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Sermon for Sunday March 13, 2022 Casting fire on the earth.
And stand with us, if you would, to honor the reading of God's Word. Luke, chapter 12, verse 49 through verse 59. These are the words of the living God. Jesus said, I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled.
I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished. 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 her mother-in-law.
He also said to the crowds, when you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, a shower is coming, and so it happens. When you see the south wind blowing, you say there will be scorching heat, and it happens.
You hypocrites, you know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison.
I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny. Thus is the word of God. You may be seated this morning, and let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, as I come before your throne once again this morning, Lord, I come with a grateful heart, thankful for who you are, that you are the Lord of Lords, and that you are the King of Kings.
Lord, as I, in your presence and bow before your majesty, worshiping you right now, Lord, according to your word in spirit and in truth, it is our request, Lord, that we make unto you today, that you would show us Christ in the text, that you would grow us in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and above all, as we see Christ in the text today, if there be any lost here today, I pray, God, that you, in the power and the person of your Holy Spirit, would convict the lost of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment to come, that they might be born again by the Spirit of God, and that they may know with certainty today, Lord, that they, having believed on your name, are passed from death unto life, and that they have been translated out of darkness into your marvelous and your glorious light.
Make that a reality in men and women's lives today, for only you are capable of doing such a mighty and a great work in that. For it is in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
And amen.
To begin with today, if you're taking notes, I want to give you a series of questions that we are going to be answering as we're going through the text today. I believe it will be helpful to us as we go along through this text.
And if you just want to write these few questions down, maybe leave space in your notes between each. The first question that we're going to answer today is, who is Jesus' audience? Who is Jesus' audience, or who is Jesus speaking to?
The second question that we're going to answer is, what is meant by casting when Jesus said he came to cast fire on the earth? What is meant by casting fire on the earth? The third question that we want to answer is, what is meant by the term that Jesus uses, by the phrase that Jesus uses, I have a baptism to be baptized with?
We want to answer this question, what is meant by the term of baptism to be baptized with? And the fourth question that we want to answer is this, is Jesus contradicting himself when he says that he hasn't come to give peace on earth?
Is Jesus contradicting himself when he says he hasn't come to give peace on earth? The answer ahead of time on that one is no, but we'll give the expanded answer. He's not contradicting himself. Jesus never contradicts himself.
The word of God never contradicts itself. All right, so we're going to look at these questions. Who is Jesus' audience? Just a quick answer is, who is Jesus' audience? If we go back, again, context is key, right?
Go back to the beginning of chapter 12 that we're in here. We see the context, the answers. Jesus' audience is a large multitude made up of lost and saved people. We're using this terminology. His disciples made up the saved group, and the lost folks were the scribes and the Pharisees and their disciples.
Believers and unbelievers. As a matter of fact, the scripture Luke uses the terminology that there were so many people that they were trampling upon one another. It was a large number of people gathered all together there.
To answer the question, what is meant by casting fire on the earth? He came to bring judgment. This is what is meant in this phrase. He came to bring judgment. We've been going over this with regularity the past several weeks.
He came to bring judgment, judgment that was soon to come within that generation. It's important that we understand that there can be no reconciliation without judgment. There can be no reconciliation without judgment.
There can be no forgiveness except there first be a propitiation. The apostle John writes in his first epistle, right? Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins. Concerning the term that Jesus uses, a baptism to be baptized with.
Now, we know, according to the scriptures, that Jesus has already been baptized by John.
We know that.
What Jesus is speaking of is the baptism of divine judgment on which he would take on himself the wrath of God. When he hung on that cross, he took upon himself the wrath of God. Of course, that question, is Jesus contradicting himself when he says that I have not come to get peace on the earth?
The answer is no.
In verse 54 through 59, what Jesus is doing, as we'll see as we expand and get into the text here, what we see in verse 54 through 59 is that Jesus is trying to reason with the Pharisees and with the scribes.
He's using these stories, or he gives the illustration in 54 through 56 of being able to discern the face of the skies by what the weather's going to be like, by how the wind's blowing and how the sky looks.
Then in 57 through 59, he gives them the account of how that a man ought to respond when he's being taken before the judge. In verse 54 through 59, as a whole, we're able to understand that Jesus is speaking either to the scribes and to the Pharisees in the crowd or to their disciples who are carrying his message back to them.
We know this. We can understand that this is the case because Jesus is placing the emphasis upon the judgment that is soon to come. As well, he reasons with them, as we stated in 57 through 59, to recognize that they need to get right with God.
Amen.
They need to get right with God. Now, in our day and in our time, I know you don't hear that kind of language used a lot, but that is important language. You need to get right with God. Is your heart right with God?
Are you right in the sight of God? If you are right in the sight of God, it is not by any works that you have done. You are right in the sight of God because Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, left heaven, came to earth, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, crucified on the cross, hung between the heavens and the earth, was put in the grave, and on the third day he arose and he ascended to the Father where he lives and where he makes intercession for us.
If you are right with God, you are right on Jesus' account alone. So this parabolic language that Jesus uses almost in 57, it's vague and it's unclear to the unbeliever, but to the believer it is evidently clear.
Again, we mentioned this last week, the purpose of Jesus speaking in parables many times was so that the unbeliever would be made distinct because they do not understand, but the Spirit of God reveals the truth to those that are his.
So one of the saddest things to see is when individuals or groups of people alike, for that matter, when they follow after their own ways and when they deny the truth of the Bible. It is sad to see such a thing.
It is horrible when you are sitting maybe in traffic and you can see quite a ways up ahead and you see an accident take place. That is a tragedy when we see such a thing and we are powerless to do anything to affect that in which we see.
It is a tragedy greater still when men, women, boys, and girls who live on a day-to-day basis go about their ways loving themselves, worshiping false gods, and are daily a breath closer to hell. That is a tragedy.
That is a horror. The Scripture says concerning transgressors, the way of a transgressor is horrible. And this is true. Now what does it mean? To transgress means to go beyond God's law. Love the Lord God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all of your strength.
What does it mean to go beyond that? It means to worship in a way in which he is not set forth or to worship another god. That is a transgression of God's law.
Do not kill.
Going beyond God's law is actually murdering someone.
Do not steal.
Going beyond God's law is stealing, taking something that doesn't belong to you. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Do not lie.
That's going beyond God's law, and that is sin, is what the Scriptures teach us. And what sin is is willful rebellion against God. It's saying, I know what you have said, God, but I'm going to do it my way.
And any of us that have children, if and when our kids likely do that, because they will, I don't know any perfect children. April and her sister were good kids, but they were rebellious at times. She's not perfect.
Neither am I, and neither are you. Sin is willful rebellion against God. This rebellion against the Lord is what Jesus is warning about in the text today. So verse 49. Verse 49 is the first of two exclamatory statements that Jesus makes.
It's important for us to note as well that there is a distinction to be made about the word fire that is used here in this text. It's a term of judgment and not a term of blessing. Here in this text, the word fire is a term of judgment and not a term of blessing.
Notice what Jesus says.
I have come. I have come, meaning I've come from one. The meaning of that phrase is I've come from one place to another. And Jesus said I've come to cast, to scatter, to throw, to cast into is what that means.
And then he says fire. It's speaking of the fire of divine judgment upon who? Those who reject Christ. There is a heaven to be gained, and there is a hell to be shunned. My friend, mark it down. Paul wrote in the book of Hebrews 927, it's appointed unto man once to die, and after this, the judgment.
Judgment is a reality. So we must make the distinction between the baptism, because what many folks go to is the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the day of Pentecost and the fire of divine retribution. We don't want to conflate the two.
We don't want to get them mixed up. So Jesus said I've come to cast fire on the earth, right, in that specific region. And he said I wish that it were already kindled. R .C. Sproul, in his commentary, said this.
If somebody were to ask you why did Jesus come into the world, I doubt, Sproul said, I doubt you would have answered that he came to cast fire on the earth.
Right?
Because that doesn't really come to her mind. But here is that that's exactly what Jesus said. So when somebody asks you now why did Jesus come, well, according to Luke chapter 12, verse 49, Jesus came to cast fire on the earth.
Sproul goes on to say this. That's what he said. He not only announced that he was going to send fire on the earth, but he communicated his own feelings about the task by saying, I wish you were already kindled.
Now what Jesus was doing here was burying his soul. He understood what he was going to be into. He understood and he knew that he shortly, in just a short period of time, was going to bear the wrath of God for the sins of the world.
Now we live in a day and a time where there are actually folks with, if we said Jesus came to cast fire on the earth, who would exclaim with boldness, that's not my Jesus. The Jesus I worship would never do such a mean and a hateful thing.
And they would say, my God is a God of love to which we can say, certainly you are correct, but only partially. He is a God of wrath and he demands righteousness and he demands holiness of which we cannot produce in and of ourselves.
It is of the Lord. Holiness is of the Lord. And so to those folks, I would point them to the scriptures and remind them that God is a matter of fact, it's amazing the providence of God. At work yesterday, we went in and one of the guys that sells windows, poor Home Depot was in there and he walked by and he saw on my apron where I had no king but Christ and he looked at that and he says, yes, he is holy.
I said, ah, but he is thrice holy. He is holy, holy, holy. And God is just. We must recognize this. God is just in all his ways. I would point men and women to the fact that every sin deserves the wrath and.
The punishment of God.
Catechism question, subliminal. In Matthew chapter three, verses seven through 12, listen to what Matthew pinned down under inspiration of the Holy spirit concerning Jesus. But when he saw many of the Pharisees are concerning John, when he saw many of the Pharisees and the Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, you brood of vipers.
We always get that, but we don't get this next statement. He said, who warned you to flee from the wrath? God, God has from the, from the old Testament forward, even through now is still now warning to repent of their sin, to turn and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that they might be saved.
Who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come again? Notice the flow of this writing here, but he said this, but bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Who's been spoken to here, the scribes and the Pharisees.
In another gospel account, same context, same context bear fruit. He said, in keeping with repentance, demonstrate that you are believing. And he said, do not presume to say to yourselves as many do. As many did.
We have Abraham as our father, for I tell you God is able from these stones to raise up children for.
Abraham.
There are many who will give a general assent to the fact, to the idea that God is real. And they will say, I believe in God, but the epistle of James states this, the devils believe in God and tremble.
Many of those who profess to be saved by the grace of God only have the faith of the devils. They do not have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is why you must be born again. You must be saved.
Notice what Matthew goes on to say to the Pharisees. Even now, he said, the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Who do you think he was talking to? The scribes and the Pharisees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Notice here, again, this is what we're making the distinction. Matthew chapter 3, 11, same text we're reading there. John said, I baptize you with water. He's speaking to the scribes and the Pharisees.
I baptize you with water for repentance. But there is one coming after me who is mightier than I. He's speaking about Christ. Whose sandals I'm not worthy to unloose, whose sandals I'm not worthy to carry.
And the scripture states this because remember, it's not only the scribes and Pharisees there at the baptism at the Jordan River, but it's a mixed multitude. It's saved and lost. And so what John says next is very, very important.
He said, I baptize you with water. But he, Jesus, when he comes, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit, the believers, and with fire, the unbeliever. The judgment. Our God is a consuming fire. So that distinction here is important.
The Holy Spirit is for the believers and fire for the unbelievers. By the way, let this be a landmark to you when you hear the charismatic crowd and you go and you see the churches on TV where they're hollering fire, fire,.
Fire,.
And folks are falling down and they're shaking and they're doing all this crazy stuff.
My friend,.
They are taking, trying to take what the scripture talks about and make it to be something that it is not at all about. The fire is for the unbeliever and judgment. The Holy Spirit is for the believer.
Matter of fact,.
William Barclay states concerning Jewish thought fire is almost always the symbol of judgment. Then he adds, however much we may wish to eliminate the element of judgment from the message.
Of Jesus,.
It remains stubbornly and unalterably there.
Well,.
We don't want to hear about judgment. We don't want to hear about this. We don't want to hear about that.
We just want to hear about the good stuff.
You got to take the good and the bad and the ugly because it's all there in the text of scripture. The scripture is not a buffet line in which we go and we pick little things.
That we want here and there.
The scripture is take it or leave it. It is all or it is nothing. So Jesus said, I've come to cast fire on the earth to those who believe it purifies and to.
Those who reject it,.
It consumes.
Now let's think for just a moment why this fire might be a fire that is not kindled. Why was Jesus making this statement? I wish that were already kindled. We've already established the term fire is a term of judgment,.
What is fire? It's judgment. What did Jesus bear on the cross? The sins of the world,.
His righteous judgment.
Instead, Peter,.
As a matter of fact, Peter stated that Jesus himself bore our sins in his body on the cross that we might die to sin and that we might live unto righteousness for the scripture says Christ also died for this for sins once for all the just Jesus for the unjust for sinners, For the unjust, just for the unjust so that he might bring us to God.
Having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, the scriptures teach that the wages of sin is death. And when Jesus was nailed to the cross and he bore God's righteous wrath against our sins that had been placed upon him.
That is when the fire of God's judgment was kindled. This is what Jesus is looking forward to. He is looking forward in agony. We know that it was a struggle as Jesus prayed in the garden.
Lord,.
If it be your will, let this cup pass from me.
Nevertheless, not my will,.
But God be done. Hallelujah for Jesus today. So Jesus said, I wish that it were already kindled. He wishes that the crucifixion was already over. Of course he agonized there in Gethsemane. He was always conscious that he had a baptism of judgment to undergo, which would never entail separation from his father.
Come in, John,.
Which would entail separation from his father, something that had never transpired in eternity past. So there on the cross, when he cried out, that is to say,.
My God, my God,.
Why have you forsaken me? That was what Jesus was talking about there. I have a baptism. He said in verse 50, I have a baptism to be baptized with. Two words are used there in the text. There are suffixes on each of those in the Greek, MA on the first baptism,.
And then on the second, baptism is the act of baptizing. So he said, I came to cast fire on the earth. I would that it were already kindled. I have a baptism to be baptized with. And how great is my distress until that is accomplishment.
I have a baptism,.
A baptism.
It's the result of the act of dipping,.
Plunging,.
Immersing,.
Washing someone or something. That's what that term means. The suffix on the beginning of that word, it indicates the result of dipping,.
Sinking,.
Or baptizing.
While the second word, Baptiste Moss, that's used is the act itself of baptism. So in the present picture, what we're seeing here is that Jesus being immersed in and overwhelmed by the agony of the cross.
He will be plunged into the flood of horrible distress. JC Ryle said this,. The prospect of coming trouble did not deter him for a moment. That's true. He was ready and he was willing to endure all things in order to provide eternal redemption for his people.
Zeal for the cause which he had taken in hand was like a burning fire within him. To advance his father's glory, to open the door of life to a lost world, to provide a fountain for all sin and uncleanness by the sacrifice of himself, were continually the uppermost thoughts of his mind.
He was pressed in spirit until this mighty work was finished. Now, let's move on. Do you think that I've come to give peace on earth? Was Jesus contradicting himself? Well, he answers the question. It was somewhat rhetorical.
Do you think that I've come to give peace on earth? To which he responds himself,.
No.
Do you think?
Do you think I came to give peace on earth?
But he said, I tell you, but rather division. It's very, very important here. Another question for us. Does God want his people to be divided?
What we're seeing here is a distinction made, a dividing line, if you would have it drawn. We see it throughout the whole of the gospels themselves. In another place, Jesus said, I will divide the sheep from the goats.
The goats on the left, the sheep on the right. To the sheep, I'll say, depart or come into your everlasting reward. To the goats, I'll say, depart into everlasting fire. Everlasting judgment. I made a quote this week on Facebook.
It's amazing how much gospel is in the gospels. Just these few verses. The entirety of the gospel is there. And it is overwhelmingly beautiful and glorious. Let's go on.
All right.
So what we have here is a clear-cut illustration of the division that Christ himself makes in separating the sheep from the goats. In the next two verses, Jesus makes it known that some in a family group will be saved and some will.
Be lost.
Those in close relationship to another will be separated. J .C. Ryle said this as well. At first sight, this is a startling saying. Ryle said it seems hard to reconcile it with the angelic song, which spoke of peace on earth as the companion of Christ's gospel.
Remember that?
Because I wrestled with this. Because when the angels came, they said, peace on earth and goodwill toward men. Goodwill toward those who believe on him. That's the key. That's the actual fuller translation there.
But Ryle goes on to say this. Peace is undoubtedly the result of the gospel wherever it is believed and.
Received.
Amen, J .C. Ryle. But wherever there are hearers of the gospel who are hardened, who are impenitent and determined to have their sins, the very message of peace becomes the cause of division. That is profound.
Those who are dominated by the flesh will hate those who are dominated by the.
Spirit.
Those who have resolved to live for the world will always be evil toward those who have resolved to follow Christ. Ryle closed his statement and he said this. We may lament this state of things, but we cannot prevent it.
We may lament it. It may be a sad thing, but we cannot prevent it. So long as some people are converted and some are unconverted, there can be no true peace. Vance Havner said, using Christian terminology doesn't mean anything if one is not a Christian.
That's right.
In his country wisdom, he said, having athlete's foot doesn't make you an athlete. That's the truth right there. And remember, what did Jesus call these men? What did Jesus call these men moving down in verse 54 through 56, particularly verse 56, right?
He said, you can see what the weather's going to be like. And then in verse 66, he used that term hypocrites. And remember, let's not forget what a strong term this is. The Greek translates it somewhat as a stage actor, a stage player, one who puts on a mask and one who is empty.
The Old Testament usage really is very much stronger. It means to be godless. It means to be profane. It means to be irreligious. So when Jesus calls them hypocrites, they are understanding that these men who are supposed to be the religious elite, that Jesus is saying, you are godless.
You are an empty shell. By the way, he used these descriptors in Matthew's gospel. He said, you're whitewashed tombs, filthy, filthy, disgusting on the inside, but you look good on the outside. But God doesn't look at the outward appearance.
God looks at the heart. Is your heart right with God? He goes on in verse 57 through 59, it's closing and he says, makes this statement. Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? Again, this is a reasonable question right here.
Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, before the judge, the big picture here is he's speaking to the scribes and the Pharisees addressing them, their unbelief.
The big, the big issue is this. The big picture is this. God is the judge of all mankind.
And Jesus,.
God in the flesh is telling them pleading with urging them. Think about this for just a moment because you're going to go before the judge of all mankind.
And there is not a lawyer good enough to get you off.
There is not one who is able to be so slick as to cause God to feel sorry for you. My friends know this. Every sin deserves the wrath and the punishment of God. And every sin was poured out. The wrath of God was poured out on Jesus Christ for the sin of every man.
Why? Why?
He said,.
Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? And in closing, he compares us to a man on his way to a magistrate. Here is what we see in the text. And here's our application.
Again,.
The immediate context is Jesus speech to the crowd, Jesus urging to the crowd, Jesus call to the crowd, Jesus reminding the crowd that judgment was coming. And the timeless principle is we are here today is this, that just as he was calling them to be reasonable and to consider like a man on his way to the magistrate with an adversary.
And he describes the action that that man should take like him. We are on our way to the presence of a judge. And we will stand before the Lord. The good news is this. If you're saved, if you're saved by the grace of God, you're not going to be able to say, Lord, I did this, this, and this, such,.
And such, and such, and such.
Therefore I'm fit to be in the kingdom of God and come to the kingdom of.
Heaven. No.
Are you going to be able to say worth anything is this. I trust in Jesus and his work on the cross for my sins. And like him, we have an adversary. The holy law of God is against us. J .C. Rouse said the holy law of God is against us and its demands must be satisfied.
Like him. We ought to get our case settled before it comes to the judge. Another place in the old Testament as a tree falls where a tree falls there, it will lie. My friend, when you die, when you draw your last breath, how you die, we'll determine your eternity.
Are you saved or are you lost? Are you believing or are you unbelieving today? Repent and believe the gospel today. We ought to seek pardon and we ought to seek forgiveness before we die. It is a vivid picture of the care that we see in that last, those last two verses.
It's a vivid picture of the care that we should take over the great matter of reconciliation to God. Christ came to cast fire on the earth and that's exactly what he was doing. And Christ is the great divider.
At the same time, he is the great reconciler for we are reconciled to God by the death of his son, Jesus Christ. But my friend, we are separated from God by our sins. Stand with us if you would this morning, please.