Not Peace, But A Sword

Hello Guys and Gals,

I have been thinking about this topic for a while now. With this mornings devotions though, I feel I must speak about this. Jesus said this in Matthew 10:34-36,

34 "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.35 For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW;36 and A MAN'S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.

Jesus draws a clear line through all of humanity! That line separates those who accept His salvation and those who do not accept it! Which side are you on? Are you saved? Or have you rejected His Grace?

Do you not realize that once you have heard the Gospel, that it either looses or binds you by the strength of itself? The loosening comes through Salvation and the binding comes through the rejection of that Salvation!

Matthew 16:19 says,

19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

Matthew 18:18 says it again,

18 Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

And John 20:23 goes on to say,

23 If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained."

Therefore, if you show others how to have their sins forgiven through Jesus Christ, then their sins will be forgiven upon their acceptance of His salvation. But if they reject that salvation, their sins are bound to them by the very power of the gospel.

This is why we are divided and why our very family members turn upon us with violence! They will see that you have been saved through Jesus Christ and they do not want to give up their independence and sin! By not giving up and giving in to His will, they reject, of their own will, the very same salvation that you have received. In that rejection, they have their sins bound to them for all time and having tasted and rejected the gospel are then to be considered as Gentiles or Unbelievers and considered not a member of the church! They see that they do not have the same blessings as you and it results in envy being born in them and that envy turns to hate and anger and violence! This happens every single time in some fashion or another! Do not mistake me, it will happen again and again!

This is why we need to present the gospel in a loving way, but also to make sure those we present the gospel to know the consequences of rejecting the gospel! You must tell them that by rejection of the gospel, they sentence themselves to eternal damnation and hellfire such as they will experience in the Lake of Fire, also known as Gehenna! But the most torturous of all those punishments, and make no mistake, they are punishments from God for the rejection of His Son, is that God will withdraw His presence from them! Do you not know that the Lake of Fire is nothing compared to the withdrawal of God's presence? Even Hitler and Pol Pot and Stalin and every other evil person that has ever lived knew the presence of God throughout their whole life! There was only one who knew the absence of God's presence here on Earth and that is Jesus as he died on the Cross when he said in Matthew 27:46,

"ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"

This was when God withdrew His presence from Jesus so that the full punishment and wrath of God was paid in full by His Son so that our sins through His sacrifice could be forgiven and we be restored to a loving relationship with God Almighty, the Creator of all that was, is, and will be! There is nothing that exists that did not come from Him!

I have often said that you should always speak the truth, for it is like a surgeon's scalpel and while it may hurt when it is heard, it heals through the pain it brings! So you must speak the truth in love about the gospel! And part of the gospel is Gehenna and Separation from God! It is the truth and unbelievers deserve to know the whole truth!

But remember this, when you are attacked, and you will be attacked, it is because you have gained salvation and they have not! They are envious of your salvation but they want that salvation their way and not God's way! They think they have the power to control their own lives and when they see you have given that power to God, as if he never had it all along, they begin to hate you for your surrender of yourself to Him and that is why they attack you! So pray a simple prayer. Pray that God draws near to them! If their heart will be changed, then salvation will come from it. If their heart will not be changed, then His presence will drive them far from you!

May God bless you all this day!