The Controversial Christ (I)
This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.
Peace. Peace is something that is very highly valued. It is to be highly valued by Christians. Peace. And it's something that we're to pursue, that we're to work to preserve. And that's no small matter in the New Testament. There are many verses where the believers are exhorted, commanded to pursue that which makes for peace. It's all over the New Testament, particularly.
Just a sampling. I'm going to be quick with this. You can follow, you can flip if you want, or you can listen, or you can just jot them down for later reference. Mark 9:50, our Lord says, "Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another." 1 Thessalonians 5:13, "Live in peace with one another." Romans 12:18, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men." Ephesians 4:3, we're told to be "diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." And in that context, you remember, we're told, "with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love." 1 Peter 3:11, "He must turn away from evil and do good. He must seek peace and pursue it." 2 Timothy 2:22, "Now flee from youthful lust and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart."
In Colossians 3:15, we're told that God's peace is to serve as an umpire in our lives: "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." 2 Corinthians 13:11 says, "Live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you." Romans 14:19, "So then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another."
And of course, recently, we studied the letter of James. James 3:17, you remember, it tells us that "the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruits, without doubting, without hypocrisy." In verse 18, "And the fruit of righteousness is sown how? In peace, by those who make peace."
Peace. All of those verses and others speak to us about the importance of peace. They speak to us about the priority of peace, the priority of peace. The priority that peace is to hold in our hearts, in our lives, beloved. Peace.
Not only is it something that we're to make a priority, but also we're told in God's Word that this peace, being peaceable, will characterize Christians. Christians. Christians are marked by this—that if you're really saved, if you really know the Lord Jesus Christ, if you're really a Christian, you're someone who counts peace to be something very, very important.
We saw just a moment ago that the wisdom from above is what? Peaceable. In Hebrews 12:14, "Pursue peace with all men and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord." What is He saying to us? Those who will see the Lord one day are those who will be characterized by holiness because of God's saving work in their lives. They'll be marked, characterized by holiness, and it's in that context—in the context of a holy people—that we're told that we're to pursue peace with all men. Pursue it. This is not a passive thing. This is an active thing. Pursue it.
This is something Christ accomplished in His family, His body. Ephesians 2:14, "For He Himself," referring to Jesus Christ, "He Himself is our peace, who made both groups one." He made them both one and broke down the dividing wall of the partition by abolishing in His flesh the enmity. That is, He brought Jews and Gentiles into the same body through His death on the cross and broke down the dividing wall of partition. He tore it down.
In fact, this is one of the qualifications for a pastor—that he is to be a man characterized by being peaceable. 1 Timothy 3:3, "Not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but considerate," and the next word is "peaceable." This is so serious that when we're dealing with a divisive person—however we want to pronounce it—and he's being warned more than once, we're to do what? Reject such a man. Titus 3:10, "Reject a factious man after a first and second warning." A divisive man.
And the reason why this characterizes Christians—this desire for peace and this striving, this pursuing for peace—is because this is what actually characterizes God Himself. Five times, five times in the New Testament, God is called the God of peace. Let me give you the references. Romans 15:33, "Now may the God of peace be with you all. Amen." Romans 16:20, "And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." Philippians 4:9, "The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." 1 Thessalonians 5:23, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely." And Hebrews 13:20, that wonderful benediction, "Now the God of peace, now the God of peace who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, equip you in every good thing to do His will by doing in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever."
Peace is a priority. Peace is a priority. It is a priority. It characterizes people who are truly born again, born from above, because this is what really characterizes God Himself. And Jesus Christ, being God Himself, God incarnate in human flesh—this is what really characterizes our Savior. This is why in Isaiah 9, when it speaks of Messiah coming, the prophet says in Isaiah 9:6, "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on His shoulders, and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father." And here it is: Prince of what? Peace. Prince of Peace. He's Prince of Peace.
And in Matthew 12:19, "He will not quarrel," referring to the Messiah. "He will not quarrel, nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A battered reed He will not break off, and a smoldering wick He will not put out, until He leads justice to victory." The words there in verse 19, "He will not quarrel, nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets." In other words, Messiah will not come on the scene as a revolutionary. He's not coming to lead a rebellion. He's not coming as an insurrectionist. No, no. He's coming to bring a different kind of kingdom. One day He will rule and reign on this earth, true enough, but it's going to be a kingdom of righteousness, brought about through salvation, brought about by the One who died and was raised from the dead to save sinners from their sins—the likes of you and me. So peace is a priority. It is that which characterizes Christians, because it is that which characterizes God, and it is that which characterizes our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Peace.
Now, why do I bring this up as an introduction? Why do I bring this up in this context? Because, again, in these verses that we've just read and throughout the Gospels, you see Jesus as the focal point, as the flashpoint for controversy—hence the title of this message, The Controversial Christ. I mean, wherever He goes, it seems there's no peace. No peace. Wherever He goes, there's what? Division. Division.
He's hated by the Jewish leaders. They're seeking to kill Him. Even right now, they're seeking to lay hold of Him, seeking His life. Right now, where we are in the Gospel of John chapter 10, they're seeking His life. Eventually, as we know, they will arrest Him, lead Him through mock trials, crucify Him on Calvary's cross. Wherever He goes, there's conflict. Wherever He goes, there's conflict. And not only is there division where you see Jesus on the earth, but after He's crucified, raised from the dead, ascended back to Heaven in glory, and sends the Holy Spirit, and then you see the birth of the church in the book of Acts, and you study the book of Acts, and what you find is what? The same pattern seen with His disciples. The same pattern. Wherever they go, there seems to be controversy, division.
You're not very far in the book of Acts when you see John and Peter arrested for proclaiming Christ. When Paul is arrested and put on trial—turn with me, in fact, to Acts 24—listen to how, or read with me, how his accusers describe his ministry. Verse 1: "Now, after five days, the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and with an attorney named Tertullus, and they brought charges to the governor against Paul. And after Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, 'As we have attained much peace through you, and because by your provision reforms are being carried out for this nation, we welcome this in every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness. But that I may not weary you any further, I plead with you by your forbearance to hear us briefly. Now watch this. For we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.'"
Did you hear that? Oh, most excellent Felix. I mean, you're great. You're amazing. You brought us this peace. And we know that you're a governor who has promoted peace. And now here's a man before you who is a pest. He's an instigator of division. He's a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. And everywhere he goes, there are problems, riots. Riots break out.
Now, while their words are twisted and skewed, a misrepresentation, the fact is that there's an element of truth in their words. Because as you study the book of Acts, indeed, you find it seems one riot after another. Acts 17, verse 6, it says, "And when they did not find them," referring to Paul and Silas, "they began dragging Jason and some brothers before the city authorities, shouting, 'These men have upset the world. These men who have upset the world have come here also.'"
What did it seem like was happening through the church? What did it seem like was happening through the disciples? What did it seem like to the world, at least, was happening through the preaching of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? It was like the world was being turned upside down. Upside down.And Jesus Himself foretold these controversies.
The Prince of Peace Himself made this statement back in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 10, and verse 34: "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a"—what?—"sword." A sword.He wasn't talking about the sword of a militant. He wasn't talking about a physical battle. He was talking about the dividing instrument of God's truth. He was talking about the sword of the Word of God, that it brings division. It brings that kind of division.
John 16, Jesus warned His disciples about it in verse 1: "These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling." I'm warning you so that—here's the purpose—so that you're forearmed, you're kept from stumbling. What's the warning? "They will put you out of the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he’s offering a service to God." Jesus says, there will come a time because you are faithful to Me, faithful to proclaim the Word, faithful to the proclamation of the gospel, they're going to kick you out of the synagogue, and they're going to put some of you to death. And when they put you to death, they're going to think actually they're doing a service to God. And so, when you read verse 19, John 10: "A division occurred again among the Jews." When I read those words, when I consider that we're to pursue peace, reading those words and consider that we're to pursue peace, that God is the God of peace, that Christ is the Prince of Peace, when I take these two things—the division, and we're to pursue peace—I have to ask the question: when I hold them together, if peace is something we're to pursue, if peace is something we're to work for, and endeavor to achieve and attain, and if God is the God of peace, and if Christ is the Prince of Peace, and if His people are people who love peace, then why is there so much controversy that surrounds the gospel?
Why is there so much division whenever there's true Christianity? And how are believers supposed to think about that controversy? How are we supposed to respond to it, and how does it fit with our commitment to peace? That's what I would like us to think about this morning and next week, Lord willing. Maybe more than two weeks—we'll see. But look at verse 19 with me, and the first point that I want to underscore this morning is the reality of division. Please consider with me the reality of division—a division of the gospel.
Consider with me the reality of division. "A division," verse 19, "occurred palin, again, among the Jews, because of these words." ‘Palin’—once more. This is not the first time. This isn't the first time that the message of Christ had caused division, and it wouldn't be the last. This was a pattern. It was a pattern. From the time that the words and the works of Jesus began to expose the false religious leaders of the Jews, and began to expose false religion of the day, from that time that He healed the lame man—you remember—on the Sabbath forward, it was just one series of controversy, one thing after another.
The Jewish leaders hated Him for that, and they wouldn't let it go. They wouldn't. And this has never changed, has it? It hasn't. The Christian church must realize that we're going to be in opposition. The church of Jesus Christ must recognize that there's going to be opposition to the gospel. The Christian church must realize that the message of the cross in a world full of sin, in a cursed world, in a broken world—that message is hated. It is a hated message, and it is a controversial message.
And the reason why it is controversial is because it is true, and because it confronts the world face-to-face with its real problem. In John 3:20, you remember, Jesus said: "For everyone who does evil hates the Light." That's it. "Everyone who does evil, everyone who lives perpetually doing evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light." Why? "Lest his deeds be exposed."
The person who's engaged in wicked things, who does wicked deeds, and they enjoy it—for that person, these wicked deeds are his darlings. And they want to remain in it, they want to let go of it. Those people, Jesus says, they hate the light. They hate the light. People who live in darkness don't want the light to shine; they don't want to come to the light. Why? Lest their deeds be revealed for what they truly are.
That includes, by the way, religious deeds. They want to imagine it to be good, their so-called religious deeds, but the Word of God would expose all of it as being what? Empty, shallow, external, meaningless, ritualistic. This is what Jesus was doing to the religious leaders of the day . He was revealing their deeds for what they really were. You remember how He confronted them again and again. "You fast to be seen by men. You give to be seen by men. You pray in public to be seen by men." You make all these little rules that are not found in the Word of God, you make up the rules so that you could hold sway over the people of God. It's wickedness, Jesus says."You would save a sheep on the Sabbath, but you wouldn't even try to lift a finger to help a man in need." It's wickedness. And they hated Him for it—for saying it, for exposing it. Matthew 10:22, "You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved." And our Lord says in Matthew 10:25, "It is enough for a disciple that he becomes like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul," called Him a devil, "how much more the members of His household?"
And these divisions, according to Jesus, these divisions are going to run sometimes as deep and as personal as your own family. There could be division between husband and wife, division between parents and children, siblings, because of faith in Jesus Christ. Matthew 10:34, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be the members of his household."
Does the Christian church understand this? Does she understand this? Does the church of our time, of our generation, understand that there will be opposition inevitably if we preach the gospel faithfully? And does the Christian church understand that it is not within our power, nor is it within our mission to remove that enmity except through the preaching of the gospel? That is the only way that this enmity can be removed. The only way that you can go from war to peace—how? Through faith in Jesus. The only way you can go from hatred of the light to loving the light, hatred for those who are in the light to loving those who are in the light—the only way, the only way is through conversion, salvation, new birth.
Beloved, the peace that you and I are called to is the peace that exists where there's love for God, where there's love for God. The peace that we're called to is the peace that exists where there's the presence of righteousness. Remember this, remember this: God's kind of peace is not just an absence of conflict. God's kind of peace always, always requires and includes the presence of righteousness. Never forget that. Peace is not just two people agreeing to split the difference. No. You know, like, if we could just kind of call a ceasefire, then we have peace right now. I mean, if we could just bring the right government structure, then there will be peace in such and such country. I mean, isn't that the real issue, just the government structure? No. That's not peace. There's no peace, not real peace, where there's enmity with God. Try your hardest. It doesn't matter. It makes no difference.
And so the peace that we're called to pursue is the peace between brothers. It is the peace of God. It's the peace where there's the presence of righteousness. And also we could say that there's a general kind of peace, a peace with society, a peace with culture that we are to pursue as God's people. But listen carefully. But only so far as we can be faithful to His truth. And only so far as we can remain submitted to His Lordship.
In other words, we're to pursue peace with all men, with all men, the Scripture says—not just believers—all men, including unbelievers, as much as it depends on us. And you know what? When you go through the book of Acts, why were there all those riots? Was it because the disciples were engaging in those, you know, sit-down strikes, civil disobedience? They were picketing places and marching on places. Is that what they were doing? Is that what was going on? No. No, no. None of that.
What were they doing? What were they doing? They were simply preaching the gospel of Jesus. And they wouldn't budge. They wouldn't budge from that. That was the reason for the upset. They were just preaching God's truth. They were preaching God's Word. This is why believers are taught in the book of Romans, Romans 13, that we're to be submissive to the governing authorities. Beloved, in every way, a Christian ought to be a model citizen.
But the one thing, among many others, but the one thing we cannot do is agree not to preach the gospel. The one thing we cannot do is to say that we will pay allegiance to the government if it means that we will not be loyal to King Jesus. No. We must be His disciples first and foremost, citizens of Heaven. And we carry out the commission that has been given to us, which is what? We proclaim Him. We go and make disciples of all nations. And then in every other way, we're to pursue peace with all men as much as it depends on us.
But what we're never to be is a people who operate in this broken world with the mistaken notion that we're going to be loved by everybody, that we're going to be spoken well of by everybody, or that this is a condition to which we're to aspire—that what we're to aim at as the church of Jesus Christ is to have everybody love us. That what we're to aim at as the church is to have everyone understand us and have everyone applaud us and have everyone agree with us. In fact, it's just the opposite.
Do you realize that we're warned against that? We are actually warned against that. God's people have been warned against that. Luke 6:26, "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers were doing the same things through the false prophets." "Woe to you when all men speak well of you." Find a man who claims to speak for God and everyone loves him without exception—there's a man who doesn't really speak for God. You can mark it down: he's in some way taking the edge off of the truth of God, he's twisting the Word of God, he's holding back a portion of the Word of God, not proclaiming the full counsel of God. If he speaks for God and everyone loves him, beware of that man.
Beloved, if everyone didn't love Jesus, they're not going to love His servants. They're not. Nor should we imagine that we have permission from God or that it would be pleasing to God for us to try and afford some sort of a false peace or false terms with false religion, with a world that operates according to false ideas. That is not our task as the bride of Christ. Our task in this world is not to forge a kind of false peace with the world. Our task, given to us by God, is to be true, true peacemakers, which is, according to Scripture, we bring the gospel of peace forward.
We preach the gospel of peace. We bring the message to men that can bring men into peace with God. That's what it means to be a peacemaker. In fact, we're warned about friendship with the world. Remember James 4:4, "You adulterous, as he says, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God," an enemy of the All-Powerful One. What a foolish thing to do.
You have a lost and dying world that is not in friendship with God. It's at enmity with God. It's running directly opposite of the way it should run spiritually. And as a result of that spiritual enmity, it runs in the wrong direction intellectually, philosophically, and morally, and in many other ways—running on the wrong road, on the wrong path.
Now what is our task as the people of God? What is our task as believers? What is our task as Christians? To be in agreement with that world? To find friendship with the world? Or to declare to the world the one message and the one man, the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, who can bring this lost, dying world into a right relationship with God? That's what it means to be a peacemaker, beloved. It means to bring Christ's message to the world so that in Christ there can be true peace made between sinful man and holy God.
When we don't understand this, when we don't understand this, when the church doesn't understand what we just talked about right now, when the church imagines that our task is to make friends with the world, then there are many, many errors and many, many sins that flow out of that misunderstanding. And I can't help it to spend some time on this. And that's what I want us to consider at this point—the errors, the sins that flow out of a misunderstanding of the peace that we're to pursue.
We're to pursue peace. But if we misunderstand what it means, if we think that it means friendship with the world, we're going to run straight into a ditch. And I want to point out some ways the church will do this as a forewarning to forearm us and to strengthen our resolve, to recalibrate us, and once again bring us back to center. We need realignment sometimes.
The first thing that happens, to name some of the errors—the first one, the errors and sins that flow out of misunderstanding of the peace that we're to pursue—the first thing that happens is this: the church misunderstands the profound nature of the problem it's addressing. The church misunderstands the profound, the profound nature of the problem it's addressing. When the church thinks that peace means making friendship with the world, then the church has lost sight of the profound nature of the problem that Christ has sent us to address.
What problem, let me ask, has Christ sent us as His ambassadors, as His people, the people whom He saved from their sin? If you're indeed a child of God, a Christian, what problem has now Christ sent you out into the world to address? It's nothing superficial, beloved. It's nothing superficial and it cannot be superficially healed. It is something profoundly deep.
Let me begin with some negatives. What is it that Christ has sent us to proclaim? What is it that we're to proclaim to the world around us? Has He sent us to tell the world how to feel better? Is that why He sent us? I mean, is that really our task as a church, as believers?
You know, there are so many people around us struggling with discouragement, struggling with tough times and difficult—you know, you know what? Here's what the church must do. The church must bring to the world some positive message, positive message. You know, we're going to lift these people up. We're going to lift them up and make them feel better about themselves. That's sort of what you're hearing in our generation, isn't it? That's the kind of path the church has taken, sadly.
Of course, when I say the church, I'm speaking generically, but many so-called evangelical churches—I mean, this is the road that they have taken. We proclaim, they say, a positive message to encourage people. We don't tell them they're sinners. We don't tell them of the judgment to come. That's not our task. Our task is just simply to give people a feel-good, positive message. It's our task.
Is that what Christ has sent us to do? Is it to make the people feel better, the world feel better? Has He sent us to tell the world of humanity how to get a better job, how to have a better marriage, and how to have a better life? Has He commissioned us to provide—how about this one? Has He commissioned us to provide entertainment for the world? Is that really what the world needs? More entertainment, you know? Laugh a little. I mean, did Jesus Christ die on a tree to send someone out to do stand-up routines? Is that why He died on the tree? To send forth ambassadors to make people laugh? Or did He die on a tree to send people out and, you know, perform? Perform, you know? Put on a performance. Put on a show. To dazzle the multitude with something spectacular.
Or to stand before people and give them the same message that they could receive from any positive-thinking guru or, you know, to be with the times, you know, just a life coach. Can we be honest and ask the question? Can we just be straight with one another and ask the question? What is really—just to use an example—what is really that much different between Joel Osteen and Tony Robbins? I mean, what is really that much different except that Osteen uses gospel terms sometimes to talk about making people feel better? How to achieve their goals, how to feel good, how to have a good life—in fact, your best life now. Isn't there something more profoundly wrong with this world than simply that it isn't thinking positively enough? It just hasn't found the right philosophy yet, maybe?
Let's talk about the church and the world. Is the problem, is the real barrier between this world and the church, simply one of perception? Is that the problem? I mean, the world just doesn't understand us. The real reason why people aren't coming into the church, aren't interested in the gospel is— is it really a PR problem? Is this it? You know, we're not making the gospel interesting enough, it's just too boring. We need to spice it up a little bit. That's it. If we can just spice up the gospel, then people will come. Is that the issue? Or isn't it the truth? That if we really speak the truth, the whole truth, and if we live the truth, that that's the issue. That the truth is what the world really has a problem with, what we all had a problem with before we came to know the Lord, before the Lord saved us. What sinful man really has a problem with is the truth.
To put it in the language of John 3, the light. The Word of God says, "Men hate the light and they won't come to the light because it will expose their evil deeds." And men can try to avoid the light with intellectual arguments and try to avoid the light by pointing out all the deficiencies that they can see in the Lord's church and in professing believers and in many other ways trying to avoid the real issue. But the real issue, where the enmity really is, is that if Christ is the truth, if the gospel is the truth, I'm being called to a faith and to a life then that I don't want because I don't want it to expose my evil deeds. I don't want to let go of it.
Do we understand that the real problem, beloved, that we've been commissioned to address? What is it that Jesus has sent us to address? The real problem, beloved, the real problem is the problem of sin. Sin. The heart. It's lostness. It's estrangement from God. It is alienation from God. Enmity with God. And the fact that judgment is coming. It's coming. There it is. There it is, plain and simple. That's the issue.
The world of mankind is the world of sinners. And in our sinfulness, we're lost. That is, we are cut off from God, estranged from God, alienated from God. And if we die in that condition, we will spend eternity separated from God in a very real place of suffering and torment called hell. There's the issue. Judgment is coming. Wrath is coming upon sinners, upon the wicked. And we're all born sinners. Nothing superficial about that problem, beloved. In other words, beloved, we haven't been called to occupy ourselves with the symptoms of all of the world's sicknesses. We've been called to declare the message that gets to the root of the issue, that gets to the root of the disease.
Why are families out of order? Why are there problems in marriages? Why are there so many divorces? Why are there so many young people that have gone astray and are going astray? What's wrong with the family? Sin. That's what's wrong. Sin. Sin. Why are people unhappy, discouraged, depressed, empty, without a sense of direction and purpose in their life? Sin. Sin is what does that to human beings. And why? Why are there wars? Why is there stealing and cruelty? Doesn't it grieve your heart that it seems like every time you turn on the news, there's someone who's being murdered, who's been murdered, kidnapped, assaulted, and it's all over the place? And it's not new, is it? Why all of that stuff? Why does it happen? Sin. Sin.
Why is it that people need constant entertainment? Why is it that there's this constant need for distraction, entertainment without end? Why? Sin. That's why people aren't satisfied. Why? It's because of sin. They're always, always looking for the next thrill. When they get to the next thrill, they discover it's empty. It's like chasing a mirage in the desert, and so they will chase after the next thrill, and the next one, and the next one. Or we could say it another way. Not only it's because of sin, it's because they're estranged from God. They're estranged from Him.
You see, men have been made by the Creator in such a way that there will always be an emptiness in your life, always. Mark it down. Always be an emptiness in your life until you've been reconciled to Him. And there will always be problems in your life of this kind of nature. Emptiness, void, purposeless, living. If you're not walking with Him. And so what the world tries to avoid at every turn is its real problem. And its real problem is not a philosophy problem. It is not an entertainment problem or issue. Its real problem is a sin problem that alienated, estranged, lost men from a holy God. And the only way for the sins to be forgiven and for man to be reconciled to God is through the death of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, who came to this earth, lived a sinless life, that He might die for sinners upon Calvary's cross, and He died in their stead to pay for all their sins, and He was raised from the dead, and He's able to save forever all those who come to Him by faith, repenting of their sins, recognizing that the real problem is turning from the way that leads to death and looking unto the Son of God for life. And only then are sins forgiven, and a sinner is made right with God, and only then is the nature transformed radically so that you're given a new heart with new loves, new ambitions, new desires. And only then does the Father and the Son and the person of the Holy Spirit take up residence in a person's life, and they're filled with God and become the dwelling place of God, the temple of God.
Only then you will know the truth and understand the truth and love the truth and long to walk in the truth. Only then. And yet, when the church does its true task, which is to declare the message, that message, the church needs to know, must know in advance that everyone will not love her for it. Will not love her for it. To some, you and I will be the aroma of life that leads to life, but to others, we will be the aroma of death that leads to death. There will be division, just like there was with Jesus, just like there was with the disciples, and just like there will be where the truth is faithfully proclaimed.
We need to be reminded, we need to be called to remember that God has called the church to address the most profound issues in the universe—so serious that have to do with life and death and Heaven and Hell and eternity—not something so superficial, so silly, so empty as trying to entertain people. "Oh, I went to church today, that guy is so funny. I mean, I just laughed, I couldn't help myself. It was so funny." See, when the church rightly understands that truth, there will be no true peace without salvation. Maybe we'll stop trying to bring superficial healing.
In the Old Testament, God rebuked priests and prophets who were dealing with people in a superficial way. Listen, in fact, turn with me to Jeremiah 6. Jeremiah 6, let's start with verse 10. Listen to what He says. Jeremiah 6:10: "To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of Yahweh has become a reproach to them; they have no delight in it. But I am full of the wrath of Yahweh; I am weary of holding it in. Pour it out on the infants in the streets and on the gathering of choice men together; for both husband and wife shall be captured, the aged with the one full of days. Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land," declares Yahweh. "For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain; and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone practices lying." Now watch this. “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace.” Did you notice? The leaders—they didn’t deny that there was a wound. They didn’t deny the wound. They just dealt with it how? Superficially. Superficially. Superficially. Saying, ‘shalom, shalom’, when there is no ‘shalom’.
Beloved, to tell people they’re at peace with God when their sins have not been dealt with is to lie to them. To tell people that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives and stop there—not tell them that their sins must be forgiven and only can be forgiven in Christ, or that they’re going to spend eternity under the wrath of God unless they repent and believe—is to lie to them. Maybe the reason that false teachers and preachers lie to them today is the same as it was in Jeremiah chapter 6. Maybe because the prophets know that if they tell the truth, they may have to suffer for it. There may be division. There may be hatred.
I must conclude. We’ll leave the rest until next time, Lord willing. But let me conclude this morning—and we’ll come back, we’ll come back next time, Lord willing—to talk about some of the errors that spring from a misunderstanding of peace. But let me just finish this morning by asking four simple questions. Four simple questions. And I pray they’ll be etched in our hearts and our minds.
The first one is this. They’re simple. What’s really, really wrong with the world? Hmm? What’s wrong with the world, really? We all know there’s something wrong with the world. Just read the news. Look around you. Look at your own surroundings, your own life. We all know there’s something wrong with the world. What’s wrong with it? Beloved, do you recognize it’s sin?
What’s really wrong with a sinner? Do you recognize it is sin?
What’s wrong with you, my sinner friend today? Perhaps sitting here, in our midst. Maybe there’s some here in this room who’s not a Christian. And if you’re to be honest with yourself, that emptiness we’ve talked about this morning, that void, that lack of satisfaction, constantly reaching for something more, for the next thrill—it’s there in your life. Let me ask you, why is it there? Let me tell you. It’s because you’re not experiencing what you were made for: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
My next question is this. On what basis can the sinner enter into a friendship with God? On what basis can a sinner enter into a friendship with God? How can this enmity between a holy God and sinful man go away? How can a man be right with God? How can a man be reconciled to God? A sinner be reconciled to God? Do you realize there’s only one way? Only one.
Jesus said, John 14, 6, , “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.” Jesus isn’t a good way to God. He isn’t even a way to God. He is the only way to God. Come to the Son and you will be received by the Father. Reject the Son and you will be rejected by the Father.
Third question: on what basis will the world love us? On what basis will the world love us? On what basis will the world love us? What will it take for the world to love us? What will it take for your lost friends that you've been reaching out to and that they have a real problem with you—what will it take for them to love you? Maybe for some of you it's in your own family. There's division in your own family. What's it going to take for them to really love you?
Do you realize there are only two ways to be loved by the world? Do you realize that? Only two ways. Only two ways: conversion or compromise. And there is no middle ground. Conversion or compromise. Either you will preach the Word of God, you will tell the truth, and by God's grace and mercy they will be converted—they will come to Jesus—and God will tell you this when that takes place. Have someone get saved and they will go from having hated you to loving you just like that. Or you can compromise and try to make friendship with the world on its terms, but realize that people who do that are what? Enemies of God. And you don't want that.
And the last question I ask this morning is: do you long for the world to love you? Do you long for the world to love you? Is that why perhaps some in this room—you've been compromising? Could that be the case? Because you'd rather have the love of the world than have the pleasure of the Father? Are you salty? Are you any different than the people around you who don't know Jesus? Are you notably different? Are you publicly different? Are you shining? "Blameless, innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked scoliosis, crooked and perverse generation who shine as lights in the world" (Philippians 2:15).
You are light in the Lord. You're meant to shine. You're meant to shine. Are you shining? Are you shining? Is the Lord's pleasure enough for you? Is it enough for you? Take the world but give me Jesus. It's enough for me. It's enough to know that the smile of God is upon me. I don't care who's against me. I don't care who's frowning on me. Is the Lord's pleasure enough for you?
If you know from God's Word that you're pleasing the Father but you're hated on account of it, will it be enough for you to know that you please Him? Concerning Moses, I love those words. Hebrews 11.25 and 26 : "Choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, regarding the reproach of Christ greater riches than he was looking to the reward.” May the Lord's church be revived to only care about pleasing one—pleasing our God. And all of God's people would say together, let's pray.
Just a sampling. I'm going to be quick with this. You can follow, you can flip if you want, or you can listen, or you can just jot them down for later reference. Mark 9:50, our Lord says, "Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another." 1 Thessalonians 5:13, "Live in peace with one another." Romans 12:18, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men." Ephesians 4:3, we're told to be "diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." And in that context, you remember, we're told, "with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love." 1 Peter 3:11, "He must turn away from evil and do good. He must seek peace and pursue it." 2 Timothy 2:22, "Now flee from youthful lust and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart."
In Colossians 3:15, we're told that God's peace is to serve as an umpire in our lives: "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." 2 Corinthians 13:11 says, "Live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you." Romans 14:19, "So then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another."
And of course, recently, we studied the letter of James. James 3:17, you remember, it tells us that "the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruits, without doubting, without hypocrisy." In verse 18, "And the fruit of righteousness is sown how? In peace, by those who make peace."
Peace. All of those verses and others speak to us about the importance of peace. They speak to us about the priority of peace, the priority of peace. The priority that peace is to hold in our hearts, in our lives, beloved. Peace.
Not only is it something that we're to make a priority, but also we're told in God's Word that this peace, being peaceable, will characterize Christians. Christians. Christians are marked by this—that if you're really saved, if you really know the Lord Jesus Christ, if you're really a Christian, you're someone who counts peace to be something very, very important.
We saw just a moment ago that the wisdom from above is what? Peaceable. In Hebrews 12:14, "Pursue peace with all men and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord." What is He saying to us? Those who will see the Lord one day are those who will be characterized by holiness because of God's saving work in their lives. They'll be marked, characterized by holiness, and it's in that context—in the context of a holy people—that we're told that we're to pursue peace with all men. Pursue it. This is not a passive thing. This is an active thing. Pursue it.
This is something Christ accomplished in His family, His body. Ephesians 2:14, "For He Himself," referring to Jesus Christ, "He Himself is our peace, who made both groups one." He made them both one and broke down the dividing wall of the partition by abolishing in His flesh the enmity. That is, He brought Jews and Gentiles into the same body through His death on the cross and broke down the dividing wall of partition. He tore it down.
In fact, this is one of the qualifications for a pastor—that he is to be a man characterized by being peaceable. 1 Timothy 3:3, "Not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but considerate," and the next word is "peaceable." This is so serious that when we're dealing with a divisive person—however we want to pronounce it—and he's being warned more than once, we're to do what? Reject such a man. Titus 3:10, "Reject a factious man after a first and second warning." A divisive man.
And the reason why this characterizes Christians—this desire for peace and this striving, this pursuing for peace—is because this is what actually characterizes God Himself. Five times, five times in the New Testament, God is called the God of peace. Let me give you the references. Romans 15:33, "Now may the God of peace be with you all. Amen." Romans 16:20, "And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." Philippians 4:9, "The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." 1 Thessalonians 5:23, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely." And Hebrews 13:20, that wonderful benediction, "Now the God of peace, now the God of peace who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, equip you in every good thing to do His will by doing in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever."
Peace is a priority. Peace is a priority. It is a priority. It characterizes people who are truly born again, born from above, because this is what really characterizes God Himself. And Jesus Christ, being God Himself, God incarnate in human flesh—this is what really characterizes our Savior. This is why in Isaiah 9, when it speaks of Messiah coming, the prophet says in Isaiah 9:6, "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on His shoulders, and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father." And here it is: Prince of what? Peace. Prince of Peace. He's Prince of Peace.
And in Matthew 12:19, "He will not quarrel," referring to the Messiah. "He will not quarrel, nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A battered reed He will not break off, and a smoldering wick He will not put out, until He leads justice to victory." The words there in verse 19, "He will not quarrel, nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets." In other words, Messiah will not come on the scene as a revolutionary. He's not coming to lead a rebellion. He's not coming as an insurrectionist. No, no. He's coming to bring a different kind of kingdom. One day He will rule and reign on this earth, true enough, but it's going to be a kingdom of righteousness, brought about through salvation, brought about by the One who died and was raised from the dead to save sinners from their sins—the likes of you and me. So peace is a priority. It is that which characterizes Christians, because it is that which characterizes God, and it is that which characterizes our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Peace.
Now, why do I bring this up as an introduction? Why do I bring this up in this context? Because, again, in these verses that we've just read and throughout the Gospels, you see Jesus as the focal point, as the flashpoint for controversy—hence the title of this message, The Controversial Christ. I mean, wherever He goes, it seems there's no peace. No peace. Wherever He goes, there's what? Division. Division.
He's hated by the Jewish leaders. They're seeking to kill Him. Even right now, they're seeking to lay hold of Him, seeking His life. Right now, where we are in the Gospel of John chapter 10, they're seeking His life. Eventually, as we know, they will arrest Him, lead Him through mock trials, crucify Him on Calvary's cross. Wherever He goes, there's conflict. Wherever He goes, there's conflict. And not only is there division where you see Jesus on the earth, but after He's crucified, raised from the dead, ascended back to Heaven in glory, and sends the Holy Spirit, and then you see the birth of the church in the book of Acts, and you study the book of Acts, and what you find is what? The same pattern seen with His disciples. The same pattern. Wherever they go, there seems to be controversy, division.
You're not very far in the book of Acts when you see John and Peter arrested for proclaiming Christ. When Paul is arrested and put on trial—turn with me, in fact, to Acts 24—listen to how, or read with me, how his accusers describe his ministry. Verse 1: "Now, after five days, the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and with an attorney named Tertullus, and they brought charges to the governor against Paul. And after Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, 'As we have attained much peace through you, and because by your provision reforms are being carried out for this nation, we welcome this in every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness. But that I may not weary you any further, I plead with you by your forbearance to hear us briefly. Now watch this. For we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.'"
Did you hear that? Oh, most excellent Felix. I mean, you're great. You're amazing. You brought us this peace. And we know that you're a governor who has promoted peace. And now here's a man before you who is a pest. He's an instigator of division. He's a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. And everywhere he goes, there are problems, riots. Riots break out.
Now, while their words are twisted and skewed, a misrepresentation, the fact is that there's an element of truth in their words. Because as you study the book of Acts, indeed, you find it seems one riot after another. Acts 17, verse 6, it says, "And when they did not find them," referring to Paul and Silas, "they began dragging Jason and some brothers before the city authorities, shouting, 'These men have upset the world. These men who have upset the world have come here also.'"
What did it seem like was happening through the church? What did it seem like was happening through the disciples? What did it seem like to the world, at least, was happening through the preaching of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? It was like the world was being turned upside down. Upside down.And Jesus Himself foretold these controversies.
The Prince of Peace Himself made this statement back in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 10, and verse 34: "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a"—what?—"sword." A sword.He wasn't talking about the sword of a militant. He wasn't talking about a physical battle. He was talking about the dividing instrument of God's truth. He was talking about the sword of the Word of God, that it brings division. It brings that kind of division.
John 16, Jesus warned His disciples about it in verse 1: "These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling." I'm warning you so that—here's the purpose—so that you're forearmed, you're kept from stumbling. What's the warning? "They will put you out of the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he’s offering a service to God." Jesus says, there will come a time because you are faithful to Me, faithful to proclaim the Word, faithful to the proclamation of the gospel, they're going to kick you out of the synagogue, and they're going to put some of you to death. And when they put you to death, they're going to think actually they're doing a service to God. And so, when you read verse 19, John 10: "A division occurred again among the Jews." When I read those words, when I consider that we're to pursue peace, reading those words and consider that we're to pursue peace, that God is the God of peace, that Christ is the Prince of Peace, when I take these two things—the division, and we're to pursue peace—I have to ask the question: when I hold them together, if peace is something we're to pursue, if peace is something we're to work for, and endeavor to achieve and attain, and if God is the God of peace, and if Christ is the Prince of Peace, and if His people are people who love peace, then why is there so much controversy that surrounds the gospel?
Why is there so much division whenever there's true Christianity? And how are believers supposed to think about that controversy? How are we supposed to respond to it, and how does it fit with our commitment to peace? That's what I would like us to think about this morning and next week, Lord willing. Maybe more than two weeks—we'll see. But look at verse 19 with me, and the first point that I want to underscore this morning is the reality of division. Please consider with me the reality of division—a division of the gospel.
Consider with me the reality of division. "A division," verse 19, "occurred palin, again, among the Jews, because of these words." ‘Palin’—once more. This is not the first time. This isn't the first time that the message of Christ had caused division, and it wouldn't be the last. This was a pattern. It was a pattern. From the time that the words and the works of Jesus began to expose the false religious leaders of the Jews, and began to expose false religion of the day, from that time that He healed the lame man—you remember—on the Sabbath forward, it was just one series of controversy, one thing after another.
The Jewish leaders hated Him for that, and they wouldn't let it go. They wouldn't. And this has never changed, has it? It hasn't. The Christian church must realize that we're going to be in opposition. The church of Jesus Christ must recognize that there's going to be opposition to the gospel. The Christian church must realize that the message of the cross in a world full of sin, in a cursed world, in a broken world—that message is hated. It is a hated message, and it is a controversial message.
And the reason why it is controversial is because it is true, and because it confronts the world face-to-face with its real problem. In John 3:20, you remember, Jesus said: "For everyone who does evil hates the Light." That's it. "Everyone who does evil, everyone who lives perpetually doing evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light." Why? "Lest his deeds be exposed."
The person who's engaged in wicked things, who does wicked deeds, and they enjoy it—for that person, these wicked deeds are his darlings. And they want to remain in it, they want to let go of it. Those people, Jesus says, they hate the light. They hate the light. People who live in darkness don't want the light to shine; they don't want to come to the light. Why? Lest their deeds be revealed for what they truly are.
That includes, by the way, religious deeds. They want to imagine it to be good, their so-called religious deeds, but the Word of God would expose all of it as being what? Empty, shallow, external, meaningless, ritualistic. This is what Jesus was doing to the religious leaders of the day . He was revealing their deeds for what they really were. You remember how He confronted them again and again. "You fast to be seen by men. You give to be seen by men. You pray in public to be seen by men." You make all these little rules that are not found in the Word of God, you make up the rules so that you could hold sway over the people of God. It's wickedness, Jesus says."You would save a sheep on the Sabbath, but you wouldn't even try to lift a finger to help a man in need." It's wickedness. And they hated Him for it—for saying it, for exposing it. Matthew 10:22, "You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved." And our Lord says in Matthew 10:25, "It is enough for a disciple that he becomes like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul," called Him a devil, "how much more the members of His household?"
And these divisions, according to Jesus, these divisions are going to run sometimes as deep and as personal as your own family. There could be division between husband and wife, division between parents and children, siblings, because of faith in Jesus Christ. Matthew 10:34, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be the members of his household."
Does the Christian church understand this? Does she understand this? Does the church of our time, of our generation, understand that there will be opposition inevitably if we preach the gospel faithfully? And does the Christian church understand that it is not within our power, nor is it within our mission to remove that enmity except through the preaching of the gospel? That is the only way that this enmity can be removed. The only way that you can go from war to peace—how? Through faith in Jesus. The only way you can go from hatred of the light to loving the light, hatred for those who are in the light to loving those who are in the light—the only way, the only way is through conversion, salvation, new birth.
Beloved, the peace that you and I are called to is the peace that exists where there's love for God, where there's love for God. The peace that we're called to is the peace that exists where there's the presence of righteousness. Remember this, remember this: God's kind of peace is not just an absence of conflict. God's kind of peace always, always requires and includes the presence of righteousness. Never forget that. Peace is not just two people agreeing to split the difference. No. You know, like, if we could just kind of call a ceasefire, then we have peace right now. I mean, if we could just bring the right government structure, then there will be peace in such and such country. I mean, isn't that the real issue, just the government structure? No. That's not peace. There's no peace, not real peace, where there's enmity with God. Try your hardest. It doesn't matter. It makes no difference.
And so the peace that we're called to pursue is the peace between brothers. It is the peace of God. It's the peace where there's the presence of righteousness. And also we could say that there's a general kind of peace, a peace with society, a peace with culture that we are to pursue as God's people. But listen carefully. But only so far as we can be faithful to His truth. And only so far as we can remain submitted to His Lordship.
In other words, we're to pursue peace with all men, with all men, the Scripture says—not just believers—all men, including unbelievers, as much as it depends on us. And you know what? When you go through the book of Acts, why were there all those riots? Was it because the disciples were engaging in those, you know, sit-down strikes, civil disobedience? They were picketing places and marching on places. Is that what they were doing? Is that what was going on? No. No, no. None of that.
What were they doing? What were they doing? They were simply preaching the gospel of Jesus. And they wouldn't budge. They wouldn't budge from that. That was the reason for the upset. They were just preaching God's truth. They were preaching God's Word. This is why believers are taught in the book of Romans, Romans 13, that we're to be submissive to the governing authorities. Beloved, in every way, a Christian ought to be a model citizen.
But the one thing, among many others, but the one thing we cannot do is agree not to preach the gospel. The one thing we cannot do is to say that we will pay allegiance to the government if it means that we will not be loyal to King Jesus. No. We must be His disciples first and foremost, citizens of Heaven. And we carry out the commission that has been given to us, which is what? We proclaim Him. We go and make disciples of all nations. And then in every other way, we're to pursue peace with all men as much as it depends on us.
But what we're never to be is a people who operate in this broken world with the mistaken notion that we're going to be loved by everybody, that we're going to be spoken well of by everybody, or that this is a condition to which we're to aspire—that what we're to aim at as the church of Jesus Christ is to have everybody love us. That what we're to aim at as the church is to have everyone understand us and have everyone applaud us and have everyone agree with us. In fact, it's just the opposite.
Do you realize that we're warned against that? We are actually warned against that. God's people have been warned against that. Luke 6:26, "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers were doing the same things through the false prophets." "Woe to you when all men speak well of you." Find a man who claims to speak for God and everyone loves him without exception—there's a man who doesn't really speak for God. You can mark it down: he's in some way taking the edge off of the truth of God, he's twisting the Word of God, he's holding back a portion of the Word of God, not proclaiming the full counsel of God. If he speaks for God and everyone loves him, beware of that man.
Beloved, if everyone didn't love Jesus, they're not going to love His servants. They're not. Nor should we imagine that we have permission from God or that it would be pleasing to God for us to try and afford some sort of a false peace or false terms with false religion, with a world that operates according to false ideas. That is not our task as the bride of Christ. Our task in this world is not to forge a kind of false peace with the world. Our task, given to us by God, is to be true, true peacemakers, which is, according to Scripture, we bring the gospel of peace forward.
We preach the gospel of peace. We bring the message to men that can bring men into peace with God. That's what it means to be a peacemaker. In fact, we're warned about friendship with the world. Remember James 4:4, "You adulterous, as he says, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God," an enemy of the All-Powerful One. What a foolish thing to do.
You have a lost and dying world that is not in friendship with God. It's at enmity with God. It's running directly opposite of the way it should run spiritually. And as a result of that spiritual enmity, it runs in the wrong direction intellectually, philosophically, and morally, and in many other ways—running on the wrong road, on the wrong path.
Now what is our task as the people of God? What is our task as believers? What is our task as Christians? To be in agreement with that world? To find friendship with the world? Or to declare to the world the one message and the one man, the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, who can bring this lost, dying world into a right relationship with God? That's what it means to be a peacemaker, beloved. It means to bring Christ's message to the world so that in Christ there can be true peace made between sinful man and holy God.
When we don't understand this, when we don't understand this, when the church doesn't understand what we just talked about right now, when the church imagines that our task is to make friends with the world, then there are many, many errors and many, many sins that flow out of that misunderstanding. And I can't help it to spend some time on this. And that's what I want us to consider at this point—the errors, the sins that flow out of a misunderstanding of the peace that we're to pursue.
We're to pursue peace. But if we misunderstand what it means, if we think that it means friendship with the world, we're going to run straight into a ditch. And I want to point out some ways the church will do this as a forewarning to forearm us and to strengthen our resolve, to recalibrate us, and once again bring us back to center. We need realignment sometimes.
The first thing that happens, to name some of the errors—the first one, the errors and sins that flow out of misunderstanding of the peace that we're to pursue—the first thing that happens is this: the church misunderstands the profound nature of the problem it's addressing. The church misunderstands the profound, the profound nature of the problem it's addressing. When the church thinks that peace means making friendship with the world, then the church has lost sight of the profound nature of the problem that Christ has sent us to address.
What problem, let me ask, has Christ sent us as His ambassadors, as His people, the people whom He saved from their sin? If you're indeed a child of God, a Christian, what problem has now Christ sent you out into the world to address? It's nothing superficial, beloved. It's nothing superficial and it cannot be superficially healed. It is something profoundly deep.
Let me begin with some negatives. What is it that Christ has sent us to proclaim? What is it that we're to proclaim to the world around us? Has He sent us to tell the world how to feel better? Is that why He sent us? I mean, is that really our task as a church, as believers?
You know, there are so many people around us struggling with discouragement, struggling with tough times and difficult—you know, you know what? Here's what the church must do. The church must bring to the world some positive message, positive message. You know, we're going to lift these people up. We're going to lift them up and make them feel better about themselves. That's sort of what you're hearing in our generation, isn't it? That's the kind of path the church has taken, sadly.
Of course, when I say the church, I'm speaking generically, but many so-called evangelical churches—I mean, this is the road that they have taken. We proclaim, they say, a positive message to encourage people. We don't tell them they're sinners. We don't tell them of the judgment to come. That's not our task. Our task is just simply to give people a feel-good, positive message. It's our task.
Is that what Christ has sent us to do? Is it to make the people feel better, the world feel better? Has He sent us to tell the world of humanity how to get a better job, how to have a better marriage, and how to have a better life? Has He commissioned us to provide—how about this one? Has He commissioned us to provide entertainment for the world? Is that really what the world needs? More entertainment, you know? Laugh a little. I mean, did Jesus Christ die on a tree to send someone out to do stand-up routines? Is that why He died on the tree? To send forth ambassadors to make people laugh? Or did He die on a tree to send people out and, you know, perform? Perform, you know? Put on a performance. Put on a show. To dazzle the multitude with something spectacular.
Or to stand before people and give them the same message that they could receive from any positive-thinking guru or, you know, to be with the times, you know, just a life coach. Can we be honest and ask the question? Can we just be straight with one another and ask the question? What is really—just to use an example—what is really that much different between Joel Osteen and Tony Robbins? I mean, what is really that much different except that Osteen uses gospel terms sometimes to talk about making people feel better? How to achieve their goals, how to feel good, how to have a good life—in fact, your best life now. Isn't there something more profoundly wrong with this world than simply that it isn't thinking positively enough? It just hasn't found the right philosophy yet, maybe?
Let's talk about the church and the world. Is the problem, is the real barrier between this world and the church, simply one of perception? Is that the problem? I mean, the world just doesn't understand us. The real reason why people aren't coming into the church, aren't interested in the gospel is— is it really a PR problem? Is this it? You know, we're not making the gospel interesting enough, it's just too boring. We need to spice it up a little bit. That's it. If we can just spice up the gospel, then people will come. Is that the issue? Or isn't it the truth? That if we really speak the truth, the whole truth, and if we live the truth, that that's the issue. That the truth is what the world really has a problem with, what we all had a problem with before we came to know the Lord, before the Lord saved us. What sinful man really has a problem with is the truth.
To put it in the language of John 3, the light. The Word of God says, "Men hate the light and they won't come to the light because it will expose their evil deeds." And men can try to avoid the light with intellectual arguments and try to avoid the light by pointing out all the deficiencies that they can see in the Lord's church and in professing believers and in many other ways trying to avoid the real issue. But the real issue, where the enmity really is, is that if Christ is the truth, if the gospel is the truth, I'm being called to a faith and to a life then that I don't want because I don't want it to expose my evil deeds. I don't want to let go of it.
Do we understand that the real problem, beloved, that we've been commissioned to address? What is it that Jesus has sent us to address? The real problem, beloved, the real problem is the problem of sin. Sin. The heart. It's lostness. It's estrangement from God. It is alienation from God. Enmity with God. And the fact that judgment is coming. It's coming. There it is. There it is, plain and simple. That's the issue.
The world of mankind is the world of sinners. And in our sinfulness, we're lost. That is, we are cut off from God, estranged from God, alienated from God. And if we die in that condition, we will spend eternity separated from God in a very real place of suffering and torment called hell. There's the issue. Judgment is coming. Wrath is coming upon sinners, upon the wicked. And we're all born sinners. Nothing superficial about that problem, beloved. In other words, beloved, we haven't been called to occupy ourselves with the symptoms of all of the world's sicknesses. We've been called to declare the message that gets to the root of the issue, that gets to the root of the disease.
Why are families out of order? Why are there problems in marriages? Why are there so many divorces? Why are there so many young people that have gone astray and are going astray? What's wrong with the family? Sin. That's what's wrong. Sin. Sin. Why are people unhappy, discouraged, depressed, empty, without a sense of direction and purpose in their life? Sin. Sin is what does that to human beings. And why? Why are there wars? Why is there stealing and cruelty? Doesn't it grieve your heart that it seems like every time you turn on the news, there's someone who's being murdered, who's been murdered, kidnapped, assaulted, and it's all over the place? And it's not new, is it? Why all of that stuff? Why does it happen? Sin. Sin.
Why is it that people need constant entertainment? Why is it that there's this constant need for distraction, entertainment without end? Why? Sin. That's why people aren't satisfied. Why? It's because of sin. They're always, always looking for the next thrill. When they get to the next thrill, they discover it's empty. It's like chasing a mirage in the desert, and so they will chase after the next thrill, and the next one, and the next one. Or we could say it another way. Not only it's because of sin, it's because they're estranged from God. They're estranged from Him.
You see, men have been made by the Creator in such a way that there will always be an emptiness in your life, always. Mark it down. Always be an emptiness in your life until you've been reconciled to Him. And there will always be problems in your life of this kind of nature. Emptiness, void, purposeless, living. If you're not walking with Him. And so what the world tries to avoid at every turn is its real problem. And its real problem is not a philosophy problem. It is not an entertainment problem or issue. Its real problem is a sin problem that alienated, estranged, lost men from a holy God. And the only way for the sins to be forgiven and for man to be reconciled to God is through the death of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, who came to this earth, lived a sinless life, that He might die for sinners upon Calvary's cross, and He died in their stead to pay for all their sins, and He was raised from the dead, and He's able to save forever all those who come to Him by faith, repenting of their sins, recognizing that the real problem is turning from the way that leads to death and looking unto the Son of God for life. And only then are sins forgiven, and a sinner is made right with God, and only then is the nature transformed radically so that you're given a new heart with new loves, new ambitions, new desires. And only then does the Father and the Son and the person of the Holy Spirit take up residence in a person's life, and they're filled with God and become the dwelling place of God, the temple of God.
Only then you will know the truth and understand the truth and love the truth and long to walk in the truth. Only then. And yet, when the church does its true task, which is to declare the message, that message, the church needs to know, must know in advance that everyone will not love her for it. Will not love her for it. To some, you and I will be the aroma of life that leads to life, but to others, we will be the aroma of death that leads to death. There will be division, just like there was with Jesus, just like there was with the disciples, and just like there will be where the truth is faithfully proclaimed.
We need to be reminded, we need to be called to remember that God has called the church to address the most profound issues in the universe—so serious that have to do with life and death and Heaven and Hell and eternity—not something so superficial, so silly, so empty as trying to entertain people. "Oh, I went to church today, that guy is so funny. I mean, I just laughed, I couldn't help myself. It was so funny." See, when the church rightly understands that truth, there will be no true peace without salvation. Maybe we'll stop trying to bring superficial healing.
In the Old Testament, God rebuked priests and prophets who were dealing with people in a superficial way. Listen, in fact, turn with me to Jeremiah 6. Jeremiah 6, let's start with verse 10. Listen to what He says. Jeremiah 6:10: "To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of Yahweh has become a reproach to them; they have no delight in it. But I am full of the wrath of Yahweh; I am weary of holding it in. Pour it out on the infants in the streets and on the gathering of choice men together; for both husband and wife shall be captured, the aged with the one full of days. Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land," declares Yahweh. "For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain; and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone practices lying." Now watch this. “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace.” Did you notice? The leaders—they didn’t deny that there was a wound. They didn’t deny the wound. They just dealt with it how? Superficially. Superficially. Superficially. Saying, ‘shalom, shalom’, when there is no ‘shalom’.
Beloved, to tell people they’re at peace with God when their sins have not been dealt with is to lie to them. To tell people that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives and stop there—not tell them that their sins must be forgiven and only can be forgiven in Christ, or that they’re going to spend eternity under the wrath of God unless they repent and believe—is to lie to them. Maybe the reason that false teachers and preachers lie to them today is the same as it was in Jeremiah chapter 6. Maybe because the prophets know that if they tell the truth, they may have to suffer for it. There may be division. There may be hatred.
I must conclude. We’ll leave the rest until next time, Lord willing. But let me conclude this morning—and we’ll come back, we’ll come back next time, Lord willing—to talk about some of the errors that spring from a misunderstanding of peace. But let me just finish this morning by asking four simple questions. Four simple questions. And I pray they’ll be etched in our hearts and our minds.
The first one is this. They’re simple. What’s really, really wrong with the world? Hmm? What’s wrong with the world, really? We all know there’s something wrong with the world. Just read the news. Look around you. Look at your own surroundings, your own life. We all know there’s something wrong with the world. What’s wrong with it? Beloved, do you recognize it’s sin?
What’s really wrong with a sinner? Do you recognize it is sin?
What’s wrong with you, my sinner friend today? Perhaps sitting here, in our midst. Maybe there’s some here in this room who’s not a Christian. And if you’re to be honest with yourself, that emptiness we’ve talked about this morning, that void, that lack of satisfaction, constantly reaching for something more, for the next thrill—it’s there in your life. Let me ask you, why is it there? Let me tell you. It’s because you’re not experiencing what you were made for: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
My next question is this. On what basis can the sinner enter into a friendship with God? On what basis can a sinner enter into a friendship with God? How can this enmity between a holy God and sinful man go away? How can a man be right with God? How can a man be reconciled to God? A sinner be reconciled to God? Do you realize there’s only one way? Only one.
Jesus said, John 14, 6, , “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.” Jesus isn’t a good way to God. He isn’t even a way to God. He is the only way to God. Come to the Son and you will be received by the Father. Reject the Son and you will be rejected by the Father.
Third question: on what basis will the world love us? On what basis will the world love us? On what basis will the world love us? What will it take for the world to love us? What will it take for your lost friends that you've been reaching out to and that they have a real problem with you—what will it take for them to love you? Maybe for some of you it's in your own family. There's division in your own family. What's it going to take for them to really love you?
Do you realize there are only two ways to be loved by the world? Do you realize that? Only two ways. Only two ways: conversion or compromise. And there is no middle ground. Conversion or compromise. Either you will preach the Word of God, you will tell the truth, and by God's grace and mercy they will be converted—they will come to Jesus—and God will tell you this when that takes place. Have someone get saved and they will go from having hated you to loving you just like that. Or you can compromise and try to make friendship with the world on its terms, but realize that people who do that are what? Enemies of God. And you don't want that.
And the last question I ask this morning is: do you long for the world to love you? Do you long for the world to love you? Is that why perhaps some in this room—you've been compromising? Could that be the case? Because you'd rather have the love of the world than have the pleasure of the Father? Are you salty? Are you any different than the people around you who don't know Jesus? Are you notably different? Are you publicly different? Are you shining? "Blameless, innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked scoliosis, crooked and perverse generation who shine as lights in the world" (Philippians 2:15).
You are light in the Lord. You're meant to shine. You're meant to shine. Are you shining? Are you shining? Is the Lord's pleasure enough for you? Is it enough for you? Take the world but give me Jesus. It's enough for me. It's enough to know that the smile of God is upon me. I don't care who's against me. I don't care who's frowning on me. Is the Lord's pleasure enough for you?
If you know from God's Word that you're pleasing the Father but you're hated on account of it, will it be enough for you to know that you please Him? Concerning Moses, I love those words. Hebrews 11.25 and 26 : "Choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, regarding the reproach of Christ greater riches than he was looking to the reward.” May the Lord's church be revived to only care about pleasing one—pleasing our God. And all of God's people would say together, let's pray.
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