On June 16, 1858 more than 1,000 delegates met in the Springfield, Illinois, for the Republican State Convention, and they chose Abraham Lincoln as their candidate for the U.S. Senate, running against Democrat Stephen A. Douglas. That evening Lincoln delivered this address to his Republican colleagues and the main focus of his remarks were on the issue of slavery:
“Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention. If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it. We are now far into the fifth year, since a policy was initiated, with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only, NOT ceased, but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed. A house divided against itself cannot stand."
"A house divided against itself cannot stand." That's a powerful sentence! Did Abraham Lincoln come up with that phrase all by himself? No. Well, where did he get it? That’s right … he was quoting Jesus.
Every week I meet with several preachers and we plan out our sermons months ahead and when we started working on this sermon series on the Math of God I got to thinking about Accounting, Adding and Subtracting… and DIVIDING. And from the moment we decided on that series, I just knew what text I was going to use for today’s sermon (Mark 3:22-27) and I just knew I would build the sermon around that phrase: "A house divided against itself cannot stand."
I already knew how this sermon ought to be preached. It was going to be a GREAT sermon. It would be powerful and insightful, and inspirational and life changing! I was going to talk about the dangers of division in the local church and how evil it is. A church divided against itself cannot stand… it cannot succeed in its objective.
I knew if I could preach on that topic, this was going to be a real barn burner of a sermon.
And this IS a topic worth preaching on. Divisions and splits have plagued the church for centuries.
ILLUS: I read about a church that had grown to the point of needing a new building. After the building was completed, a disagreement arose about which side of the auditorium they should put the piano. Words were exchanged, tempers flared, and the church ultimately split. The side that “won” kept the building, but they no longer needed the extra seating and could not afford to pay the mortgage … so they had to sell it.
(Tim Seevers, in The Pleasantviewer June 2000)
ILLUS: And I also have read about another church down in Texas where folks go so mad at each other that the church split and then they fought over the property. Each group filed lawsuits against the other group. During a hearing, it was discovered that the conflict had begun years before at a church dinner (pause) when an elder was served a smaller piece of ham than the child seated next to him.
(Jim Belcher, 10/12/09 Sermoncentral.com article)
(Pause) Are these people daft? Are they insane? Why would “Christians” possibly do things like this?
Well a lot of times it’s because they truly believe they’re right. It’s the other guy/group that is wrong. And not only is that other guy/group wrong… but they are also woefully misinformed, ignorant, and perhaps even hateful and evil.
And so the TRUE BELIEVER feels justified in doing whatever is necessary to get their way. They’ll threaten to leave (take their ball and go home) and they’ll tell you they intend to take other people with them. They’ll say unflattering or offensive things about those who disagree with them. And sometimes they’ll even split and destroy a church in order to get their way. Why? Because they are the true believers.
But the real reason they behave this way is this: they don’t really LOVE anyone who disagrees with them. They don’t care about the church… all they care about is being right!! And so they’ll do whatever they have to WIN.
This has been going on for centuries. Even in the early church this type of thing was going on. Paul wrote the church at Corinth and said:
“I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be NO DIVISIONS among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name.” I Corinthians 1:10-15
The church of Corinth was divided over just about everything. They not only argued over who baptized who and over who was the best teacher/preacher, they were jealous of each other and they fought all the time. (1 Corinthians 3:3). They got so mad at each other that sometimes they’d even take each other to court. And when it came to spiritual gifts… they argued over who had the better gifts. “I know you have a different gift”, but my gift is better than your gift.” And this divisiveness even infected the way they took communion. In that day some churches like to emulate Jesus’ meal of the last supper with his disciples and end by partaking of the Lord’s Supper. They called this their “love feast.” But at Corinth there was little love in their feast. If one family came with steak and potatoes and another with bean soup – no one shared with anyone else. As I often say, the feast was like our potlucks… except that if you didn’t have a pot you were out of luck.
Now do you suppose God was pleased with this? No. He wasn’t. When Paul rebuked them he informed them that their divisive attitude had already made God angry at them. He explained: “That is many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” 1 Corinthians 11:30
And Corinth wasn’t the only place where this kind of nonsense was taking place. Paul wrote to the church at Galatia and said this: “... the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:14) And then he wrote: “Now the works of the flesh are evident: (amongst which are)… strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, I warn you, as i warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-20)
There were other things in that list of the “works of the flesh” but I just wanted to focus on the types of things they were apparently doing to each other in the church. They were engaged in strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, and envy. They were doing this, not just to each other, but the very bride of Christ and so Paul concludes: “I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-20
ILLUS: Their behavior threatened their very salvation. And that makes sense. If a righteous husband finds someone who is mistreating or insulting his bride, he’s likely to take the offender outside – and somebody’s not coming back in. That’s how furious God is when folks deliberately mistreat His bride.
That’s why Scripture stresses so much “one anothering”
(Jesus said) "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35
Romans 15:7 “…accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.”
Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”
Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves ...”
Ephesians 4:1-2 “… walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to MAINTAIN THE UNITY of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
In my files I have a list of 62 different scriptures that say:
• love one another
• forgive one another
• be kind to one another
• be patient with one another… and ON AND ON AND ON
(PAUSE)
That would have been a GREAT sermon.
I wish I could have preached it.
(Pause) well, I guess I did preach it, but I really shouldn’t have because no matter how true that sermon would be… that’s not where the text wants to take me.
Let’s look at Mark 3:22-27 one more time
“the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.”
And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can SATAN cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if SATAN has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.”
Whose kingdom is Jesus talking about here? Who’s the “strong man” that must first be bound? Who’s kingdom is about to come to an end? (SATAN’S)
The main reason for Jesus’ coming was to bind Satan, to divide and destroy his kingdom.
Now, hold that thought for a moment.
As I prepared for this morning’s sermon I looked up every verse I could find in the Bible that had the words “division” or “divide” or something similar. And do you know what I found?
I found that division is not always a negative thing in Scripture. In fact, sometimes God CAUSED division to take place.
For example, in Genesis - when God created the world – we’re told that: “God saw the light, that it was good: and GOD DIVIDED the light from the darkness.” Genesis 1:4
Was that good? God said it was good!
A few verses later we’re told “God made the firmament, and DIVIDED THE WATERS which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. Genesis 1:7
Again, this was a pretty good thing… because God said it was good too.
And then in Deuteronomy we read “… when you see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven… which the LORD your GOD HAS DIVIDED unto all nations under the whole heaven.” Deuteronomy 4:19
God divided the stars unto all nations? Did you know that if you were in the southern hemisphere you see an entirely different set of stars than WE see in the northern hemisphere. God has divided all the stars unto all the nations under heaven. And that’s kind of a cool thing
So when GOD divides things… that’s a GOOD thing. I mean just by definition - if God does something it’s got to be good --- doesn’t it???
So THEN I read this verse in the New Testament: (Jesus said) Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:51-53)
Jesus came to bring division?? Well, that’s what He said!!! But if (by definition) if God does something it’s got to be good how can Jesus causing division in a family be a good thing?
Well, here’s the deal: People live in one of two realms.They either belong to Jesus or they belong to Satan And when you think about this you begin to realize thatentire families belong to Satan. Entire families are outside of Christ.
Now sometimes an entire family will come to Christ. We’ve seen it here. And other times we’ve seen ONLY 2 or 3 members of any family come to church. Maybe the wife. Maybe a child. Maybe grandparents. And that reality can create division in the family because some members of the family decide to belong to Christ and others don’t.
By default – if these people don’t belong to Jesus they belong to Satan.
You see --- belonging to Satan is not all that hard. You don’t have to DO anything to Satan. You don’t have to BELIEVE anything to go to hell. In fact, not believing in God - not belonging to Christ - is all it takes. And people who do not make up their minds to God in their lives… belong to Satan! Satan’s kingdom is made up of all kinds of people who simply have not decided they want God to run their lives.
Is that God’s fault? Of course it’s not! But it would be God’s fault if He was satisfied with leaving things that way. Thus, because God’s intention is divide the Kingdom of Satan. A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. And God’s focus is on bringing Satan’s kingdom to its knees. His intention is to bind the strong man and to peel off people who once belonged to the devil and give them life and hope and peace.
Now, the problem becomes that Satan has no intention of letting that happen. Satan intends to hang on to every last one of those that he has. And one of the tools Satan will use… is family.
You ever heard the phrase: “Blood is thicker than water”? What does that mean? It means that my allegiance to my family can override any other commitment I may have. If my mom/dad/sister/brother/spouse won’t make a decision for Christ (they’ll say) I don’t want to leave them behind. I don’t want to lose them. I don’t want to lose their love and affection.
I have heard people tell me that they won’t come to church until they can get their spouse/parent to. And I have had people tell me they won’t obey Jesus in baptism because their parents didn’t and they feel they’ll be betraying their folks in being immersed for the forgiveness of sins.
ILLUS: We have the Hispanic church that meets here every Sunday at 1 p.m. and they’ve told me that when they decide to become Biblically immersed in water to belong to Christ, they’re families will often disown them because – belonging Catholic families – it is offensive and a rejection of all they have believed.
But that’s why Jesus tells us He has come to bring division. Jesus leaves no room for you/me to have any commitments to anyone/anything that is stronger our love for Him. Jesus will accept NOTHING less than all of your heart.
And so, sometimes you’ll have to make a decision for Christ that someone else in your family won’t.
And you might think – “man, that’s a bummer. I mean - if I decide to become Christian/ obey Christ in my life I might just lose the love of somebody in my family (parents/siblings/spouse).
And that’s true. You might just lose their love. But you’ll gain the love of God. And you’ll gain forgiveness, and peace and a future for eternity.
The reason your family may start turning away from YOU is because they’ll sense that your Christianity is a rejection of their lifestyle. They might be feel that your decision not to drink same drinks, watch same shows, laugh at the same kind of jokes, share the same morality and priorities, is a REBUKE of how they live their lives. And so they might just begin to slip away from you because you’ve made them uncomfortable with their old ways of doing things.
That may end up being true. OR your decision might just make all the difference in the lives of your family. They might just come to Christ because you made that choice first. By standing off to one side and simply being God’s child you may begin to make your family jealous of your faith in Christ. And if that happens, you may be able to help divide up Satan’s kingdom that much more and change the eternal fate of those that you love.
ILLUS: I had that happen in my family. Before I was born my mom was a woman who deeply loved Jesus. She regularly went to church and there was no mistaking that Christ was the center of her world. But dad – not so much. Dad would go to church once in a while, but it was more to be polite than anything else. It wasn’t that he hated God. He liked God well enough, but he was more comfortable if God was “over there” and he was “over here” and God would let dad run his own life his own way.
One more thing – dad desperately loved mom. Sometimes he wouldn’t even make decisions without asking for her opinion. He literally built his world around her. But as much as mom loved dad, she Jesus more… and that began to make dad jealous. It got so he could hardly stand it, and so one day he decided to see if he could shame her into staying home from church. So he asked her: “Would you be comfortable in heaven if I were in hell?” (Because hell was pretty much where dad expected to end up). She thought about that for a moment and then responded: “Would you really be comfortable in hell… if I were there with you?”
That shook dad, and it wasn’t long after that that Dad gave himself over to Jesus too.
Now, here’s the deal: Mom didn’t win dad over by being morally superior to him or by harsh words and a condescending tone. She won him because she loved him. But she also won dad because she loved Jesus more. And because she made dad jealous, dad changed his life and his eternity.
INVITATION
