Not Peace but a Sword

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

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Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

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And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our

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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All right, think back with me to the season of Christmas.

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I mean, I know it's a little bit colder here during that time of year, and actually in our family we're looking forward to having a white

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Christmas. It's been a while, and a white Thanksgiving, and a white

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Halloween. You know, that's how these things go, right? But if you think back to the songs that we sing during Christmas, one of them you may be familiar with is

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Handel's Messiah. And the lyrics, a particular portion of lyrics, are taken from the the prophet

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Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6. Now, I'm not going to sing it to you, otherwise your ears would bleed, but if you remember the lyrics from Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6, it says this, for unto us a child is born.

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Unto us a son is born. Okay, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called

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Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the

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Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Right?

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This is not what we sing during Christmas, so what's with today's gospel text, right? Well, if Jesus is the

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Prince of Peace, then why is he saying that he hasn't come to bring peace but a sword? The Greek is a little stronger here, too.

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I like the idioms in Greek. It says that I have not come to throw peace but to throw a sword. You know, this is not the precious moments

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Jesus that we're talking about here, right? So we're gonna have to deal with this text, and in answering this question, what are we talking about when we talk about peace, or Jesus being the

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Prince of Peace, we're gonna need to go back and look at the context of this passage and understand the nature of the warfare that we as Christians find ourselves embroiled in, and as we unpack today's gospel text, we will find comforting words from our

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Savior. Now, not that the pirate attends here, he doesn't, his car's out in the parking lot, but on my radio program,

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I often talk about the three rules for sound biblical exegesis, and there you're going, there you go,

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Chris, you're using these big highfalutin fancy theological terms. Okay, well, let me explain. Exegesis is the proper way to read

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God's Word, and the Greek word ek means out, so the idea of exegesis is to read out of God's Word what it says.

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You don't want to engage in what's called eisegesis, which eis, e -i -s, means to read into Scripture something that isn't there, and people do these things.

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But the three rules for sound biblical exegesis are, well, it's just like real estate.

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Context, context, and context. And so I want to say a word about the

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Gospel of Matthew. It is a fantastic gospel, and one of the things you need to understand about the

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Gospel of Matthew is that Matthew writes his gospel in such a way that you are privy to all of the kind of, say, private information, private teaching that Jesus gave the inner circle, the twelve, the twelve disciples.

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And there's a reason for that. If you would, think of yourself as maybe like one of the twelve, or maybe the thirteenth disciple in training, okay?

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And so you're getting information from Jesus that the masses out there did not get while Jesus was on earth.

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Matthew assumes that you are a baptized believer, that you are somebody who is a disciple and a learner, just like Matthew, just like Peter, just like Bartholomew.

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You are privy to this information, and so you need to kind of understand this is one of the things going on in the

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Gospel of Matthew itself. But the other thing is we need to look at the immediate context, and this is the reason why last week

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I did not make the decision to preach on the gospel text, because it deals with persecution, but also you have to kind of get it in its fuller context.

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So here we've got Jesus saying, I haven't come to throw peace, but to throw a sword. And how are we to deal with this, right?

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Well, we have to see what's going on. So we're going to back up. If you have your pew Bibles, we're going to take a look at Matthew chapter 10.

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I'm going to start at verse 1, and I want you to see what's going on here. And we're going to talk about Christian warfare in the truest sense of the word, because I hate to say this, but each and every one of us, we are deployed soldiers every bit as much as a soldier in the

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United States Army who is deployed in Afghanistan. Each and every one of us are soldiers deployed in a war.

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We're not stationed in, let's say, a peaceful country. We're in behind enemy lines, in hostile territory, stationed and put there by Christ himself, and we don't get done with our tour of duty until we end up in the graveyard out here.

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Then we get to go to rest, right? And the fun thing about this is none of us have actually seen our true homeland.

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None of us have. I'm kind of looking forward to the day when I get my papers to go home. I hate to say it that way, but this life is hard, right?

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Okay, so let's take a look at Matthew chapter 10, verse 1. He, Jesus, called his twelve disciples to him, and he gave them authority to drive out evil spirits to heal every disease and sickness.

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I'm going to point something out here. In this text, Jesus is commissioning the disciples who would become the Apostles, and he's commissioning them for warfare for the kingdom of God.

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Remember, their call was repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand, right? Well, of course the kingdom of God was at hand when they were preaching and teaching, because the

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King himself was present, Jesus, right? Now pay very close attention, then, to the details of how this warfare is waged.

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Verse 2. These are the names of the twelve Apostles. First Simon, who is called Peter. Notice it says

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Apostles, not disciples. Matthew here is anticipating the apostolic ministry through these men, right?

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His brother Andrew, James, son of Zebedee. His brother John, Philip, and Bartholomew.

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Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector. James, the son of Alphaeus and Thaddeus. Simon, the zealot.

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And, of course, Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Keep in mind,

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Jesus's enemies come up from within the ranks of Christians, and those who claim to follow him. That's just a side note.

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So we continue. These twelve, Jesus sent out with the following instructions. Now, pay close attention to this part.

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Notice he's not saying go and boycott, go and picket, go and tell Caesar what for.

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Okay? That's not what he's saying. He says, do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the

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Samaritans. This is prior to the Great Commission. This is kind of like a preview of things to come. Go, rather, to the lost sheep of Israel.

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As you go, preach this message. The kingdom of heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.

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Freely you have received, freely give. Notice that the kingdom of heaven advances with healing, forgiveness, mercy, cleansing, and the driving out of demons and generosity.

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Who here has ever heard of a war or a kingdom advancing through such means?

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Yet this is how the kingdom of Christ advances. Not at the edge of the sword, but by the proclamation of the forgiveness of sins.

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It advances when demons are cast out and people are set free from bondage to sin and the devil himself.

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These are amazing weapons that we're talking about here. Weapons of mass freedom.

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Right? But keep in mind, many people will resist this kingdom advancing because each and every one of us, we were born dead in trespasses and sins.

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Nobody was born in Switzerland and can claim, I've got neutrality. Right?

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Each and every one of us were born on the side of the devil. And Jesus himself says, you are of your father, the devil.

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He was a liar and a murderer from the beginning. Right? So do you think the devil is going to sit by and allow people to have demons cast from them for them to be forgiven of their sins?

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No. So you got to understand, this is the context. So Jesus here in this commissioning says, don't take any gold or silver or copper in your belts.

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This is not something that, you know, well, this means the churches shouldn't, you know, you shouldn't pass an offering plate around.

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That's not what this is talking about. That's a misuse of the passage. Okay. Take no bag for the journey or an extra tunic or sandals or a staff for the workers worth his keep.

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Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave.

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As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it.

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If it is not, let your peace return to you. Notice peace again here. So as you're going out on this trip, this training mission, if you would kind of as training sortie within the, you know, within the war, look for somebody who is all about peace where your peace can rest.

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What kind of peace are we talking about here? The peace that exists when somebody is forgiven of their sins and they have peace with God.

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If they're hostile to Christ, if they're hostile to the message of the gospel, they're hostile to healing, they're hostile to demons being cast out.

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Move along. Right? And John Christopherson, one of the great church fathers and one of the amazing preachers of the past, he says this about this text.

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He says, well, what sort of peace is it that Jesus asked them to pronounce upon entering each house?

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And what kind of peace is it of which the angels sing glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth?

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See, even John Christopherson sees the tension here, right? He says, and if Jesus came not to bring peace, but why did all of the prophets publish peace as good news?

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Because this more than anything is peace. And this is the important part. How is peace defined in the kingdom of God?

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This is more than anything is peace when the disease is removed. This is peace when the cancer is cut out, right?

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Only with such radical surgery is it possible for heaven to be reunited to earth.

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Only in this way does the physician preserve the healthy tissue of the body. The incurable part must be amputated.

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Only in this way does the military commander preserve the peace by cutting off those in rebellion.

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Thus it was also in the case of the Tower of Babel that in their evil peace was ended by their good discord.

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Peace, therefore, was accomplished. Now, I'm a fan of the American Civil War, have been for a long time.

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I think I mean curable in this sense, okay? And if you know anything about General Grant, General Grant was considered a radical dude.

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And the reason why he was so radical at the time of the Civil War was because he understood the awful arithmetic that it would take to win the

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American Civil War. And he was willing to basically make the decisions necessary to win battles.

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And in order for them to win battles, men had to die. Lots of them.

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Every hour, every day, right? And at one point he had, there was a battle early on where he won a decisive battle against the

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Confederacy and they wanted to offer their terms of surrender. And his response back was the only terms for your surrender are unconditional surrender.

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So U .S. Grant became known as Unconditional Surrender Grant. That's what

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Jesus is all about. He's not here to negotiate with terrorists. He's not here to negotiate with the devil.

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The kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven is all about unconditional surrender.

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But it's the unconditional surrender that brings peace with God. And it's not at the edge of the sword, it's with the proclamation of the gospel, right?

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So that's the kind of peace that we're talking about. It's unconditional surrender. And only then do you truly have peace.

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No one's fighting the American Civil War to this day, right? Once the U .S., once the North beat the

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South, peace was brought back. That's the type of peace we're talking about.

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Verse 14. So if anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.

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And here's a radical statement on the point of Jesus, okay? Verse 15. I tell you the truth.

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It will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

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That is a radical statement. We're talking about Jewish towns.

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The disciples are not going to the Gentiles, they're not going to the Decapolis, they're not going to Caesarea Philippi, they're going to good little villages that have synagogues where people hear the

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Word of God Saturday after Saturday. Notice I said Saturday, not Sunday, because they're good Jewish synagogues, right?

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And if they will not receive the forgiveness of sins and the message of Christ and the gospel, you shake the dust off your feet,

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I'm out of here, and Jesus says something radical. It will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah, the most notorious sinful twin cities in the history of the ancient world.

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It will be more bearable for them on the day of judgment than for those who rejected

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Jesus. That's radical. Verse 16.

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So understand this, in this war, Jesus says, I'm sending you out like sheep among wolves.

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How many know how that battle goes? Sheep, wolves, wolves usually win. It usually fares fairly badly for sheep.

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Barbecue is in order, right? So therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

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Be on your guard against men. They will hand you over to the local councils and they will flog you in their synagogues.

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That's what we need. We need some churches where there's some flogging going on, right? What kind of church is that, right?

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And here's what he says. On my account, you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the

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Gentiles. Most important words in that verse, on my account. Not because of your piety, not because you've posted the

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Ten Commandments in your home or your school. You're going to be brought before kings and governors. You think of it as prisoners on the account of Jesus, who he is and what he's done.

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And when they arrest you, now this is to say if, when, when they arrest you.

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This is a great job. Sign me up. I'm going to interview for this. I really hope I get this job.

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When they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time, you will be given what to say.

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For it will not be you speaking, but the spirit of your father speaking through you. And here's the fun part.

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You think Jesus is all about family values? Well, he is. But watch this. Brother will betray brother to death.

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Father, his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death on account of Christ.

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Right? Think back, if you would, to Genesis chapter 4. Genesis chapter 4.

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Let me read it to you. It says this, starting at verse 1. Adam lay with his wife Eve and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.

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This is after the fall of man. She said, with the help of Yahweh, I have brought forth a man. And later she gave birth to his brother

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Abel. Now Abel kept flocks and Cain worked the soil. And in the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to Yahweh.

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But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. And the Lord looked with favor on Abel in his offering, but on Cain in his offering, he did not look with favor.

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So Cain was very angry and his face was downcast. Hebrews chapter 11 makes it painfully clear that the reason why

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Christ, that's who this is in this text, accepted Abel's offering is because Abel had faith.

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And without faith, it is impossible to please God. Not difficult, it's impossible. So Abel had faith.

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And when he brought his offering, he brought it in faith. And Christ here looks on favor with Abel.

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Abel is the one who is viewed before God himself as righteous. Cain not.

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Right? And we all know how the story goes. This family discord that Jesus is talking about, he's not talking about some new development.

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This is exactly the type of, well, hostility that has existed in families from the very, very first family.

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Where some believe and trust in Christ and are declared righteous by his mercy and grace, and others do not.

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They just go through the motions. They come to church, they don't believe any of it.

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They think that somehow by coming to church they've earned brownie points with God. They show up in the pew and they go home saying, okay

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God, I've done my part, you do yours. Right? That's not faith.

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That's a quid pro quo. Okay? So how does this end?

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So the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?

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If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door and it desires to have you.

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But you must master it. Now Cain said to his brother Abel, let's go out to the field. And while they were in the field,

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Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. First family, first siblings, first brothers of humanity.

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After the fall. And already the hostility against the gospel is present.

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So much so that it manifests itself in its true murderous form. Right?

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This is what was going on at the beginning. What Jesus is talking about is nothing new. So the

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Lord, Yahweh, said to Cain, where is your brother Abel? I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?

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The Lord said, what have you done? Listen, your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.

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And now you are under a curse and driven from the ground which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

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The hostility to the gospel of Jesus Christ in families goes back to the very first.

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Now back to Matthew verse 22. All men will hate you because of me.

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James says, friendship with the world is enmity toward God.

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If the world loves your church, if the world loves the message that your pastor is preaching, if the world loves it, then your pastor isn't preaching the truth.

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Because Jesus here doesn't say that we're going to get along with the world, that the world's going to love us.

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They're going to send their ambassadors and their kings and their presidents and heads of state to come and partake and listen to the word of the

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Lord and to hear the gospel. Jesus says, men will hate you, all of them, because of me.

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But he who stands firm to the end will be saved. So when, not if, when you are persecuted in one place, flee to another.

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If I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through all the city of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

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A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher and the servant to be like his master.

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And if the head of the house, that's Jesus, has been called Beelzebub, that's right, remember earlier, like chapter 9,

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Jesus casts out a demon from a guy and the Pharisees sit there and go, we know how he's doing that.

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He's doing that, he's able to cast out demons because he's doing it by the power of the prince of demons himself,

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Beelzebub, right? So if the head of the house has been called

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Beelzebub, that's Jesus, how much more the members of his household, and now notice Jesus here, is talking about where our true family is.

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Are you a baptized believer in Jesus Christ? Have you been brought to penitent faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins?

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Yeah? Look around. This is your family. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

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And this family relationship is actually more real and more important than even your blood family relationships, especially if the members of your family deny

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Christ, right? So if the head of the house has been called

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Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household, and this is echoing what Jesus says in the Sermon on the

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Mount, blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, not yours but his, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

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Blessed are you, blessed, blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

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Oh, trust me, you want to proclaim Christ? You want to proclaim the free forgiveness of sins? You want to stand for Jesus?

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You want to tell everybody the good news? Oh, no good deed goes unpunished.

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You will suffer for such a thing. And yet this is what Christ has called us to do. And he says you are blessed and great is your reward in heaven.

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For so they, in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 10, 26 now.

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So do not be afraid of them. What? They could hurt me.

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Don't be afraid of them. They could kill me. Don't be afraid of them.

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There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight.

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What is whispered in your ear, proclaim it from the rooftops. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.

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You're gonna die anyway. We're all dead people walking already, right? So don't fear those who can harm or kill your body.

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They can't take away your soul. You have been regenerated.

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You have been raised from the dead and you have been baptized into Christ's death and resurrection.

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You are alive in him. They can't kill you. They can only kill your body.

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So don't fear them. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your father.

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God is sovereign. He knows what's going on and nothing will happen to you that has not first come through his throne, right?

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Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Some of us have more a bigger number than others, right?

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So do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows and let me tell you how much you're worth.

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You are worth the very blood of the Son of God. You were purchased by God's blood, redeemed from slavery to sin, death, and the devil.

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You, that's the cost to redeem you and me. So whoever acknowledges me before men,

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I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my

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Father in heaven. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace on earth. Now we're to our text.

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This is all context, right? Now we know what's going on. Do not suppose that I've come to bring peace on earth.

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I did not come to bring peace but a sword, for I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter -in -law against her mother -in -law, and a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.

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The late evangelical scholar, R .T. France, and man do I miss him, he said the purpose of Jesus's coming is not peace but a sword, because the message of God's kingship is one which always has and always will lead to violent response from those who are threatened by it.

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To follow Jesus is to embrace martyrdom. Even one's own family will not be a place of refuge, but the cause of this hostility is not the disciples' own failures.

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That's right. This hostility has nothing to do with you and what you could have done to patch things up.

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This hostility is not because of your failures or your lack of diplomacy, unless of course you're a real jerk.

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But he says even with the cunning of snakes, they will be unable to avoid it because its cause, the cause of this hostility is

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Jesus himself, and you bear his name. Verse 37, anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.

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Anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

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Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

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Eusebius of Emessa, another church father commenting on this text, said this, the Lord himself proclaims peace, which is why the

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Apostle Paul also admonishes peace and says, for he, Jesus, is our peace. This means of course the peace of those who believe and receive, but in what way does he not bring peace on the earth?

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When the daughter believed and the father remained an unbeliever, what has an unbeliever in common with a believer?

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For the proclamation of peace causes division. With a believing son and an unbelieving father, there is necessarily strife.

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That's right, and we all know this. In our own family relationships, how many times have you gone to a

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Thanksgiving meal with your extended family and people say, don't talk about religion or politics?

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I would say this, obey them when it comes to the politics, but please preach

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Jesus every time you get an opportunity to be with your extended family, even if they politely ask you not to, right?

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Augustine says about this text, let us answer our father and our mother when they justly say, love us.

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Let us answer, I will love you in Christ, not instead of Christ.

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You will be with me in him, in Jesus, but I will not be with you without him.

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But we don't care for Christ, they might say. Your answer should be, I care for Christ more than I care for you.

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Should I obey the ones who raised me and thereby lose the one who actually created me?

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And do we not pray the way the Lord taught us to pray our father, who art in heaven?

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Let us always recognize that our true family is according to God, our father. Verse 40, he who receives me, he who receives you, receives me.

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He who receives me, receives the one who sent me. Notice, you receive the apostolic preaching, you receive the apostolic message, you receive what is written in your

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Bible. You're not receiving Matthew, Mark, Luke or John or James or Bartholomew.

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Jesus says you're receiving him. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward.

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Anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward.

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And that is exactly what each and every one of us have done by faith in Christ. We have received the one and only true righteous man of humanity,

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Jesus Christ. When you receive the apostles, you receive

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Christ. When you receive their message, you receive Christ. And when you receive by faith

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Jesus, you receive the one and only righteous man there ever was, and your reward is great.

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You will receive a righteous man's reward because Jesus' righteousness is imputed to you.

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Right? If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple,

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I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward. And then if you fast forward, now start to connect the dots that are being created by Matthew.

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If you fast forward talking about rewards, you can't not talk about the day of judgment. Take a look ahead at Matthew chapter 25 verse 31, parable of the sheep and the goats.

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Connect all this together, it all works. When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory and all the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

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He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Judgment day is over at that point.

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You are judged by what you are. Are you baptized? Do you trust in Christ?

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Have your sins been forgiven and washed away? Do you come here to partake of the

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Lord's Supper, to receive his body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins? You're a sheep. That's what sheep do, right?

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Goats, on the other hand, they've got no time for God's Word. They're hostile to Christ, his disciples, and their message.

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They reject the disciples' message. By rejecting the disciples' message, they reject Jesus himself.

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And so Jesus on the last day separates everybody by what they are. Only then are works mentioned.

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Then the king will say to those on his right, come, you who are blessed of my father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

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That's right. On the day of judgment, you will be on the right hand of Christ and he will tell you about what you're going to experience.

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The new kingdom prepared for you, for you, before the creation of the world.

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For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in.

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I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me.

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Now, before you think this is all about social justice, it's not. This is about receiving those whom

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Christ has sent. And the text makes this clear. Notice what he says then next, then the righteous, the sheep are righteous, clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

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Remember what our gospel text said. If you receive a righteous man because he is a righteous man, you receive a righteous man's reward.

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You by faith have received the one and only righteous one, Jesus. And though, therefore, on the last day,

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Jesus will say to you, the one who receives the righteous man's reward, then the righteous, that's you.

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They will answer, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink?

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We did that. Really? When did we see you a stranger or invite you in or needing clothes and clothed you?

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When did we see you sick and in prison and go and visit you? And then the king, simple reply.

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I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the one of the least of these, my brothers, the disciples, you've done it for me, right?

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Now I'm here today as your pastor. You are feeding and clothing me.

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I came to you with nothing. And yet you give me a salary to feed my family.

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You're doing the very things that Christ has said here. And I bring to you the message of the apostles and the good news of Jesus Christ.

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And so understand this, even in the little that you pay me and feed me and clothe me, you're doing it to Christ.

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Then this is where it gets scary. Jesus will say to those on his left, depart from me.

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You who are cursed into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. It wasn't prepared for man.

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It was prepared for the devil. I was hungry. You gave me nothing to eat. This is not talking about social justice.

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It's about their refusal to receive the disciples and the apostles and those whom

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Christ sends with the gospel. I was hungry. You gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty. You gave me nothing to drink.

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I was a stranger and you did not invite me in. Shake the dust off your feet.

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Remember, this is these two work together. I needed clothes and you did not clothe me. I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.

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And then they will also answer, Lord, when do we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger and eating clothes or sick or in prison and did not help you?

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And you reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for the one of the one of the least of these now pointing to the sheep who brought the good news of the gospel.

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You did not do it for me. And they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

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Great is your reward. You who've received the one righteous one, because he is righteous, you will receive a righteous man's reward.

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And your reward is eternal life in a new heavens and a new earth.

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And the gates of hell cannot rip this out of your hand. And even if the devil himself were to rise up and strike your body dead, that's all he could do is take your body, but he cannot take your soul.

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So John, Jesus says in John 14, and I'll leave you with this. Jesus says, peace.

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I leave with you my peace. I give to you and I do not give to you peace as the world gives.

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So do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid in the name of Jesus.

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Amen. If you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran church, you can do so by sending a tax -free donation to Kungsvinger Lutheran church, 1 5 9 5 0 470th

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Avenue, Northwest Oslo, Minnesota, 5 6 7 4 4. Again, that address is

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Kungsvinger Lutheran church, 1 5 9 5 0 470th

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Avenue, Northwest Oslo, Minnesota, 5 6 7 4 4. We thank you for your support.

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