The Controversial Christ (III)
This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.
The peace that Christ came to bring to the earth is not a peace without division. Now, we talked about that last time and the week before—that the peace that Jesus brings is not a peace like the world defines it to be. People often define peace as the absence of any discord, the absence of any conflict, but we saw last time that true peace requires the presence of righteousness. It does. True peace is when you agree with God. True peace is when you have submitted to the Lordship of Christ. True peace is experienced where God rules and reigns, where God is acknowledged as God and submitted to as God.
And so, when you talk about the peace that Jesus came to bring, He says it Himself. He says in Luke 12:51, "Do you think that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division." These words are from the lips of Christ. And what He means by that is that even though He is the Prince of Peace and God is the God of all peace, and His people are people who love peace, wherever you have the presence of truth in a world of sin, in a world of sinful men and women, there's going to be conflict wherever there's that refusal to believe God and His Word.
This division can run even, as we saw together, as deep as family relationships—division between husbands and wives and parents and children and brothers and sisters and so forth—when you have on one part faith and on the other unbelief. And thus far we've considered together from these verses the reality of division. In verse 19, we talked about the fact that even though we're a people who belong to the God of peace and our Shepherd is the Prince of Peace and we are a people who are to pursue peace even with society at large—we're to pursue peace with all men as much as it depends on us—even though we're a peace-loving people, we will deal with the division that the truth inevitably will bring in this world.
We talked about the errors, you remember, and the sins that occur in the church when we forget that—when we forget that reality. When the church begins to fall prey to a false definition of peace and we think that it's our job to make friends with the world, even if it means putting away the truth, watering down the truth, couching it in palatable language. When we think that way, we talked about the errors and the sins that show up in the church, and many of these sins and errors are showing up in the church of our generation, of our time. And we talked about the reality of division.
The second thing that we see in these verses that we're going to consider together this morning has to do with the reason for the division. So we will move from the reality of division to the reason for division. It's also in verse 19. So the question that we have to ask and answer: Why is there division? Why? Wherever Jesus goes—I mean, beginning in chapter 5, the Gospel of John, and forward—I mean, He's constantly embroiled in controversy. Wherever He's speaking the truth, there's this division that occurs. So what is the reason for it? Why? We've already talked about the reason, but we're going to zero in on it this morning. It's important.
But as you know, it is important as well, before we talk about what the reason was, it is critically important that we note what the reason was not. It's going to be helpful, I trust. It's always helpful, especially when it comes to important themes or subjects, to really zero in first before we get to the positive to focus on the negative, what it is not. So I'm going to go back for a moment and underscore again something that the Bible treats as very important, and that is, we are to be a people who pursue peace.
And oftentimes what happens when we talk about the division that comes with the preaching of the truth, the preaching of the Gospel, the preaching of Christ, if we're not careful, the church can sort of develop a militant mindset where we're almost, we find ourselves glorying in that division. And if we're not careful, we can be instigators of division. So we have to have that biblical balance. And so I think it's very important that as we look at this division, verse 19, "A division occurred again among the Jews," again, *palin* (πάλιν), more than once. This is not the first time this division occurs. " A division occurred again, once more, among the Jews because of these words."
So not only should we recognize why there was division, but also we must recognize the things that did not bring about this division in the life of our Lord—never brought about this division in the life of our Lord. What was it about the Lord Jesus that's causing that division? Well, let's answer what wasn't. What wasn't. And that's where I want to begin this morning.
And the first thing that I want us to note under the "what wasn't," the cause of this division is this. Mark it down and don't forget about it. It was not a political division. Let me say that again. It wasn't a political division. Let me say that a third time. It was not a political division. Jesus wasn't leading a social revolution. Jesus was not leading a political revolution.
And we need to be clear, the truth of the Gospel came and has and does and will literally shake the world. I mean, we read about it in the book of Acts, don't we? Where there's a riot that occurs, one of the things that pagans say about what's going on, they say like in Acts 17:6, "These men," referring to the apostles, "who have upset the world have come also here." And that's what it's like as the Gospel begins to spread, as the Gospel is unleashed, as the Gospel begins to impact society. It's like the world is being turned upside down, right side up.
When God grants salvation in great numbers, when many people are saved and turned to Jesus, when there's a great awakening, guess what? Societies do change. And God has at times shown a special grace and preserved societies because of the presence of believers there. We have Biblical evidence for that, but we must remember, beloved, that the political and social revolutions that occur due to the Gospel occur indirectly. It's not because the church aims at some political result. It's just indirect. It's because of the saving work of God in the lives of people.
And mark this, when someone is saved indeed, their viewpoint on everything changes. That's the key. But there wasn't division here on this occasion because Jesus was leading some sort of a political revolution. There was nothing rebellious about the Son of God. Absolutely nothing. In fact, it is really incredible after Jesus was arrested and after He goes through the mock trials—really a mockery it was—and as the Jews were crying out for His death, for His crucifixion, the man who wants to release Jesus represents the government that the Jews says that Jesus was a threat to. I mean, this was the argument of the Jews. You read about it in John 19. Turn with me there for a moment, the Gospel of John 19:12. This was the argument of the Jews. John 19:12: "As a result of this, Pilate kept seeking to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, 'If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar.'" I mean, wow, the Jews loved the Romans, didn't they? "We are Caesar's friends, but if you release this man, you're not Caesar's friend."
They go on to say, "Everyone who makes himself to be a king opposes Caesar," verse 15; "So they cried out, 'Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!' Pilate said to them, 'Shall I crucify your King?' The chief priests answered, 'We have no king but Caesar.'" You talk about self-condemning words. They weren't aware of it, but very accurate words, because God was not their King.
What were these Jews trying to sell Pilate? They were trying to say that Jesus and His followers represented a threat to Caesar, that Jesus and His followers represented a political threat, that they were potentially the leaders of a rebellion, a revolution, an insurrection against Rome, against Caesar. So you better deal with this, eliminate this problem. And yet Jesus Himself made clear that that was not His ambition.
Remember back in John 6:15, after He fed the multitude, they wanted to seize Him by force and make Him a king, He withdrew Himself. He wasn't interested. That's not why He came. Look here, John 18—actually, if you back up to John 18: 36—answering Pilate, Jesus said, listen to what He said in John 18:36: "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be delivered over to the Jews. But as it is, My kingdom is not from here."
Did you catch this? Not only is it not of this world, it's not from this world. So the Roman governor, Pilate—the one that the Jews said would be in danger if Jesus survived—he's the one who said three times, not once, not twice, but three times, three different occasions, "I find no guilt in Him."
Look at them: John 18:38, "Pilate went out again to the Jews and said to them, 'I find no guilt in Him.'" John 19:4, "And Pilate came out again and said to them, 'Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.'" Verse 6: "And when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, 'Crucify, crucify!' Pilate said to them, 'Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.'"
Wow. The Jews were saying that Jesus is a political threat, but the Roman governor says, "I find no guilt in Him." It wasn't a political division.
Now what about the apostles? You go through the book of Acts and you see again controversy after controversy, division after division. And what was it about? Could they have created a political—what was it about? Was it really political? Was it really politics? Was it really social reforms? Did the apostles go out with a social agenda?
We need to recognize that when you look at first-century Rome through the eyes of God's Word, it's very easy to see there were myriads of issues that believers then and believers now would have found to be offensive, sinful, wicked. There was no lack—pardon me—of social problems in Rome. About the time of the writing of the New Testament, there were one million slaves in Rome. So slavery was an issue. There was a rampant, gross immorality. Homosexuality was widespread along with sexual immorality. In fact, in these cities, there would be temples to these false gods, and often accompanying the temple practice were temple prostitutions. You read through the book of Acts and you see corruption in government, people making deals behind the scene, arrangements, bribery. I mean, nothing new about that. It was always there.
Not only that, parenting and children—I mean, the Roman father literally had the power of death over his children, and it wasn't uncommon for the child to be sold into slavery, just like that. And some even were drowned after they were born because they were unwanted. So there was racial bigotry in the first century, injustice, oppression, to add to those things. And all these things—sinful, all these offensive things—are still offensive even today, but they were also offensive back then. And yet, what do you see the first-century church doing? What do you see the church doing, first century's church?
In the face of all of this, were they organizing for political change? Were they? Show me where in the book of Acts. Were they saying, well, here's our agenda, we need to get together, get our vote together and make our views known in the Roman world? What was their mission? They were preaching Christ. They're preaching the gospel. That's all. That's all.
Now this is instructive for us, isn't it? Because this speaks to our generation. You see, in the 80s, there was a movement to use the church as a political force south of the border, and everything spills over here. And in fact, to this day, political pundits will talk about the evangelicals and the evangelical vote as if evangelicals were a lobby group. We must distinguish, beloved, between Christians as citizens—responsible citizens, individual citizens—and Christians as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As individual citizens, we have every responsibility to conduct ourselves as responsible citizens, and that includes getting involved in appropriate ways with the processes of government. It's appropriate that Christians vote. In fact, I believe we have a responsibility to do that from Scripture. We ought to be some light in this world in moral ways, in civic ways, as individual believers before God. But as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, politics is not our work. It's not.
Because we don't believe that the world will be transformed by politics. No, no, we believe that what's wrong with the world is what the Bible says is wrong, and that is, man is a sinner estranged from God by his sin. And nothing is going to change him. Nothing. And ultimately, nothing is going to change the world other than Jesus. Salvation. Accept the saving relationship to Jesus Christ. That's the only hope for change.
We realize from God's Word, kingdoms will rise, kingdoms will fall, but the kingdom of Christ endures forever. So what we long for is not to make conservatives out of people, is not to make liberals or NDP out of people. Rather, what we long for is to see men and women and young people brought out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we long for. That's our mission. That is our goal.
In fact, God Himself told us about the importance of this. Turn with me to Romans 13. Romans 13:1. This is God's Word, inspired, infallible, inerrant:
"Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist have been appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists that authority has opposed the ordinance of God, and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of that authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same, for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword in vain, for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil."
That is, God has instituted the idea of government in human societies in order to restrain evil. That's His purpose. This is an instrument of God to restrain evil. God is at work in the world restraining evil through various means. One of them is human government. This is one of the divinely appointed purposes of government—to restrain evil. And God has given the government the power of life and death, the power of the sword to enforce that.
And by the way, when Paul writes this, what kind of government was in charge? Would you say a government characterized by righteousness? First-century Rome, Nero, evil, wicked Nero. Not only that, he says to Christians, this is to be your attitude about government and about those who are in authority over you. Verse five: "Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of that wrath, but also because of conscience. For because of this, you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another, for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law."
What is He saying to the church? What is He saying to believers? Is He telling them to lead a political revolution? No, no, that's not their task as the Lord's church. That's not what He's saying. Turn with me to First Peter chapter two, if you would. And I want us to see this. This is no small matter in God's Word because it is addressed more than once.
First Peter chapter two, in verse 13: look at the first two words—"Be subject"—one word in the Greek. "Be subject for the Lord's sake," for the sake of the Lord. "Be subject for the sake of the Lord to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do good. For such is the will of God that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish men."
Now stop right there. Do you realize what He's telling us, beloved? He's saying one of the things that will happen with the Lord's church if we don't make clear what our mission is, if we don't make clear what the world's problem is—that is, sin and estrangement from God—and if we don't make clear what our mission is—that is, to bring men and women to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ—then we're going to be guilty of the very thing that we will be accused of.
Let me explain. You see, it ought to be ignorance, it ought to be foolish men who will say that we are a rebellious people against human institutions, against government, that we're sort of some political arm that's trying to bring change, our view of what the world ought to be, through social revolution, political revolution. He says that ought to be ignorance, it ought to be foolish men who will say that. He says no, don't let that be the case. Let that be the speech of ignorant, foolish men and women. He says you be subject to these human institutions.
Now obviously—and you know what I'm about to say—be subject as long as you can remain subject to the Lord. These are the exceptions: when you're asked to do what God forbids, when you're forbidden to do what God requires. Other than that, you're to subject yourself.
If the government says we can no longer preach the gospel, then what will we do? We're going to preach the gospel, and do we have biblical examples of that? Of course we do. But as long as we're not violating God's word, we're not going to preach the gospel, And do we have biblical examples of that? Of course we do. But as long as we're not violating God's Word, we're to remain subject to the governing authorities, so that it may become plain to the world what our understanding of the world's problem really is.
What is ultimately wrong with the world? It is not political, it is not social. It is what? Spiritual. It's a spiritual problem. And the reason why the world is wrong in many places—socially, politically—is because it is darkened in its understanding and alienated from God spiritually. Where there's no fellowship with God, there are all of these evidences of no fellowship with God. That's what you find all the time.
So what is our mission? To change the world through politics and social programs? Of course not. Absolutely not. It is to preach Christ, to preach the gospel, and to see men and women come to faith in Jesus Christ. Read on, verse 16, 1 Peter chapter 2: "Act as free people, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as slaves of God." You mean to live as a slave of God means that I live in subjection to governing authorities? Yes. Yes, that's part of being a slave of God.
Look at verse 17: "Honor all people, love the brethren, fear God," and what does He say next? "Honor the king." Honor the king. Verse 18: "Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only those who are good and considerate, but also those who are crooked. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unrighteously. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this finds favor with God."
"For to you, for to this you have been called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps, who did no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth, who being reviled was not reviling in return, while suffering He was uttering no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously."
Beloved, the answer is not political revolution, social revolution. The answer is the preaching of the gospel and the living out of the Christian life as a result of the gospel. Bible-believing, Bible-living. Remind them—He goes on—to be subject to rulers, authorities. Excuse me, that's Titus. I want us to see Titus 3:1: "Remind them," He says, "to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work." Again, you see the same thing. This is no small matter in God's Word. "Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, and to be ready for every good work."
Now watch this. “To slander no one, to be peaceable, considerate, demonstrating all gentleness to all men. For we ourselves also once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our lives in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another.” But—that's another great “but” in the Bible—“but when the kindness and affection of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not by works, which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
This is clear, beloved. What should characterize believers as we live toward those in authority over us, even though they're unbelievers, even though they're wicked and evil? What should characterize us? Insulting speech? Attacks on those who are over us? Not according to this text. He's careful to tell us, slander no one, show all gentleness to all men.
Why? Because you yourselves were once foolish, that's why. That's why. He's saying, remember, they're in darkness, they're unregenerate, they're acting according to their nature. What do you expect? I often tell people when somebody is harsh at work or in the world, and they say, it's not fair, and they're shocked, and they say, what are you shocked about? You should be shocked when they're nice to you. They're acting according to their nature. They're in darkness, unregenerate.
And then he says, remember also that you yourselves were once foolish. You yourselves were disobedient, and you were deceived, and you were enslaved to various lusts and pleasures. You spent your life in malice and envy. You were hated by others, and you hated others as well. So what's different about you now? There's that “but.” The goodness, the loving kindness of your Savior appeared. That's what made the difference. The goodness, the loving kindness of your Savior.
He saved you, not because of works of righteousness which you did. You take zero credit for this, but according to His own mercy, and you've been washed and cleansed, and you've been renewed by the Holy Spirit of God who dwells you now. And the Holy Spirit has been poured out on you so richly through Jesus Christ, your Savior, so that having been justified by grace, you are now an heir of the hope of eternal life.
You see, what's wrong with this world is its lostness, its deadness, and it's in desperate need of salvation. And when the church begins to think that its mission is a political one or a social one, it has missed the message of God of what's really wrong with this world. And what's wrong is sin, and the need for forgiveness. The desperate need is to be reconciled to a holy God.
Back to John 10, so why is there division? Not because of any political ambition on the part of Jesus. No, that's not the reason, and that wasn't the reason for the apostles. And when it comes to us, that must not, beloved, be the reason why we face division in this world. It must not.
But there's another reason we could say that it wasn't. Not only it was not political division, in the second place, I want us to see that it wasn't sinful division. It wasn't sinful division. It wasn't sinful on our Lord's part. There was no sin on His part. There was sin on their part, but not on His part.
And those of us who understand who Jesus really is, this is no news to us. We know that our Savior is impeccable. There's no sin in Him. He's holy, holy, holy, pure, undefiled, righteous. In fact, 1 Peter 2, the passage that we read, lays great stress on that. But still, it is good for us to say it and to underscore it—that the reason why there was division here was not because Jesus was doing something wrong and then tried to hide behind it in the name of God.
No, no. When it came to our Lord, the world could not point a legitimate finger at Him and accuse Him of anything. Not the false religious world, not the pagan world. They couldn't do that. I mean, they could say it, and they did malign Him and falsely accuse Him, but that's the whole point—it was false accusation. He wasn't engaging in wrongdoing.
Turn to John chapter 8. John chapter 8. Look at verse 43. Jesus is speaking. You remember when we studied this account, He says, "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me."
And Jesus is able to say this next, verse 46: "Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me?" Jesus says, there's this division. You don't hear My word. You won't hear the truth. And then He says, "Which one of you is able to legitimately convict Me of sin?" What a challenge. They couldn't do it, could they? That wasn't the reason that there was division among them—not because Jesus was doing something wrong or sinful.
In fact, I love the way the Apostle Peter describes the ministry of our Lord. Go to the book of Acts 10. Acts 10. Look at how Peter describes our Lord's ministry. Verse 34: "And opening his mouth, Peter said, 'I most truly comprehend now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the one who fears Him and does righteousness is welcome to Him. As for the word which He sent to the sons of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—you yourselves know the thing which happened throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed.'"
He's saying, in other words, you know about the earthly ministry of Jesus. You know what happened in His ministry. So what happened? He tells them. Look at verse 38: "You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree. We talk about a contrast. ."
You talk about a contrast. He went about doing good and healing all of their diseases. They put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree. What did He do to deserve to be hung on a tree? Nothing sinful. Nothing wrong. He just went about doing what? Good. Good.
Let's take a step back and talk about the apostles. Look at the division that was present where they went. Was it because they were engaging in sinful behavior? Of course not. Are we wasting our time thinking about this, this morning? Or does God make a point of this in His Word as He addresses us as His children? I mean, this is something we ought to keep in mind, beloved, because it is there in the Word of God.
Back to 1 Peter chapter 2. Back to 1 Peter chapter 2. Look at verse 9. 1 Peter chapter 2: "But you are a chosen family, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that — that's the goal, that's the end in view — so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." What is our mission? That's our mission right here, to proclaim the excellencies of Him. That's what it is.
"For you once were not a people," verse 10, "but now you are the people of God. You have not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." Beloved, I urge you as sojourners, verse 11, and exiles. Stop right there. You see, we're to remind ourselves, beloved, every single day, every single day, beloved, this isn't the kingdom. This isn't heaven. Is there anything wrong in our government right now in this nation? And does it surprise us? Are we shocked by it? Do we imagine that it's going to be different than that?
Are we ever going to have a God-fearing government across the board in this nation where God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven? Is that going to occur before Jesus returns to the earth? No. So what are we right now on this earth? Peter tells us: sojourners. Sojourners, exiles, pilgrims. We're citizens of this nation, but our citizenship is where? In heaven. In heaven. And so we're passing through, we're pilgrims, we're sojourners on this earth, we're exiles. This world is not our home. That's how we actually think of ourselves.
Peter is able to address believers this way. Verse 11: "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to do what?" Well, he tells us: "to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul by keeping your conduct excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing which they slander you as evildoers, they may, because of your good works as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation." And it's right after that statement that he says—did you notice that?—right after that statement that he says in verse 13: "Be subject for the sake of the Lord to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him," etc.
Those verses to be in subjection, they come right after the verses that tell us how we're to think of ourselves in this world. Not as social revolutionaries, not as political lobbyists, but rather citizens of the kingdom of Heaven who've been redeemed by the grace of God in Jesus Christ, and we have the privilege of telling forth the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. And as we go forth proclaiming Jesus, preaching the message, make sure, He says, that we abstain from the lust of the flesh that wage war against our souls, and be sure to keep our conduct honorable among the Gentiles, so that—that's the end in view—even when they do malign us, even when they do speak against us, it will become evident to them that these are false accusations, and as they see our good deeds, then one day they're able to glorify God on the day when He saves them.
Isn't it true? There's been people, and maybe you know some yourselves, who spoke against Christians until they were saved, and then all of a sudden their speech changed, and they're able to give thanks to God for the believers who lived out a testimony before them. Isn't that what happened to Saul of Tarsus as he saw the witness of Stephen? And so many others. Make sure, beloved, make sure, if there's division, make sure it's not because you're sinning.
2 Corinthians 8:21—again I want to show us this—this is no small matter in God's Word. That's why I'm repeating myself, but we need this: "For we respect what is good, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men." In the sight of men. Do you realize, beloved, that we were to be a people who are characterized by doing what's good in the sight of men as well? I mean, there are things that are just considered good, excellent among men. We're to be—we're to be marked by those things.
You don't have to turn there. If you want, you can, or jot them down. 1 Peter 3:15, "But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and fear; having a good conscience, so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who disparage your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame."
Titus 2:7, "In all things show yourself to be a model of good works, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in word, which is irreproachable, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us." One more, 1 Peter 2:18, "Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are crooked. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unrighteously. For what credit is there if, when you sin, are harshly treated and you endure it?"
I mean, if you did something wrong and you're suffering for it, and now you're enduring it, what credit is there in that? But if you—He goes on to say—if you do good and suffer for it, you endure, He said, this finds favor with God. Beloved, this is so relevant, because there are so many examples in our world where professing believers claim to be under persecution, but in reality, they've engaged in behavior that would not be considered honorable among all men. Honorable among all men.
And they're not really suffering for the sake of Christ, and they're not really suffering for the sake of the gospel. They're suffering because of their own dishonorable actions. There are believers at their jobs who say they're being persecuted for the cause of Christ, when in reality, they do very little work and a lot of talking. You say, we're evangelizing. They do very little work. No, no, you're being punished because you're not a good worker.
You see, beloved, we've got to be sure why there is division. It's not because we're political revolutionaries. It's not because we're social revolutionaries. And it's not because we're sinning. That's not why Jesus was facing division. So what was His division over? Look back at John 10. Look at verse 19. We'll close with that this morning. "A division occurred again among the Jews." Why? Well, He gives us the reason. "Because"—here's a reason—"because of these words."
Because of these words. What words? The words of truth concerning Himself. He has represented Himself. Remember, "I am the shepherd, the good one, I am the shepherd, the good one," as the true Shepherd. And when you talk about the true Shepherd, you're talking about the divine Shepherd. Don't you love Psalm 23? "Yahweh is my shepherd." This is Jesus. This is Jehovah Jesus.
And He is the true and only way into the fold of God, the only way for sinful men to be reconciled to the living, holy God. It is through faith in Jesus Christ, who died for sinners, raised from the dead. He's the one who said, "I am the way, the truth, and life. No one comes to the Father but through Me." He's the gate. He's the way. He's presented Himself as the true way to satisfaction for the soul.
He leads them out. Once they're in His fold, He leads them out to green pasture. They're fed. They're taken care of. And He's the one who satisfies the soul. He's the only one who's able to save to the uttermost those who come to Him by faith.
This is what He's taught about Himself in John 10, the verses that precede the ones we're looking at this morning. He says, you remember, several times, "I lay down My life for the sheep. I lay down My life for the sheep. I lay down My life for them." They would come in and out and find pasture. "I am the door. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved" (verse 9). He's the only way to salvation.
And He has exposed the motives and the methods and the practices of those who are false, counterfeit shepherds, hired hands. And this is why He is hated—not because of political activity, not because of social activity, not because of sinful activity—but because He preaches and speaks the truth. He is the truth. He is the light. And there is the legitimate reason for division, beloved, because of the truth of the gospel.
So let me close this morning by asking us, are we peacemakers or troublemakers? Are we peacemakers or troublemakers? The division Jesus faced was a peacemaking division. It was a peacemaking division. He was being a peacemaker. He was speaking the truth that makes for peace with God and for true peace among men who are alienated from God so that they would be reconciled to God.
So the question: are you a peacemaker? Do you speak the words of God? Are you declaring the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light? Do you realize that this is the unimaginable privilege that has been entrusted to you and to me as a child of God? You and I get to tell forth these excellencies. We get to tell forth these excellencies. What a privilege! What a privilege! Are we doing that?
And if we are truly peacemakers, we're going to feel the heat. Let's go back to the Sermon on the Mount, chapter 5. Have you ever noticed that there's a progression in the Beatitudes? I want us to notice toward the end of the Beatitudes what happens. Look at verse 3: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the lowly, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
"Blessed are"—what?—"the peacemakers." The peacemakers. "For they shall be called sons of God." What's the next one? "Blessed are those who have been persecuted." Facing that peacemaking division. "Blessed are those who have been persecuted." This comes right on the heels of being a peacemaker. This is what a peacemaker meets within the world, Jesus is saying.
"Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you," and the next word is a key word, "falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Not because of your political affiliation. Because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." If you're a peacemaker, you will face it. But it must be because you're a peacemaker, not because you're a troublemaker. It must be because of the truth. Are you a peacemaker or a troublemaker?
Then another question, if you would allow me to ask. Do we understand that the principles that we've learned this morning apply in other areas? Just a few more minutes. The principles that we've learned this morning apply in other areas. Let me give you some examples, and let the Holy Spirit—I pray the Holy Spirit—will really bring about the rest of the application.
The world will not be changed by external organizational means. Not really changed. And the world will never change, be changed by sinful means. You can't do something sinful and expect a righteous result. And do we understand that those same principles apply as near and as dear to us as our own homes?
Are there parents who imagine that they can somehow transform their kids by organizational external means? I mean, if we just have the right formula, you know, if we just have the right organization in our family, if we have the right steps that we take, surely we'll ensure that our kids will turn out the right way. I mean, the problem in our child's life, maybe it's an organizational one, maybe it's something that I can enact through a different sort of government in my home. Maybe that will change my child.
Listen, just like government restrains evil in society, so I'm not saying that our organization at home doesn't make a difference. It can restrain evil and put those guardrails, but over and over again there have been parents who have learned the heartbreaking lesson that what's really wrong in all of us cannot be changed by external means. Because the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. You see, you can have the best organization in your home that you want to, and if your son or daughter isn't visited by the Holy Spirit of God with the gospel, and if their hearts are not transformed, eventually when they leave the government of your home, you will see that they are sinners who, if they're not saved by who, if they're not saved by Christ, will pursue a life of dishonoring the Master.
And I say this because there are so many in our world, people teaching in our world, that say, well, here's the way you raise your kids, and if you just do that, then here's the outcome. And I say to you this morning, based on the Word of God, that is a lie. It's by grace that you were saved, and it's going to be by grace that they're saved. God will work through means. He'll use you as godly parents, but He alone saves. He alone transforms our children.
And also, we must remember that just like sinning doesn't bring about righteous results in the world, so sinning doesn't bring about righteous results in your home. That is, when you see that your kids are living wrongly in areas, you and I must remember that "the anger of man does not bring about the righteousness of God." To yell at your kids and lose your temper with your kids, to sinfully discipline your children, will never bring about the result that you're hoping for, longing for, aiming for, praying for.
How do we affect the world? By declaring Christ's excellencies and by living a life of righteousness before a watching world. And how do we affect those in our family? By declaring the truth of And how do we affect those in our family? By declaring the truth of God's Word while living it ourselves. Because most of what is caught is seen as well as heard.
And what I've said about children can also be true in an unequally yoked marriage. One spouse comes to know the Lord Jesus Christ and the other has not come to that reality. You're not going to convert your husband or wife through organizational means or through sinful means. You must seek the face of God because He alone can save your spouse. He alone can change them.
It's important that we realize there's going to be division, but it's equally important, beloved, that we realize the reason for the division—what it ought to be biblically and what it is not as well, what it should not be. And may we give heed to the Word of God, these exhortations, these warnings about what the division must not be about. And may we ask the Lord to help us toward that end.
Let's pray.
And so, when you talk about the peace that Jesus came to bring, He says it Himself. He says in Luke 12:51, "Do you think that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division." These words are from the lips of Christ. And what He means by that is that even though He is the Prince of Peace and God is the God of all peace, and His people are people who love peace, wherever you have the presence of truth in a world of sin, in a world of sinful men and women, there's going to be conflict wherever there's that refusal to believe God and His Word.
This division can run even, as we saw together, as deep as family relationships—division between husbands and wives and parents and children and brothers and sisters and so forth—when you have on one part faith and on the other unbelief. And thus far we've considered together from these verses the reality of division. In verse 19, we talked about the fact that even though we're a people who belong to the God of peace and our Shepherd is the Prince of Peace and we are a people who are to pursue peace even with society at large—we're to pursue peace with all men as much as it depends on us—even though we're a peace-loving people, we will deal with the division that the truth inevitably will bring in this world.
We talked about the errors, you remember, and the sins that occur in the church when we forget that—when we forget that reality. When the church begins to fall prey to a false definition of peace and we think that it's our job to make friends with the world, even if it means putting away the truth, watering down the truth, couching it in palatable language. When we think that way, we talked about the errors and the sins that show up in the church, and many of these sins and errors are showing up in the church of our generation, of our time. And we talked about the reality of division.
The second thing that we see in these verses that we're going to consider together this morning has to do with the reason for the division. So we will move from the reality of division to the reason for division. It's also in verse 19. So the question that we have to ask and answer: Why is there division? Why? Wherever Jesus goes—I mean, beginning in chapter 5, the Gospel of John, and forward—I mean, He's constantly embroiled in controversy. Wherever He's speaking the truth, there's this division that occurs. So what is the reason for it? Why? We've already talked about the reason, but we're going to zero in on it this morning. It's important.
But as you know, it is important as well, before we talk about what the reason was, it is critically important that we note what the reason was not. It's going to be helpful, I trust. It's always helpful, especially when it comes to important themes or subjects, to really zero in first before we get to the positive to focus on the negative, what it is not. So I'm going to go back for a moment and underscore again something that the Bible treats as very important, and that is, we are to be a people who pursue peace.
And oftentimes what happens when we talk about the division that comes with the preaching of the truth, the preaching of the Gospel, the preaching of Christ, if we're not careful, the church can sort of develop a militant mindset where we're almost, we find ourselves glorying in that division. And if we're not careful, we can be instigators of division. So we have to have that biblical balance. And so I think it's very important that as we look at this division, verse 19, "A division occurred again among the Jews," again, *palin* (πάλιν), more than once. This is not the first time this division occurs. " A division occurred again, once more, among the Jews because of these words."
So not only should we recognize why there was division, but also we must recognize the things that did not bring about this division in the life of our Lord—never brought about this division in the life of our Lord. What was it about the Lord Jesus that's causing that division? Well, let's answer what wasn't. What wasn't. And that's where I want to begin this morning.
And the first thing that I want us to note under the "what wasn't," the cause of this division is this. Mark it down and don't forget about it. It was not a political division. Let me say that again. It wasn't a political division. Let me say that a third time. It was not a political division. Jesus wasn't leading a social revolution. Jesus was not leading a political revolution.
And we need to be clear, the truth of the Gospel came and has and does and will literally shake the world. I mean, we read about it in the book of Acts, don't we? Where there's a riot that occurs, one of the things that pagans say about what's going on, they say like in Acts 17:6, "These men," referring to the apostles, "who have upset the world have come also here." And that's what it's like as the Gospel begins to spread, as the Gospel is unleashed, as the Gospel begins to impact society. It's like the world is being turned upside down, right side up.
When God grants salvation in great numbers, when many people are saved and turned to Jesus, when there's a great awakening, guess what? Societies do change. And God has at times shown a special grace and preserved societies because of the presence of believers there. We have Biblical evidence for that, but we must remember, beloved, that the political and social revolutions that occur due to the Gospel occur indirectly. It's not because the church aims at some political result. It's just indirect. It's because of the saving work of God in the lives of people.
And mark this, when someone is saved indeed, their viewpoint on everything changes. That's the key. But there wasn't division here on this occasion because Jesus was leading some sort of a political revolution. There was nothing rebellious about the Son of God. Absolutely nothing. In fact, it is really incredible after Jesus was arrested and after He goes through the mock trials—really a mockery it was—and as the Jews were crying out for His death, for His crucifixion, the man who wants to release Jesus represents the government that the Jews says that Jesus was a threat to. I mean, this was the argument of the Jews. You read about it in John 19. Turn with me there for a moment, the Gospel of John 19:12. This was the argument of the Jews. John 19:12: "As a result of this, Pilate kept seeking to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, 'If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar.'" I mean, wow, the Jews loved the Romans, didn't they? "We are Caesar's friends, but if you release this man, you're not Caesar's friend."
They go on to say, "Everyone who makes himself to be a king opposes Caesar," verse 15; "So they cried out, 'Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!' Pilate said to them, 'Shall I crucify your King?' The chief priests answered, 'We have no king but Caesar.'" You talk about self-condemning words. They weren't aware of it, but very accurate words, because God was not their King.
What were these Jews trying to sell Pilate? They were trying to say that Jesus and His followers represented a threat to Caesar, that Jesus and His followers represented a political threat, that they were potentially the leaders of a rebellion, a revolution, an insurrection against Rome, against Caesar. So you better deal with this, eliminate this problem. And yet Jesus Himself made clear that that was not His ambition.
Remember back in John 6:15, after He fed the multitude, they wanted to seize Him by force and make Him a king, He withdrew Himself. He wasn't interested. That's not why He came. Look here, John 18—actually, if you back up to John 18: 36—answering Pilate, Jesus said, listen to what He said in John 18:36: "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be delivered over to the Jews. But as it is, My kingdom is not from here."
Did you catch this? Not only is it not of this world, it's not from this world. So the Roman governor, Pilate—the one that the Jews said would be in danger if Jesus survived—he's the one who said three times, not once, not twice, but three times, three different occasions, "I find no guilt in Him."
Look at them: John 18:38, "Pilate went out again to the Jews and said to them, 'I find no guilt in Him.'" John 19:4, "And Pilate came out again and said to them, 'Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.'" Verse 6: "And when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, 'Crucify, crucify!' Pilate said to them, 'Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.'"
Wow. The Jews were saying that Jesus is a political threat, but the Roman governor says, "I find no guilt in Him." It wasn't a political division.
Now what about the apostles? You go through the book of Acts and you see again controversy after controversy, division after division. And what was it about? Could they have created a political—what was it about? Was it really political? Was it really politics? Was it really social reforms? Did the apostles go out with a social agenda?
We need to recognize that when you look at first-century Rome through the eyes of God's Word, it's very easy to see there were myriads of issues that believers then and believers now would have found to be offensive, sinful, wicked. There was no lack—pardon me—of social problems in Rome. About the time of the writing of the New Testament, there were one million slaves in Rome. So slavery was an issue. There was a rampant, gross immorality. Homosexuality was widespread along with sexual immorality. In fact, in these cities, there would be temples to these false gods, and often accompanying the temple practice were temple prostitutions. You read through the book of Acts and you see corruption in government, people making deals behind the scene, arrangements, bribery. I mean, nothing new about that. It was always there.
Not only that, parenting and children—I mean, the Roman father literally had the power of death over his children, and it wasn't uncommon for the child to be sold into slavery, just like that. And some even were drowned after they were born because they were unwanted. So there was racial bigotry in the first century, injustice, oppression, to add to those things. And all these things—sinful, all these offensive things—are still offensive even today, but they were also offensive back then. And yet, what do you see the first-century church doing? What do you see the church doing, first century's church?
In the face of all of this, were they organizing for political change? Were they? Show me where in the book of Acts. Were they saying, well, here's our agenda, we need to get together, get our vote together and make our views known in the Roman world? What was their mission? They were preaching Christ. They're preaching the gospel. That's all. That's all.
Now this is instructive for us, isn't it? Because this speaks to our generation. You see, in the 80s, there was a movement to use the church as a political force south of the border, and everything spills over here. And in fact, to this day, political pundits will talk about the evangelicals and the evangelical vote as if evangelicals were a lobby group. We must distinguish, beloved, between Christians as citizens—responsible citizens, individual citizens—and Christians as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As individual citizens, we have every responsibility to conduct ourselves as responsible citizens, and that includes getting involved in appropriate ways with the processes of government. It's appropriate that Christians vote. In fact, I believe we have a responsibility to do that from Scripture. We ought to be some light in this world in moral ways, in civic ways, as individual believers before God. But as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, politics is not our work. It's not.
Because we don't believe that the world will be transformed by politics. No, no, we believe that what's wrong with the world is what the Bible says is wrong, and that is, man is a sinner estranged from God by his sin. And nothing is going to change him. Nothing. And ultimately, nothing is going to change the world other than Jesus. Salvation. Accept the saving relationship to Jesus Christ. That's the only hope for change.
We realize from God's Word, kingdoms will rise, kingdoms will fall, but the kingdom of Christ endures forever. So what we long for is not to make conservatives out of people, is not to make liberals or NDP out of people. Rather, what we long for is to see men and women and young people brought out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we long for. That's our mission. That is our goal.
In fact, God Himself told us about the importance of this. Turn with me to Romans 13. Romans 13:1. This is God's Word, inspired, infallible, inerrant:
"Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist have been appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists that authority has opposed the ordinance of God, and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of that authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same, for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword in vain, for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil."
That is, God has instituted the idea of government in human societies in order to restrain evil. That's His purpose. This is an instrument of God to restrain evil. God is at work in the world restraining evil through various means. One of them is human government. This is one of the divinely appointed purposes of government—to restrain evil. And God has given the government the power of life and death, the power of the sword to enforce that.
And by the way, when Paul writes this, what kind of government was in charge? Would you say a government characterized by righteousness? First-century Rome, Nero, evil, wicked Nero. Not only that, he says to Christians, this is to be your attitude about government and about those who are in authority over you. Verse five: "Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of that wrath, but also because of conscience. For because of this, you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another, for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law."
What is He saying to the church? What is He saying to believers? Is He telling them to lead a political revolution? No, no, that's not their task as the Lord's church. That's not what He's saying. Turn with me to First Peter chapter two, if you would. And I want us to see this. This is no small matter in God's Word because it is addressed more than once.
First Peter chapter two, in verse 13: look at the first two words—"Be subject"—one word in the Greek. "Be subject for the Lord's sake," for the sake of the Lord. "Be subject for the sake of the Lord to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do good. For such is the will of God that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish men."
Now stop right there. Do you realize what He's telling us, beloved? He's saying one of the things that will happen with the Lord's church if we don't make clear what our mission is, if we don't make clear what the world's problem is—that is, sin and estrangement from God—and if we don't make clear what our mission is—that is, to bring men and women to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ—then we're going to be guilty of the very thing that we will be accused of.
Let me explain. You see, it ought to be ignorance, it ought to be foolish men who will say that we are a rebellious people against human institutions, against government, that we're sort of some political arm that's trying to bring change, our view of what the world ought to be, through social revolution, political revolution. He says that ought to be ignorance, it ought to be foolish men who will say that. He says no, don't let that be the case. Let that be the speech of ignorant, foolish men and women. He says you be subject to these human institutions.
Now obviously—and you know what I'm about to say—be subject as long as you can remain subject to the Lord. These are the exceptions: when you're asked to do what God forbids, when you're forbidden to do what God requires. Other than that, you're to subject yourself.
If the government says we can no longer preach the gospel, then what will we do? We're going to preach the gospel, and do we have biblical examples of that? Of course we do. But as long as we're not violating God's word, we're not going to preach the gospel, And do we have biblical examples of that? Of course we do. But as long as we're not violating God's Word, we're to remain subject to the governing authorities, so that it may become plain to the world what our understanding of the world's problem really is.
What is ultimately wrong with the world? It is not political, it is not social. It is what? Spiritual. It's a spiritual problem. And the reason why the world is wrong in many places—socially, politically—is because it is darkened in its understanding and alienated from God spiritually. Where there's no fellowship with God, there are all of these evidences of no fellowship with God. That's what you find all the time.
So what is our mission? To change the world through politics and social programs? Of course not. Absolutely not. It is to preach Christ, to preach the gospel, and to see men and women come to faith in Jesus Christ. Read on, verse 16, 1 Peter chapter 2: "Act as free people, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as slaves of God." You mean to live as a slave of God means that I live in subjection to governing authorities? Yes. Yes, that's part of being a slave of God.
Look at verse 17: "Honor all people, love the brethren, fear God," and what does He say next? "Honor the king." Honor the king. Verse 18: "Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only those who are good and considerate, but also those who are crooked. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unrighteously. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this finds favor with God."
"For to you, for to this you have been called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps, who did no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth, who being reviled was not reviling in return, while suffering He was uttering no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously."
Beloved, the answer is not political revolution, social revolution. The answer is the preaching of the gospel and the living out of the Christian life as a result of the gospel. Bible-believing, Bible-living. Remind them—He goes on—to be subject to rulers, authorities. Excuse me, that's Titus. I want us to see Titus 3:1: "Remind them," He says, "to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work." Again, you see the same thing. This is no small matter in God's Word. "Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, and to be ready for every good work."
Now watch this. “To slander no one, to be peaceable, considerate, demonstrating all gentleness to all men. For we ourselves also once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our lives in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another.” But—that's another great “but” in the Bible—“but when the kindness and affection of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not by works, which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
This is clear, beloved. What should characterize believers as we live toward those in authority over us, even though they're unbelievers, even though they're wicked and evil? What should characterize us? Insulting speech? Attacks on those who are over us? Not according to this text. He's careful to tell us, slander no one, show all gentleness to all men.
Why? Because you yourselves were once foolish, that's why. That's why. He's saying, remember, they're in darkness, they're unregenerate, they're acting according to their nature. What do you expect? I often tell people when somebody is harsh at work or in the world, and they say, it's not fair, and they're shocked, and they say, what are you shocked about? You should be shocked when they're nice to you. They're acting according to their nature. They're in darkness, unregenerate.
And then he says, remember also that you yourselves were once foolish. You yourselves were disobedient, and you were deceived, and you were enslaved to various lusts and pleasures. You spent your life in malice and envy. You were hated by others, and you hated others as well. So what's different about you now? There's that “but.” The goodness, the loving kindness of your Savior appeared. That's what made the difference. The goodness, the loving kindness of your Savior.
He saved you, not because of works of righteousness which you did. You take zero credit for this, but according to His own mercy, and you've been washed and cleansed, and you've been renewed by the Holy Spirit of God who dwells you now. And the Holy Spirit has been poured out on you so richly through Jesus Christ, your Savior, so that having been justified by grace, you are now an heir of the hope of eternal life.
You see, what's wrong with this world is its lostness, its deadness, and it's in desperate need of salvation. And when the church begins to think that its mission is a political one or a social one, it has missed the message of God of what's really wrong with this world. And what's wrong is sin, and the need for forgiveness. The desperate need is to be reconciled to a holy God.
Back to John 10, so why is there division? Not because of any political ambition on the part of Jesus. No, that's not the reason, and that wasn't the reason for the apostles. And when it comes to us, that must not, beloved, be the reason why we face division in this world. It must not.
But there's another reason we could say that it wasn't. Not only it was not political division, in the second place, I want us to see that it wasn't sinful division. It wasn't sinful division. It wasn't sinful on our Lord's part. There was no sin on His part. There was sin on their part, but not on His part.
And those of us who understand who Jesus really is, this is no news to us. We know that our Savior is impeccable. There's no sin in Him. He's holy, holy, holy, pure, undefiled, righteous. In fact, 1 Peter 2, the passage that we read, lays great stress on that. But still, it is good for us to say it and to underscore it—that the reason why there was division here was not because Jesus was doing something wrong and then tried to hide behind it in the name of God.
No, no. When it came to our Lord, the world could not point a legitimate finger at Him and accuse Him of anything. Not the false religious world, not the pagan world. They couldn't do that. I mean, they could say it, and they did malign Him and falsely accuse Him, but that's the whole point—it was false accusation. He wasn't engaging in wrongdoing.
Turn to John chapter 8. John chapter 8. Look at verse 43. Jesus is speaking. You remember when we studied this account, He says, "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me."
And Jesus is able to say this next, verse 46: "Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me?" Jesus says, there's this division. You don't hear My word. You won't hear the truth. And then He says, "Which one of you is able to legitimately convict Me of sin?" What a challenge. They couldn't do it, could they? That wasn't the reason that there was division among them—not because Jesus was doing something wrong or sinful.
In fact, I love the way the Apostle Peter describes the ministry of our Lord. Go to the book of Acts 10. Acts 10. Look at how Peter describes our Lord's ministry. Verse 34: "And opening his mouth, Peter said, 'I most truly comprehend now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the one who fears Him and does righteousness is welcome to Him. As for the word which He sent to the sons of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—you yourselves know the thing which happened throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed.'"
He's saying, in other words, you know about the earthly ministry of Jesus. You know what happened in His ministry. So what happened? He tells them. Look at verse 38: "You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree. We talk about a contrast. ."
You talk about a contrast. He went about doing good and healing all of their diseases. They put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree. What did He do to deserve to be hung on a tree? Nothing sinful. Nothing wrong. He just went about doing what? Good. Good.
Let's take a step back and talk about the apostles. Look at the division that was present where they went. Was it because they were engaging in sinful behavior? Of course not. Are we wasting our time thinking about this, this morning? Or does God make a point of this in His Word as He addresses us as His children? I mean, this is something we ought to keep in mind, beloved, because it is there in the Word of God.
Back to 1 Peter chapter 2. Back to 1 Peter chapter 2. Look at verse 9. 1 Peter chapter 2: "But you are a chosen family, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that — that's the goal, that's the end in view — so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." What is our mission? That's our mission right here, to proclaim the excellencies of Him. That's what it is.
"For you once were not a people," verse 10, "but now you are the people of God. You have not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." Beloved, I urge you as sojourners, verse 11, and exiles. Stop right there. You see, we're to remind ourselves, beloved, every single day, every single day, beloved, this isn't the kingdom. This isn't heaven. Is there anything wrong in our government right now in this nation? And does it surprise us? Are we shocked by it? Do we imagine that it's going to be different than that?
Are we ever going to have a God-fearing government across the board in this nation where God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven? Is that going to occur before Jesus returns to the earth? No. So what are we right now on this earth? Peter tells us: sojourners. Sojourners, exiles, pilgrims. We're citizens of this nation, but our citizenship is where? In heaven. In heaven. And so we're passing through, we're pilgrims, we're sojourners on this earth, we're exiles. This world is not our home. That's how we actually think of ourselves.
Peter is able to address believers this way. Verse 11: "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to do what?" Well, he tells us: "to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul by keeping your conduct excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing which they slander you as evildoers, they may, because of your good works as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation." And it's right after that statement that he says—did you notice that?—right after that statement that he says in verse 13: "Be subject for the sake of the Lord to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him," etc.
Those verses to be in subjection, they come right after the verses that tell us how we're to think of ourselves in this world. Not as social revolutionaries, not as political lobbyists, but rather citizens of the kingdom of Heaven who've been redeemed by the grace of God in Jesus Christ, and we have the privilege of telling forth the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. And as we go forth proclaiming Jesus, preaching the message, make sure, He says, that we abstain from the lust of the flesh that wage war against our souls, and be sure to keep our conduct honorable among the Gentiles, so that—that's the end in view—even when they do malign us, even when they do speak against us, it will become evident to them that these are false accusations, and as they see our good deeds, then one day they're able to glorify God on the day when He saves them.
Isn't it true? There's been people, and maybe you know some yourselves, who spoke against Christians until they were saved, and then all of a sudden their speech changed, and they're able to give thanks to God for the believers who lived out a testimony before them. Isn't that what happened to Saul of Tarsus as he saw the witness of Stephen? And so many others. Make sure, beloved, make sure, if there's division, make sure it's not because you're sinning.
2 Corinthians 8:21—again I want to show us this—this is no small matter in God's Word. That's why I'm repeating myself, but we need this: "For we respect what is good, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men." In the sight of men. Do you realize, beloved, that we were to be a people who are characterized by doing what's good in the sight of men as well? I mean, there are things that are just considered good, excellent among men. We're to be—we're to be marked by those things.
You don't have to turn there. If you want, you can, or jot them down. 1 Peter 3:15, "But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and fear; having a good conscience, so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who disparage your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame."
Titus 2:7, "In all things show yourself to be a model of good works, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in word, which is irreproachable, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us." One more, 1 Peter 2:18, "Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are crooked. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unrighteously. For what credit is there if, when you sin, are harshly treated and you endure it?"
I mean, if you did something wrong and you're suffering for it, and now you're enduring it, what credit is there in that? But if you—He goes on to say—if you do good and suffer for it, you endure, He said, this finds favor with God. Beloved, this is so relevant, because there are so many examples in our world where professing believers claim to be under persecution, but in reality, they've engaged in behavior that would not be considered honorable among all men. Honorable among all men.
And they're not really suffering for the sake of Christ, and they're not really suffering for the sake of the gospel. They're suffering because of their own dishonorable actions. There are believers at their jobs who say they're being persecuted for the cause of Christ, when in reality, they do very little work and a lot of talking. You say, we're evangelizing. They do very little work. No, no, you're being punished because you're not a good worker.
You see, beloved, we've got to be sure why there is division. It's not because we're political revolutionaries. It's not because we're social revolutionaries. And it's not because we're sinning. That's not why Jesus was facing division. So what was His division over? Look back at John 10. Look at verse 19. We'll close with that this morning. "A division occurred again among the Jews." Why? Well, He gives us the reason. "Because"—here's a reason—"because of these words."
Because of these words. What words? The words of truth concerning Himself. He has represented Himself. Remember, "I am the shepherd, the good one, I am the shepherd, the good one," as the true Shepherd. And when you talk about the true Shepherd, you're talking about the divine Shepherd. Don't you love Psalm 23? "Yahweh is my shepherd." This is Jesus. This is Jehovah Jesus.
And He is the true and only way into the fold of God, the only way for sinful men to be reconciled to the living, holy God. It is through faith in Jesus Christ, who died for sinners, raised from the dead. He's the one who said, "I am the way, the truth, and life. No one comes to the Father but through Me." He's the gate. He's the way. He's presented Himself as the true way to satisfaction for the soul.
He leads them out. Once they're in His fold, He leads them out to green pasture. They're fed. They're taken care of. And He's the one who satisfies the soul. He's the only one who's able to save to the uttermost those who come to Him by faith.
This is what He's taught about Himself in John 10, the verses that precede the ones we're looking at this morning. He says, you remember, several times, "I lay down My life for the sheep. I lay down My life for the sheep. I lay down My life for them." They would come in and out and find pasture. "I am the door. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved" (verse 9). He's the only way to salvation.
And He has exposed the motives and the methods and the practices of those who are false, counterfeit shepherds, hired hands. And this is why He is hated—not because of political activity, not because of social activity, not because of sinful activity—but because He preaches and speaks the truth. He is the truth. He is the light. And there is the legitimate reason for division, beloved, because of the truth of the gospel.
So let me close this morning by asking us, are we peacemakers or troublemakers? Are we peacemakers or troublemakers? The division Jesus faced was a peacemaking division. It was a peacemaking division. He was being a peacemaker. He was speaking the truth that makes for peace with God and for true peace among men who are alienated from God so that they would be reconciled to God.
So the question: are you a peacemaker? Do you speak the words of God? Are you declaring the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light? Do you realize that this is the unimaginable privilege that has been entrusted to you and to me as a child of God? You and I get to tell forth these excellencies. We get to tell forth these excellencies. What a privilege! What a privilege! Are we doing that?
And if we are truly peacemakers, we're going to feel the heat. Let's go back to the Sermon on the Mount, chapter 5. Have you ever noticed that there's a progression in the Beatitudes? I want us to notice toward the end of the Beatitudes what happens. Look at verse 3: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the lowly, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
"Blessed are"—what?—"the peacemakers." The peacemakers. "For they shall be called sons of God." What's the next one? "Blessed are those who have been persecuted." Facing that peacemaking division. "Blessed are those who have been persecuted." This comes right on the heels of being a peacemaker. This is what a peacemaker meets within the world, Jesus is saying.
"Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you," and the next word is a key word, "falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Not because of your political affiliation. Because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." If you're a peacemaker, you will face it. But it must be because you're a peacemaker, not because you're a troublemaker. It must be because of the truth. Are you a peacemaker or a troublemaker?
Then another question, if you would allow me to ask. Do we understand that the principles that we've learned this morning apply in other areas? Just a few more minutes. The principles that we've learned this morning apply in other areas. Let me give you some examples, and let the Holy Spirit—I pray the Holy Spirit—will really bring about the rest of the application.
The world will not be changed by external organizational means. Not really changed. And the world will never change, be changed by sinful means. You can't do something sinful and expect a righteous result. And do we understand that those same principles apply as near and as dear to us as our own homes?
Are there parents who imagine that they can somehow transform their kids by organizational external means? I mean, if we just have the right formula, you know, if we just have the right organization in our family, if we have the right steps that we take, surely we'll ensure that our kids will turn out the right way. I mean, the problem in our child's life, maybe it's an organizational one, maybe it's something that I can enact through a different sort of government in my home. Maybe that will change my child.
Listen, just like government restrains evil in society, so I'm not saying that our organization at home doesn't make a difference. It can restrain evil and put those guardrails, but over and over again there have been parents who have learned the heartbreaking lesson that what's really wrong in all of us cannot be changed by external means. Because the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. You see, you can have the best organization in your home that you want to, and if your son or daughter isn't visited by the Holy Spirit of God with the gospel, and if their hearts are not transformed, eventually when they leave the government of your home, you will see that they are sinners who, if they're not saved by who, if they're not saved by Christ, will pursue a life of dishonoring the Master.
And I say this because there are so many in our world, people teaching in our world, that say, well, here's the way you raise your kids, and if you just do that, then here's the outcome. And I say to you this morning, based on the Word of God, that is a lie. It's by grace that you were saved, and it's going to be by grace that they're saved. God will work through means. He'll use you as godly parents, but He alone saves. He alone transforms our children.
And also, we must remember that just like sinning doesn't bring about righteous results in the world, so sinning doesn't bring about righteous results in your home. That is, when you see that your kids are living wrongly in areas, you and I must remember that "the anger of man does not bring about the righteousness of God." To yell at your kids and lose your temper with your kids, to sinfully discipline your children, will never bring about the result that you're hoping for, longing for, aiming for, praying for.
How do we affect the world? By declaring Christ's excellencies and by living a life of righteousness before a watching world. And how do we affect those in our family? By declaring the truth of And how do we affect those in our family? By declaring the truth of God's Word while living it ourselves. Because most of what is caught is seen as well as heard.
And what I've said about children can also be true in an unequally yoked marriage. One spouse comes to know the Lord Jesus Christ and the other has not come to that reality. You're not going to convert your husband or wife through organizational means or through sinful means. You must seek the face of God because He alone can save your spouse. He alone can change them.
It's important that we realize there's going to be division, but it's equally important, beloved, that we realize the reason for the division—what it ought to be biblically and what it is not as well, what it should not be. And may we give heed to the Word of God, these exhortations, these warnings about what the division must not be about. And may we ask the Lord to help us toward that end.
Let's pray.
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