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The Gospel of Jesus Christ divides families! No honest Christian or student of the Bible will
deny this. One of the very first acts of God recorded in the Scriptures is ± ³And God  the
light from the darkness´! [Gen 1:4]. The Master Himself affirmed on many occasions, ³Suppose
ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather ´! [Lk 12:51].
Again, ³Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: , but a
´!

And  does Jesus word bring division? The very next verse tells us "For from henceforth
there shall be five in  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; the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law [Lk 12:51-53]. Note the words µR
R
·
which means from the time the Lord began His ministry even until He comes again, the
preaching of the truth  continue to divide families! The Lord said emphatically that this was
one of the reasons why He came. When He sent out His twelve apostles to preach, He cautioned
them beforehand saying the same words: "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: 
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r but a sword. For  set a man at variance against his father,
and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a
man·s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is
not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me" [Mt.
10:34-37].

How come we hardly hear any sermons on the above verses? When was the last time you heard a
preacher tell you that Jesus Christ divides families? Beloved, this fact that Christ divides families
is not an !" but the  #

"The gospel of Satan is not a system of revolutionary principles, nor yet a program of anarchy. It
does not promote strife and war, but aims at peace and unity. It seeks not to set the mother
against her daughter nor the father against his son, but fosters the fraternal spirit whereby the
human race is regarded as one great 'brotherhood' ³[A.W. Pink].

The Lord said, He came to seek and to save His lost sheep, and His sheep are scattered in
µfamilies· both Christian and non-Christian. So when the Lord calls out His sheep out of these
families the division is $ #Remember? "A man·s foes shall be they of his own
household" [Matt. 10:36]. The µ· in this passage is the %whom He has chosen
to save as opposed to the of his family whom he hath 
rr

 e says "five in
one house shall be divided, three against two, and two against three." At times the Lord may
choose to save two or even three in a family of five, 
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Was it not so from the beginning? Adam had two sons ± Cain and Abel. God loved Abel, but
Cain was of the wicked one [1John 3:12]. Noah found grace in God·s eyes and was therefore
saved. But were all of Noah·s family µchildren of God·? No! Ham the younger son of Noah
proved to be wicked! [Gen 9:22-24]. The same with the sons of Issac, one was loved of God the
other was hated. ³Was not Esau Jacob·s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob, and I hated
Esau·! [Mal 1:2,3]

The point being this: God has no grandchildren! Only Children! Preachers who Baptize their
children assuming that they too are chosen to be saved have not fully understood and grasped the
Sovereignty of God in Salvation! Flesh and blood do not inherit the Kingdom of God! A.W. Pink
rightly affirms ±³the taking place of the new birth is ³not of blood,´ that is to say, it is not a
&', for (´!

You cannot contend that God wants the whole family saved and yet do justice to the Lord·s
words which emphatically teach that the Gospel divides families. He says, "And the brother shall
deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child; and the children shall rise up against
their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated by all men for My name·s
sake; but he that endureth till the end shall be saved [Matt 10:21,22].
One of the reasons that we have not seen the true colors of our µloved ones· is because we have
not been persecuted and hunted down like many of the early Christians. Persecution always
separates the goats from the sheep!

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Jesus Christ is the  yesterday, today and forever! [Heb13:8]. The Lord has not changed and
neither will the effects caused by His words ever change! In his letter to the Galatians, the
Apostle affirms, ³But as  he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after
the Spirit, ´! [Gal 4:29].

The Christian is one who is born after the Spirit. And almost every µborn-again· child of God
when he initially becomes a Christian has testified of the hatred that he felt from his family and
loved ones. He is then glad to relate to his Master·s Words, ³The servant is not greater than his
Lord. If they have persecuted " they  also persecute '´ [John 15:20].

This persecution and hatred is only experienced by those who are making every effort to live like
their Master! But if we are unfaithful by ( ($ and are compromising
the truth by attempting to serve  then we can successfully escape ³the reproach of
Christ´!  was hated by the world and has called us to fellowship with His sufferings. And it is
only, ³All those who ( 'c who suffer persecution! [2Tim 3;12].

I as a Christian have to constantly ask myself ± ³has my gold become dim and my silver turned
to dross´? ³Is the light that is in me, now darkness, and has my salt lost its savour´? To lose our
zeal and first love for Christ is no small thing! It is the same as being ashamed of Him and
forsaking him for a µmess of pottage· like Esau. It is something to be repented of!

Of the saints at Rome Paul could say ³your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world´
[Romans 1:8], while to the Galatians he complained ³ye did run well, who did hinder you?´
(Galatians 5:7). To the Thessalonians he could say ³Your faith groweth exceedingly´ [2
Thessalonians 1:3], but of the Ephesians it is recorded ³thou hast left thy first love´ [Revelation
2:4].

The Master said that if you ' Him before men,  will deny you before His father and His
angels. To deny Christ is to compromise and not speak out against the evil in your own house but
be a partaker or a silent spectator!

Time was when you said with David, ³I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not
cleave to me. I have not sat with vain persons, I   sit with the wicked·! [Psa 101:2,3;
26:4,5]. But now you are pretty comfortable sitting with your µfamily· and watching Ophrah
Winfrey deny your Lord (who shed His blood for you), your favorite µActor· kissing and
fondling another man·s wife, or watching some horror movie in which some maniac is ripping
out somebody·s guts! None of this bothers you anymore! Your conscience is seared with a hot
iron! [1Tim 4:1]

Time was when you renounced your father·s Roman Catholicism and preached against it at every
given opportunity! But now you are quite comfortable sitting in their µprayer meetings· and
celebrating their pagan festivals, like Christmas and Easter!

Time was when you told your son or daughter to stop playing the Devil·s music in your house or
leave! But now you·ve learnt to live with it and even give them money to buy their Rock music
records and Harry Potter books!

You have now become µwise· and have realized that if you continue to take a zealous stand for
the Lord, you might wind up losing your loved ones. So you have learnt to live with it. You
know in your heart that to take a stand for all that Scripture demands of you would mean to lose
your loved one. And that is a hard saying for you. You  to be Christ·s disciple but are not
willing to pay the # µFrom that time many of his   went back, and walked no
more with Him·. [Jn 6:66] Are you one of them? Am I one of them?

Let me close by saying, a disciple is one who continues with Christ, taking a stand for Him at the
cost of everything and everyone he holds dear. Where the rubber meets the road the true disciple
of Christ is even willing to hate his µloved ones· in comparison to His Lord who bled and died
for him!

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