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August 16, 2015
*Read Lu 12:49-53* – Abe Lincoln told of a man who enlisted in the War of 1812.
His girl said she’d embroider a belt: “Victory or Death.”
He said, “That’s kinda strong.
Suppose you put ‘Victory or Be Wounded!’”
He wanted “half-in.”
But a half-committed solider is a danger to everyone.
Well, Jesus’ followers must be all in.
To be half for Him and half for me is a modern, mostly American, invention.
Jesus never taught it that way!
Here He’s urged preparation for His return by watching expectantly and working earnestly.
Faithful followers are rewarded; unfaithful are condemned.
Now Jesus explains why – why the line that separates true faith and mere professors is so defining!
What He has to say is shocking.
The death He will soon die forces a choice.
It is eternal life or death.
So: I. Jesus’ Surprising Strategy; II.
Jesus’ Supreme Sacrifice; III.
Jesus’ Severing Specter.
*I.
Jesus’ Surprising Strategy*
49 “I came to cast fire on the earth!”
Skip to v. 51: “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.”
Wow!
Where did that come from?
The disciples were shocked at those words as are we.
Isn’t Messiah the “Prince of Peace”?
(Isa 9:6)?
Didn’t Jesus pronounce blessing on peacemakers?
Didn’t Zacharias prophesy that He came “to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Lu 1:79)?
Didn’t the angels sing “on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” at His birth (Lu 2:14)?
Didn’t He often send people away by saying, “Go in peace” (Lu 7:50)?
Doesn’t Paul say in Eph 2:14, “ For he himself is our peace”?
Yes to all of those!
Jesus did come to bring peace – the only peace that really matters in the end – peace with God.
The peace He came to enable is between hopelessly lost people and an infinitely holy God.
But that peace comes at great price and it automatically means war with the world.
They are two sides to the same coin.
This is reflected in Jesus’ first statement: I came to cast fire on the earth.”
If your conception is of a gentle Jesus meek and mild who would never harm a flea, that is a Jesus of your own making.
That is not the Jesus of the Bible.
That Jesus came to stir everything up, including you and me.
That Jesus came to stake claims on lives.
That Jesus came to cast fire on earth.
What does it mean to cast fire on earth?
To the Jewish mind, steeped in OT, fire represented two things.
First and foremost it represented judgment.
Gen 19:24, “Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven.”
Psa 11: 6) Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.”
“Isa 66: 15) “For behold, the LORD will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.”
The list goes on.
Jesus is saying, “I came to cast judgment on the earth.”
Make no mistake, what Jesus did in paying the penalty for sin set the stage for coming judgment.
But fire also meant purification.
For believers.
Mal 3:2: “But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.”
Cleansing agents to purify believers so they can offer acceptable sacrifices.
But at the same time in v. 5 He also judges unbelievers.
When Jesus talks about casting fire on earth, He means He will judge unbelievers and purify believers.
His presence demands a reaction.
He doesn’t draw a line in the sand, He IS a line in the sand.
To follow Him is to experience the fire of purification; to reject Him is to experience the fire of judgment.
Either way, He makes things hot.
He’ll make them hot for you.
Remember how the French greeted the Allies as conquering heroes when they entered Paris in Dec. 1944?
Cheers everywhere.
But the Germans fled for their lives.
Why? Same troops; same time; different reaction!
Why?
For the Germans the Allied invasion meant judgment – for the French, the same invasion meant liberation.
Same troops – totally different reaction.
Same with Jesus.
He casts a fire on earth – a fire of judgment for some and purification for others.
The difference?
– some accept his Lordship; most do not.
The Fresno Bee gave this weather forecast one day: "Precipitation is likely to be lower than normal, higher than normal or roughly the same as normal."
Talk about straddling the fence!
That’s what many want to do with Christ.
They want His blessings, but not His Lordship.
They want Him at the funeral, but not in life.
They want Him on Sunday, but not the rest of the week.
He won’t go there, Beloved.
He didn’t come to be patronized or used!
He came to cast fire on you and me.
The question is, is it a purifying one or a condemning one.
That’s up to us.
But God in the flesh won’t be ignored.
He came to cast fire?
Question is – which side of the fire are we on?
*II.
Jesus’ Supreme Sacrifice*
49 “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!”
The problem of sin and guilt is deeper and wider and higher than any human solution could ever address.
Sin must be paid for.
We know that.
That’s why we have human court systems.
But how to satisfy God’s requirement for justice?
Payment must be made -- by each individual – or assumed by God Himself.
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