1. I did not come to bring peace: He did not come to give His approval or sanction to the physical corruption and decay of the earth. He came to war against aging decay and death. He did not come to give His approval to the sin and evil of the earth. He came to bring a sword to earth to war against sin and evil and to destroy all the evil that is both within and without human being.
2. Jesus’ presence automatically causes division. This is because the believers’ godly and divine nature is so completely opposite from his fallen and Adamic nature.
3. Family division: Jesus sets the believer against his family. It is important to see that it is Jesus who causes the division. Jesus calls a person out of the world and separates him from the world so that he can go about correcting the evil of the world.
• The believer struggles to save his loved one, no matter what opposition he may face.
• The family member is capable of rebelling against the righteousness and efforts of the believer.
4. We must love God supremely, putting Him before all others even before our family members. When we do this our families are assured of being everything they should be and of being looked after and cared for by God (Mt 6:33). Therefore a man’s decision to follow Christ no matter the sacrifice to his family is a wise decision.
5. A person must not search for his life on this earth. If he finds life on earth, he will lose his life why?
• The flesh, with all its goose pimples and chills and butterflies, is not life
• Wealth, with all the things it can purchase is not life
• Recognition and fame, with all the ego it can boost, is not life
• Power, with all the rights and pomp it can give is of life
• Pride with all the self image it can build, is not life
Jesus’ message would disturb all of us. We tend to take shelter in things we like most. For an intellectual -books, for an emotional person – relationships, for a lazy person – sleep, for a pastoral minded person – the active ministry etc. It is good to have our own liking but we should not make it an absolute. Jesus disturbs all of us who are comfortably sitting on laurels – and tells forcefully the need to take shelter in Himself, which demands certain discipline, commitment, faith and hope from our part!
Courtesy
Preacher’s outline and Sermon Bible
Sacra Pagina Series
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