30 Jan 2015
Matthew 10:34-36
Matthew 10:34: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”
In other words, the gospel is divisive. It will even cut families apart, as Jesus said earlier. The world is simply hostile to Christians, and when one person in a family is a believer and the others are not there is the potential for trouble. We have seen this all throughout history. People simply have an unreasonable hatred for Christians – a demonic hatred, actually. They don’t hate them because of what they do, but because of what they believe. Their beliefs simply are not tolerated. So Christians are hunted down and murdered, and then their murders are celebrated.
The problem is that many churches want to be at peace with the world. They want the world to like them, so they compromise. They think that if they become like the world then they won’t be targeted – and they are right. But, as I John said, friendship with the world is enmity with God. You simply cannot have it both ways. You can be on God’s side, or the world’s side, but not both. If one is your friend then the other will be your enemy.