love appear to be as hate, and that's what he's saying, that it's just incomprehensible that the level in which Jesus Christ ought to be.
[11:37] Remember in high school, my basketball coach having me make a list of the top 10 priorities in my life, and I knew what he wanted. Being a Christian, I knew what you want. Number one, Jesus, all right?
[11:48] Number two, family, you're my basketball coach. Number three, basketball, okay? I don't know what my 10 was, and he went through there, and beside 10 through, Jesus was number one, but from 10 down to two, he marked through it, and he put, in this, Jesus should be number one.
[12:05] In family, Jesus should be number one. In your work, Jesus should be number one. That Jesus Christ gets the first place in all areas of our lives, and everything else is a far second.
[12:17] So it's in those moments like this that the crowd begins to gather real thin when Jesus makes statements like this. It's not the gospel to blame, but it's the rebellious heart that creates this division.
[12:30] John 6, 66 tells us that after Jesus makes a statement similar to this and telling them they will drink of his blood and eat of his flesh, and it says, but from that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.
[12:43] Those learners, those that came to learn, at that point, many of them turn and walk away. Jesus is proclaiming and demanding his rightful place to all of them, and that's why we constantly see large crowd, small crowd, large crowd, small crowd.
[13:01] Jesus dies, upper room, small crowd. Everywhere he goes is a small crowd. This is where the deacons text each other and say, hey, let's not worry about talking about a new building.
[13:11] Trent's talking about the things that we don't like to talk about in church anymore, which is that Jesus demands our all, and he and nobody, there's no competition to that.
[13:23] And so there's a contrast here. In the book, Radical by David Platt, he tells about going to hear his preaching professor preach, and his preaching professor preached the message, and the name of the title was, he started off like this, and he says, let me tell you why you should not follow Jesus.
[13:42] And after he got done preaching, many people came to the altar and put their faith and trust in Jesus. Well, he decided he was going to preach that message a couple weeks later in a youth meeting, and he preached the message on why you shouldn't follow Jesus, and he said, I must have preached it a lot better than he did because everybody listened to me that day and nobody decided to follow Jesus.
[14:04] And in that message, what he did was telling them about counting the cost, what it is that Jesus is offering you in salvation, and the decision that you're really brought to when Jesus would come to you.
[14:16] And that's how we'll end the day. We'll look at what it's like when Jesus comes to a person and he bids him come. And so our love for Christ should make all other loves in our lives, including family, look as hate in comparison.
[14:31] My love for him should be greater than any earthly possession. A man is walking in a field and he finds a treasure, and that treasure is so great that he says, if I have to sell everything that I have to be able to buy that treasure, I will do it.
[14:49] And so you get all your stuff together. If you've ever been in this place before, some of you may be too sophisticated or you may have never had this, but I remember especially when we were first married, how you go to the grocery store and I think, I think I have enough money for everything, but just in case I don't, the cinnamon toast crunch is going to go first, not last.
[15:08] Okay? And so I'm going to make sure, if I don't have enough money for everything, I'm going to get this. And so you can lay out all your earthly possessions and say, I'm going to sell everything that I can to buy this treasure, but I just have a few things that I'm going to set aside.
[15:20] I'm going to say, I'm going to wait and make sure that I have to really sell this to buy this treasure. I asked Greg today what that would be in his life and he told me his coffee mugs. All right?
[15:31] I was like, really? Nothing from your family? He's like, no, I would want my coffee mugs to be the last thing that I sold. I don't know what it is. It may not be earthly possessions. Some of you, nothing's really registering to you what it is, but Jesus Christ is that treasure.
[15:46] And he says, it's worth selling everything that you would have for that treasure. And that's him saying, I'm greater than all of your possessions. Another way that he would say it is in loyalty above all else.
[15:58] This makes me uncomfortable to share, but I believe it's what we're being taught in God's word. I shared with the teenagers in high school class today. When I'm 18 years old, the Friday that I'm going to graduate high school, I go to the closet and there's a black suit, black tie, and there's a tag on it that says, where to your dad's funeral.
[16:19] Behind it was a coat hanger that had a blue shirt and a blue tie and it said, where to your graduation. My basketball coach had given me exactly what to wear on what was going to be one of the most difficult days of my life.
[16:32] I put that suit on. I'm going to my dad's funeral. I'm going to go to my truck. Let's say that on my way to my truck, that Jesus stops me on my way to my truck. And he says, Trent, don't go to the funeral.
[16:44] Follow me. My loyalty is to Jesus ought to have been greater. See, there's nothing in all of this world that would have stopped me from going to my dad's funeral.
[16:55] But if you gave me a scenario where Jesus came to me and said, follow me, let the dead bury the dead, the answer is, yes, Jesus, I would follow you. Because the story was not about not loving mom and dad, it had to do in contrast about loyalty.
[17:09] And this is kind of speculation. What would I imagine Jesus would have done if he would have said, follow me on the day of my dad's funeral? And I would say, yes, Jesus, I imagine he would have walked with me to my dad's funeral and that I would have seen that there for him.
[17:21] Because the point was not about not honoring your father. It was about the contrast of your love for me has to always be greater than your love for anyone in this earth.
[17:33] And then my love for him should be greater than my love for children. Children are a gift from God. They are. They're costly. But they are a gift from God. All right?
[17:44] And so we're thankful for them. But is there a couple that knows more that children are a gift from God than Abraham and Sarah and just praying and just wanting kids and not just seeing, you know, not just seeing their friends have kids but not watching their friends be grandparents.
[17:59] And as they get older and there's this, in a world where there be kids everywhere. But Abraham and Sarah don't have children. And then God gives him a son. And then with Isaac, God says, I want you to take your son and I want you to take him up here upon this mount and be willing to offer him to me.
[18:18] And he says, my loyalty to you is greater than that of my kids. Jesus offers himself as peace. But when supreme love for him is not shared in a family, it becomes a divider.
[18:30] And so why do we talk like this? It's uncomfortable. You think you're uncomfortable? I'm pretty uncomfortable. Okay, hear him. Why do we talk in such extreme statements?
[18:41] Isn't this the place where I'm supposed to be talking about our love for moms on Mother's Day? Isn't this the place I'm supposed to be telling you that you're supposed to be loving your kids above all else? But these extreme statements that make us feel very uncomfortable, it asks you, will you accept the claim that on us that Jesus is a thousand times, his claim upon our lives is a thousand times stronger than any other claim upon our lives?
[19:06] Will we in the most extreme and difficult situations accept the agonizing choices for Christ that make us look unloving? As Christians, we hate to appear to be unloving.
[19:17] That is one of the greatest tricks that the world loves to play on us is they love to stand and say, your conviction that you have makes you unloving. Because as a Christian, we don't like to stand in a place that calls us unloving because we know it goes against the nature of our God.
[19:33] But 1 Peter 3.16 says, having a good conscience that whereas they speak evil of you as evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.
[19:47] Your good lifestyle. That there are people that will call good evil. That there's people that will look at you and they will call your lifestyle that is good and they will call it evil.
[19:57] And what that is, is that is a division that in following Jesus, a line that has been drawn. And there are times that some of you, maybe being the first generation Christian, maybe having people in your family that aren't believing, where it feels very lonely on this side because those on the other side look at you and they accuse you of being unloving.
[20:18] And you say, I'm not being unloving. It's just my love is first and foremost given to the God of heaven, that my loyalty is first to him. And so there's some guidance for this decision.
[20:29] Jesus calls on the crowd to reflect and to use their skills of discernment, to use their mind, to use their intellect and just to think about it. Just kind of look around and think about what you're seeing here right now.
[20:41] I guess this is verse 54. And he said also to the people, when you see a cloud rise out of the west straightway, you say there cometh a shower. And so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say there will be a heat and it cometh to pass.
[20:53] You hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern the time? You hypocrites. Why did that word came up? And in what way are they hypocrites?
[21:05] Do any of you remember the weather, the meteorologist on the news station when you were a kid growing up? For me, it was Cal System. We called him Cal Misto, all right?
[21:16] Because his weather report was kind of hit and miss, all right? And Cal Misto was the weatherman. And so we now live in a time where we leave it to specialists. But when you're in a farming culture and a time where you're out turning on the news, everybody seemed to know a little bit more about the weather than we know about the weather right now.
[21:33] They knew how to read what was going on. And so if the clouds came in from the west and from the sea there, they knew that a rain was coming in. If the wind comes from the southwest out of the desert, that they knew that it was going to be hot.
[21:47] That we call the grass to wither. And we have passages about this. They could look up to the sky.
[22:08] I always think about Crocodile Dundee. They asked him what time it was. And he looked up to the sun, right? And he could tell you what time it is. And everybody would like to be able to do that. That ability just to look up into the sky and say what was going on.
[22:20] He says, you're able to discern the times like that. But I'm standing here right in front of you. And you can't recognize and you can't discern the time and the blessing that's available to you.
[22:31] And also the wrath that will come upon your life because of disobedience. They should have been discerning of the time that they were living in. Here is the Messiah. Here is the anointed one.
[22:42] Here is the Son of God standing in our presence. And now we live into a time knowing that he had come 2,000 years ago. And God tells us that we should discern the time in which we are living and recognize that he is coming back.
[22:57] He could come back at any moment that a stage is set. That all that would be needed to rebuilding the temple and discussion about that happens.
[23:08] That the stage is set for a world dominating confederation of nations. It's set there. A stage is set for a political and economic leader that would lead all those nations.
[23:19] It is there. A stage is set for a false religion that the Bible would characterize the last days. It is set. A stage is set for an economic system predicted in the very last days.
[23:31] I could get into details in here. The technology in China, a social system, a credit system that is going on. All the things that would be needed have been set in place and they are here.
[23:44] And this does not guarantee that his return would happen tomorrow. But all the world is being set and we should recognize it. You look at the world. You look at the weather. And you say, hey, it looks like it's going to rain.
[23:56] You look at the news and you'd say, the stage is set. Jesus could come back at any moment. And this should motivate our lives and our decisions. During a training session, a soldier who was about to make his first parachute jump, the surgeon explained to him, the open is reserve chute.
[24:15] He says, if the main chute doesn't open, he asked, what happens if it doesn't open? The private nervously raised his hand and he asked the surgeon, he says, if my main parachute doesn't open, how long do I have to pull my reserve?
[24:28] And the surgeon looked directly at the young man's eyes and he said, the rest of your life, soldier, the rest of your life. All right. So some of you that weren't tracking there with me.
[24:39] Okay. I'll give it to you one more time here. Is that a man jumps out of a plane and he has a secondary parachute and he asked the surgeon, how long do I have to pull that secondary parachute? And he says, you have the rest of your life to pull that parachute.
[24:51] And so we have an uncertainty about our life. We have a certainty about his return. And if one waits until they stand before the throne of judgment, the time will be too late.
[25:03] How long do you have? Until his return. How long do you have? Maybe the rest of your life. But you should never walk away from the conviction of God. You should never do that because every time that you say no to him, it brings a hardness to your heart, a callousness to it.
[25:19] That's what these last verses talk about, command to settle one's account. Jesus reminded them and us of a great penalty of not settling with God before the day of judgment. Verse 57.
[25:30] Yea, and why even of yourselves judge you not what is right. When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him, lest he held thee to the judge and the judge deliver thee to the officer and the officer cast thee in the prison.
[25:44] I tell thee thou shall not depart thence till thou hast paid the very last might. The assumption here in the story is that the opponent in this has a good case against them.
[25:55] And when it reaches the judge, he will be thrown into prison. In our lives, there is no assumption that God would have a case against us. There is no assumption that we are sinners, that we are guilty, that if we would stand before God, that we would have nothing in our own selves.
[26:13] We would have no righteousness, but we have been far removed from him, that we have rebelled against him, that we were born sinners and that by choice we continued on sinning. So in this analogy, we can see by the light of the work of Jesus on the cross that God offers a settlement out of court before judgment with God by putting our trusting love in Jesus who died on the cross.
[26:38] If you wait until judgment day, it will be eternally too late. You should recognize now that you are being offered something by Jesus and that there's more than enough data available for you.
[26:51] Verse 57, Yea, and why even of yourselves judge you not what is right? Just like the people that had looked at the weather, do you not know that it's here that anyone should be able to judge what is right here and see the importance and the good of getting right with God before they stand before him as a judge.
[27:07] And so these people have God in the flesh in their midst and they don't get it. They just don't get it. And how do they not get it? They had access to the Bible or Testament before them.
[27:19] The same one that when Jesus was walking with them on the road to Emmaus, he'll just walk through with them and say, how do you not see this? Jesus lived among them. They could see them, but they don't see their sin and so they don't see their need.
[27:33] How did they miss something so obvious? It's because they didn't see their sin and because they didn't see their sin and they weren't able to recognize the Jesus, the Messiah that was in front of them. Jesus is saying, if you don't understand who I am and what you need, nothing else is going to make sense to you.
[27:52] And to profess believers in here, let me reword that for you. If this demand for all does not make sense to you, then you may never truly understand your great need and who he is.
[28:05] I would have a great fear of raising my kids in a home where Christ's demands upon my life were inconsequential. Where our decisions were not being dictated by the fact that Jesus Christ is the Lord.
[28:17] When was the last time that you faced a decision in your life, a life decision, and what made it? Well, your decision was solely based upon the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord and he has ultimate say in your life.
[28:32] Does the fact that Jesus Christ Lord dictate your life? That is the question that we don't often want to think about, but the question that Jesus is bringing there before them that day.
[28:43] I read the story of a woman who went to the jewelry store to purchase a cross necklace and the young jeweler asked her if she wanted one that had a little man on it.
[28:54] She was buying a cross necklace and the woman says, would you like one that has a little man on it? See, the world in which we live in, Jesus Christ is but a decoration for our lives.
[29:04] Sometimes Jesus may be on a necklace or minimally or is this part of your American dream? Is this kind of part of your life? It's what we do here in the South, you know? It's what we do. We'll go to church occasionally with Jesus Christ.
[29:16] We do this. There's certain things we say, but we never take Jesus' name in vain. I do this or that. And he's the garnish. He's just a decoration upon our lives. He's just that little man upon the cross.
[29:28] And he has been made so little. And then it says that they will pay the last might. I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, thou hast paid the very last might. You might have been asked this before as a Christian, but on occasion people will ask me, are you a hell and fire brimstone preacher?
[29:48] And I would say, well, that's the only kind that really exists is that I believe and I know that the Bible teaches that there is a helm, there is a fire, there is an eternal punishment.
[29:59] And so do not mistake the fact that I speak to you in a calm manner and that I'm not screaming and I'm yelling, which God uses at time to convey a message. But do not think for a moment that the faith that the Bible would have is a hell and fire brimstone message.
[30:17] You must make a decision here. Biblical truth that hell is eternal. And because the payment for sin is required, an imperfect person can't make a perfect payment. It has to be done by a perfect God and I should go to him the day before it's eternally too late.
[30:34] You should go to him the day before it's eternally too late if you have not settled this account. Let me close with this story. Evangelism. We've had Brother Sam on occasion teach some evangelism seminars here at our church.
[30:48] You might have learned as a kid about the Romans road, how to take somebody, how to have a conversation with people that would lead to the gospel. In Matthew chapter number 19, a man walks up to Jesus and he says, And behold, one came and said unto him, Good master, what good shall I do that I may have eternal life?
[31:09] And here's Jesus' response to him. He comes to him and he says, What should I do that I should have eternal life? And here's what Jesus' response is. And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God.
[31:22] But if thou will enter into life, keep the commandments. And so he says, You've called me good. The only one that is good is God. And there's this recognizing that Jesus is God. As I told the teenagers in the high school class, I've heard teenagers share the gospel to try to, with their friend before.
[31:38] And they've simply just said, Hey, do you believe there's a God? And they're like, Yes. Okay, great. High five. All right. We're both Christians now. And I would say that is not sharing the gospel message. All right. There's many people in the world that believe that there's a God.
[31:49] That is not the gospel message. But that's the first thing Jesus asked. You said that I'm good, but do you know that only God is good? Are you recognizing that I am the Savior? And then he asked, Do you keep the commandments here?
[32:03] And we need to pay close attention. Because Jesus saith unto him, Do you keep the commandments? But without enter into life, keep the commandments. And our radar goes off and would say, That's not the right answer to that question.
[32:15] You're not supposed to tell somebody to do something when they ask about getting saved. You're supposed to talk about belief. You're supposed to talk about receiving a gift. But Jesus is leading this man in a conversation that is going to reveal the position of his heart.
[32:30] And so he says about keeping the commandments. And then he says, Which? So which ones are you talking about? Jesus takes them to the Ten Commandments. He tells them not to murder. Don't commit adultery. Don't steal. Don't bear false witness. Honor your father and your mother.
[32:42] And love your neighbor as yourself. This should have brought a man to the place when it was laid down beside him where he said, I am a sinner. I don't keep those things. And Jesus, I couldn't keep those things.
[32:54] I want to. I've tried. But I just can't do it. Which would lead to a conversation about, You can't do it. I have to die in your place. But the man, he fails that test.
[33:04] And he doesn't acknowledge that he is a sinner. He says, Okay, I'm good. And so he continues there. But then Jesus moves on to the next question, the hymn. And he says, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor.
[33:19] And thou shalt have treasure in heaven. And come and follow me. In here today, you profess to be a believer. You're a Christian. I'm a Christian in here. But you know there's never been a time in my life where I sold all of my possessions.
[33:32] I never did that. Am I a believer today? Certainly. Did you sell all of your possessions in here? So why is selling all your possessions what Jesus asked of that man on that day?
[33:43] He was asking a question that had to do with, What will be the source of authority, joy, and trust in your life? Will I be the Lord of your life?
[33:56] Many people I've met through the years, I fear they might be able to pass the first test. Certainly. Jesus is God. They might be able to pass that second question here as, Yes, I am a sinner.
[34:07] But when the line is drawn where Jesus says, I am Lord, then that's where the problems come in. Where Jesus says, I have rightful claim to your life, that's when people walk away like this man.
[34:19] But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions. It is on the Lordship of Jesus Christ where that division is brought.
[34:30] It's where that line is drawn. It's why the bumper sticker of coexist may work inside of a family. And you can have your religion and you can have your religion when it all just makes us moral. When it all just says that there is a God.
[34:41] Where it all says we could do better, there is no division. But when Jesus Christ is Lord, that line is drawn. And those that are not going to call him Lord and those that do will never have the closeness in this world that would be available to them if we would put our faith and trust.
[34:58] Some of you know that personally in here. Many of us are blessed in here and you have a lot of saved family. You have a lot of Christian family.
[35:09] But when you go and share the gospel with other people here and especially around the world, they know that you are drawing a line. And they have a decision to make. When I got saved in my Ninja Turtle tank top.
[35:22] All right. I remember that as a little kid. Teenage Ninja Turtles was a big deal. When I got saved on that day because I wore out of the Baptist tree what I was supposed to wear in the Baptist tree. My mom always reminds me.
[35:33] I didn't change. But when I got out of that Baptist tree that day, I had family there that was rejoicing with me. And I was happy. And of those people, because they were believers.
[35:44] But in many parts of the world, there would not be that celebration because a line is drawn. But even in your family, they may rejoice that you were baptized. They may rejoice in the fact that you come to church here.
[35:56] But when you decide that Jesus is going to be Lord of your life, that's where the division comes in our lives. And it is glorious. And it's horrifying. And it's just everything that you can imagine together.
[36:10] And it should really give us a great burden for the people that have never recognized Jesus' rightful place in their lives. And we should go to them. And we should help teach them and give an understanding as we've been looking at the Psalms.
[36:23] What it means to have a proper fear of the Lord. So here's the sequence. Jesus' ministry makes a choice. It divides families. Then he says you should be able to, just like looking at the weather, you should be able to gather that there's a day that is coming.
[36:37] That very soon the judge is coming. And that right now you have an opportunity. And before it's eternally too late, you should settle this account right now before it's too late.
[36:49] As I ask Christian to come to the piano. And as I just ask you in here today, a series of questions. And those that are watching online. Is Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior of your life?
[37:00] When he bid you to come, were you able to respond to him and say, yes Lord, I want to follow? Then I'd ask you to take evaluation of your life. Believer in here.
[37:12] In what areas of life does Jesus want to lay claim upon? And you said, no, that doesn't belong to you. That belongs to me. And then evaluate. Does that belong to you?
[37:23] Or does that belong completely to him? And those of you in here that aren't yet believing. Or maybe you say, you know what? I think I'm a Christian. I like so much that's going on. I don't mind a lot of things that are going on.
[37:35] But this idea that he has ultimate say in my life. I'm not very comfortable with that. You know about the false religions of the world. And all the motions that they go through. And how none of that religion is ever going to save somebody.
[37:48] And you could say amen to that. Can I tell you that this in here? That there's no Baptist checklist. There's no religion that we're creating that's going to save you. That you can go through every motion that we would have.
[38:00] You can follow every tradition that we are going to have. And that is not going to bring you to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. But until you recognize him as holy, the savior of the universe.
[38:11] And that you're in need of a savior. You will never put your faith and trust in him. He's not a good addendum to your life. He's not a good suggestion. He's not something that you just add as a little man upon the cross.
[38:23] But he is the Lord of the universe. And you ought to give your life to him. And you ought to ask him to examine your heart. And say is that what I've done? Or did I just grow up just following motions like everybody else.
[38:38] Just going through motions. Or is he truly the Lord of my life? With every head bowed. And we're going to pray. Heavenly Father.