The divide for life and eternity

I'm going to ask you to turn to Luke's gospel in chapter 12, please. Luke's gospel in chapter 12 and we want to read from verse 49. These are the words of the Lord Jesus.

Luke chapter 12 in verse 49, I am come to send fire on the earth and what will I if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with and how am I straight until it be accomplished? Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth, I tell you nay but rather division. For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son and the son against the father, the mother against the daughter and the daughter against the mother and the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

And he said also to the people when you see a cloud rise out of the east straight way you say there cometh a shower and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow you say there will be heat and it cometh to pass. Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth but how is it that you do not discern this time? Ye and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right? When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate as thou art in the way give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him lest he hail thee to the judge and the judge deliver thee to the officer and the officer cast thee into prison.

I tell thee thou shalt not depart thence till thou has paid the very last. Might. These are the words of the Lord Jesus and we trust that God will bless them to us.

Now I've got to say that I don't know very much about your country the United States of America but what I do know is this that in the United States of America there is an imaginary line that runs right down from the north right down through the south. We learned about it in school. Now we didn't learn much about America in school but we learned this that it's called the continental or the great divide.

I'm sure you know all about it. And that runs apparently right down from the rocky mountains right down the U.S. And the idea is just this that every river to the west of that great divide runs into the Pacific. Every river to the east of the great divide runs into the Atlantic.

So that when rain falls and I know you like rain in these parts when rain falls it will either end up in the Atlantic ultimately or the Pacific. One or the other. It can't go both ways.

Now what determines its destination is what side of the great divide it falls upon. When the rain falls on the west of that continental divide it's always going to run toward the Pacific. When it falls on the east of the great divide it will always run towards the Atlantic without exception.

Always the same. In fact it's just a picture of what I want to speak to you about because in a very real way the Lord Jesus is like that great divide. And where you stand in relation to him will determine your destination in eternity.

If you're on one side of the Lord Jesus you will go in one direction to one destination. If you're on the other side of the Lord Jesus then you will go in fact in the opposite direction to a different destination. The Lord Jesus is the great divide not just for time but for eternity.

You cannot go both ways. You cannot sit in the middle. You're either on one side or you're on the other side.

You're either heading in one direction or in the opposite direction. You're either on the way to heaven or you're on the way to hell. The Lord Jesus divides.

That's what he said when he said the words that are recorded in Luke chapter 12. He said suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth. He says I'm not come to give peace on earth.

I'm actually come to bring division. Now at Christmas time that doesn't seem to be the case because we sing peace on earth, goodwill toward men and that's fantastic. That's what was sung at the birth of the Lord Jesus.

We know that but when the Lord Jesus here in Luke chapter 12 is speaking he is actually preaching to an audience of probably thousands of people and he's been preaching a message and he's been preaching for people to come to him for forgiveness of sins and for salvation from the consequence of their sin. In fact he's preached a sermon and he's just about finished. Now that sermon has five points.

Now I don't know how many points a good sermon has. They say a good sermon has three points but that can't be true because the Lord Jesus has got five points and he was the best preacher there was. Now I'm not going to give you his five points in detail but suffice to say this if you read back up this chapter you'll hear a fantastic gospel sermon and he was preaching his first point was this to turn away from false religion.

Read it for yourself. This was a very religious society that he was in. Turn away from false religion was his first point.

His second point was stop fearing men and start fearing God. For men might be able to destroy your body but it is God who can destroy both body and soul in hell. You need to get an eternal perspective and you need to fear God.

Turn away from religion. Start fearing God. His third point was this confess Jesus Christ before men as your Lord and Savior.

His fourth point was reject the love of material things and pursue the kingdom of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Now these are all fantastic points. His last point was that this is a matter of urgency.

In fact he says in verse 40 the son of man is coming at an hour that you do not expect. Now that was his real last point. Now the consequence of listening to the gospel was brought to bear upon the people who heard it that day and the consequence was you need to decide where you stand in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ.

You need to decide in what direction you are going in life and where you will be for eternity as a result. The Lord Jesus Christ said this, I have come to send fire on the earth. Now what was he speaking about? That little expression I have come was used by the Lord Jesus many times to describe the purpose of his mission here upon earth.

For instance he said one day I have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. He said I have come to seek and to save that which was lost. He says I have come to be a light in this world and many other things he said too.

This is another perspective on his mission. He said I have come to cast fire on the earth. Now what is that? It is the fire of the gospel he's speaking about here.

It is the fire of the offense of the cross. It is the preaching of Christ which started in that day and which is spread throughout the globe like wildfire and he said the spread of the fire of the gospel will set the world ablaze and it has done and it will come and it will divide and so it does today. That gospel, that fire was set by the Lord Jesus at the cross of Calvary.

He put it in these terms. He said I have a baptism to be baptized with and how am I straightened till it be accomplished. Now the word baptism means to be immersed in something.

If you're baptized in water then you're immersed in that water. He was speaking about the cross that he would endure and when he spoke about this as a baptism he was speaking about his experience that he would go in for in all its totality when he would die in the cross and be immersed in the judgment and wrath of a holy God against sin. He said I have a baptism to be baptized with and in order for the gospel to spread throughout the world the Lord Jesus required to be immersed in divine judgment and to exhaust the judgment of God against sin and that's what happened at the cross.

The Lord Jesus there on the cross endured the wrath of a holy God against sin to the extent that the Bible says it was like him sinking in deep mire. It was like floods overwhelming him and there on the cross the Bible says he bore our sins in his own body on the tree. Because of his experience the good news of salvation can be declared.

He said I have a baptism to be baptized with. Well he said you know the effect of this message is going to come and it's going to divide. He said it will divide families.

That's verse 52. He said there will be families and there will be five in one house divided. Three against two.

He said it will not only simply be a division within a house. He put it in more detailed terms and he said a father will be divided from his son and a son from his father. A mother from her daughter and a daughter from her mother.

A mother-in-law against a daughter-in-law. A daughter-in-law against a mother-in-law and what he was saying is just this that when the gospel comes to your home when the gospel comes to your community people are going to take stands on either side of the cross and that will be true even within a family home. I can tell you now it's true within my family.

My brother is not a Christian and perhaps there's some in this room and it's true within your family and you're on the other side of the cross from family members and if you're on the other side of the cross and of Christ it means this you're actually traveling in a different direction and you're heading to a different destination. A divided family. A division within a family is never a good thing but a division in this matter within a family is an absolute unmitigated catastrophe.

I can't say it in any stronger terms to think that you could be separated in time by the cross but separated eternally by that same cross. The Lord Jesus said I have come not to give peace on earth but rather to bring division. He didn't just say that though in verse 54 he began to encourage the people to waken up to their opportunity and I want to do the same tonight to encourage you to waken up to your opportunity to consider seriously your need of salvation and the opportunity you have tonight to be saved.

I don't think so much of listening to a sermon but listen to the words of the Lord Jesus. He told two parables. He told a parable about the weather.

You know I've never heard so much talk about the weather in my life as in the last week. That's true. I was telling folks that whether it rains or sun shines or blows a wind in my life is of utterly no consequence.

It does not change my schedule. It does not change anything back home. It's quite a different story here.

Well it was also quite a different story in the time of the Lord Jesus. Look at what he says. He said you people who won't make a decision about me, who won't take a stand in relation to the Lord Jesus and the need for salvation, who won't come to a decision.

Listen he said I've watched you and you come to decisions all the time about things that don't matter for eternity. So he said I've watched you and I could say the same about you here in Iowa. In those days they didn't have weather apps and all this kind of stuff.

He said this when you see a cloud rise out of the west you know straight away the rain is coming. That's what he said. They were people who depended on the weather and they would raise their eyes up to the heaven and they would see clouds forming and they would come to a decision.

They would come to a verdict. They would arise they would arrive at this conclusion based on the evidence of their eyes. Rain is coming.

The Lord Jesus Christ said and you would be right or so it is. Then he says this it's not just the rain. He said you do the same with the wind.

When you see the south wind blow you say there's going to be heat and right enough so there is. You see what they were doing. They were observing things and they were coming to a conclusion about what they observed.

The Lord Jesus is saying you've been observing me for three years. You've been listening to me and watching me for three years and you still haven't come to a decision about your salvation. Now let me speak to some here.

Some of you folks who are younger you know I got saved when I was seven. Seven years old and my parents are Christians so I have sat where you're sitting. In fact I was telling someone there was a conference in Glasgow and I wanted a special prize because the first 25 years of my life I was there every year.

From zero to 25. Then the conference stopped. I'd probably still be there and so I understand you're sitting there and I understand that.

But what I would like to say is just this. That it is time. It is time for you to make your own decision about the Lord Jesus.

There's probably very little that you don't know about him. You'll have listened to him being preached all your life. Why not tonight make a decision for Christ and accept him as your savior.

These people were listening and he says in verse 56 you're hypocrites. He says you can tell by the evidence of what's happening in the sky what's about to happen. He says but you're not aware of of the time of how it's so urgent that you get saved.

He says you're not aware you're oblivious to the reality all around you and you're choosing to ignore the eternal realities waking up to the need for salvation. But then he's not finished. He said this.

He says in verse number 58 he says when you go he says to the judge and as you're walking to the judge you make sure that you get the matter sorted out before you get to the court. That's a wise thing. I used to work in the courts before I preached full-time and I always thought it was a wise thing if my client got the thing sorted out before we got to court.

Oh they would think that as well. The Lord Jesus is saying this and listen carefully. You make it your business to get the matter of your sins sorted out before you have to face God as your judge.

Before you get to that place where judgment is brought to bear for your sin you make sure you take the opportunity to get it sorted and get it sorted now. You know I remember it used to be preached to us and sometimes you didn't think too much about it but I can remember it used to be preached to us that the Lord Jesus was coming and we did not know when he was coming but we knew this when he came our opportunity to get right with God was gone. That's true and what a tragedy to live your life knowing that you need to be saved knowing that you are a sinner.

I can't remember a time in my life where I ever didn't believe I was a sinner. I always knew he was a sinner. I always knew that Jesus was real and he wasn't fiction.

I always believed in God. I can never remember a time being an atheist but that wasn't enough for salvation. I needed to take a step of faith.

I needed to trust the Lord Jesus for myself. Listen friends you make sure you get that matter right before you ever pass into eternity because then it will be too late and your destiny will be fixed for all eternity but then he wasn't finished. I didn't read it but I'm going to refer to it and he wants to tell them into chapter 13 the lesson of natural disasters.

We hear a lot about natural disasters. The people well knew about it then atrocities. You have seen in your news cycle that back home in the UK we've had some atrocities recently.

Well they had them in those days in this place and some were listening to this and they asked a question and they said to the Lord Jesus what about that incident when Pilate the Roman governor killed these Galileans and then mixed their blood in with the sacrifices. It was an atrocity and then someone else asked about a natural disaster and said well what about the 18 people who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them. Natural disasters atrocities what about them.

Do you know the lesson the Lord Jesus brought out of these and it's a lesson I want to just bring to bear upon us this evening. The Lord Jesus said very directly I tell you except you repent you shall likewise perish. What was he meaning? What he was meaning was just this that we live our lives and we think that nothing bad is going to happen to us.

We don't expect a natural disaster. We don't expect to be a victim of an atrocity but then neither did these families who were walking along in the middle of London just a few weeks ago. They didn't expect to to start the day and to go on in the day and finish the day in eternity.

They didn't expect some people to come and commit an atrocity a wicked act and and snatch their life away young and old. You see that kind of thing doesn't happen here. These people in Siloam up that tower or down in the bottom of the tower they didn't expect the tower to fall on them.

When they woke up in the morning they were anticipating an accident or disaster that would usher them into eternity and neither do we. I don't know how many times I've heard in my area young guys out cars bikes whatever starting the day thinking a whole life ahead and before the day being over ushered into eternity. Well it happens and the lesson is a simple one.

We cannot assume that we have tomorrow. We cannot. The bible puts it this way boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

None of us know what's going to happen for the day never mind tomorrow. The only thing that we have is now. The bible says now is the accepted time.

Now is the day of salvation and I would urge you that if God gives you the opportunity now and he gives you that conviction upon your heart that you need to be saved that you're heading in the wrong direction out to a lost eternity because you haven't accepted Christ as your savior that you stop and take stock and that you consider Christ and respond to him in faith and believe with all your heart that he died for you upon that cross that he paid the price of sin out of love and grace and mercy and that he is the only means for your direction to be changed and for your destination to be altered forever to be heaven and not hell. Well the bible tells us the gospel is good news but I tell you this the gospel is also bad news. It is good news for those who respond but it's bad news for those who reject.

Unless you repent you will likewise perish. Those people that told the lord jesus about this atrocity and who told the lord jesus about that natural disaster I think to them they thought it was the worst thing ever the worst thing ever. When you listen to the news and I was following the news because it was back home and they were describing those events when those three men jumped out that vehicle and began taking the lives of innocent bystanders and you read the stories of the families and the connections and you read the stories that come out days and days later of people who have been wounded and injured and lost loved ones and rightly so you could write the word tragedy over the whole thing.

Tragedy. I want to tell you this there is a greater tragedy. The tragedy is not a life cut short that's bad and bad enough.

The greatest tragedy is any individual who dies without christ. I want to tell you that sincerely for if you die without christ you will endure the judgment of god in hell for all eternity. It is unspeakable.

It is something that your mind will reject as impossible unfair improbable a lot of rubbish. Your mind will reject it. It will not accept it.

It's too much. I tell you this it's actually true. It's actually true and at the end of this conference I want to appeal to you kindly.

If you know the gospel remember this the gospel divides. It is that dividing line. The question is upon which side are you? Which way are you facing? Which way are you going? Where will you be for eternity? I trust that you will respond and trust the lord jesus and know the blessing of salvation and the blessing of heaven as your eternal home.

Let's just pray and give god thanks for his son.