The longer I live, the better I understand what Jesus meant in Matthew 10:34 when He declared that He did not come to bring peace on the earth, but a sword. Throughout the chapter He essentially teaches us about the cost of becoming a true disciple of Christ—not a denomination, not a local church name, but a true follower of Christ who learns, obeys, and loves God and His word.
.
In this chapter, the Lord provides some very uncomfortable yet necessary examples of the cost. For example in verse 21, Jesus says, “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death”. He does this to make it clear that no relationship is off the table when it comes to being obedient to God and His word above all.
.
And I will continually emphasize “God and His word” because unfortunately many appear to believe the two to be mutually exclusive. And that is the farthest thing from the truth. God and His word are to be equally reverenced. Jesus showed no condemnation and only commendation for the church of Philadelphia because, as He says in Revelation 3:8, they “…have kept My word, and have not denied My name”.
.
In Matthew 10:35-37, the Lord Jesus further said the following:

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. 37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

In other words, Jesus went right to our most loving relationships to warn us of the temptation to put those we love before God and His word. Notice that He says that even members of one’s own household will be one’s enemies.
.
The sad fact is that so many people who claim to be Christians are completely at odds with each other. Yet contrary to popular opinion, it is not politics, social media, money, skin color, or even the farce that is known as “irreconcilable differences” that divides Christians. Those things are mere symptoms of a much larger problem. And the dividing line is not drawn by social distinctions or political affiliations. The line is indelibly drawn by the God of the word and the word of God.
.
Jesus whose name is also “the word” (e.g. John 1:1-14; Rev. 19:13) said that He came to bring a sword. Please note that the word of God is also referred to as a sword. For example, Ephesians 6:17 tells us to take as part of the whole armor of God, “the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God”.
.
The sword of the Spirit is the only offensive weapon in the armor of God, and it is meant to be used the same way Jesus used it the three times He was tempted of the Devil in Matthew 4:1-11, where each time Satan tried to tempt Him, the Lord said, “It is written…” and gave a Scriptural basis from Deuteronomy for His stance.
.
In Hebrews 4:12, the word is referred to as a sword when it says, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
.
In other words, the word of God is infinitely beyond the most razor sharp weapon and is ultimately wielded by the hand of God to make impossibly precise cuts of division. Yes, I said division.
.
Even the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 49:2 declared that the Lord made his mouth like a sharp sword to tell the people of God what He wanted them to hear in order to separate them from the wickedness of the world. And let us not forget that in Revelation 2:12-16, Jesus warned the church of Pergamos by stating the following:

And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this: 13 ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 ‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit [acts of] immorality. 15 ‘So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 ‘Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.”

What was the Pergamos church’s sin? Verses 14 and 15 tell us it was compromise with false teachers and their false teachings.
.
So here is the point. If you are espousing teachings and beliefs that contradict rightly divided biblical truth, then you are promoting the need for the separating sword of the Lord to come and cut away the compromise and the contradiction. And that could be quite dangerous.
.
The apostle Paul obviously recognized this fact when, for example, he addressed the Corinthian church in the area of the Lord’s Supper.
.
In his stern rebuke of the church for causing division during the sacred ordinance, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:18-19…

18 For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.”

Factions are divisions. And Paul understood that those who are approved by God will of necessity be distinguished by division from those who are not approved by God. And what is the evidence of such approval? It is an understanding of and obedience to the word of God. This is the righteously divisive propensity of God’s living, powerful two-edged sword-like word.
.
It really doesn’t even matter how minor you might like to think a bible-contradicting thought or belief might be. All departures from truth start with the small stuff. So if after you were made aware of what the Bible says about something and you remain willing to avoid addressing it, or worse, you further defend your original position, then you are the divisive one, and God’s word has simply pointed you out as such.
.
Do not let the circles in which you travel make you like the man or woman who beholds his or her natural face in the mirror of God’s word, then walks away and forgets the error the mirror showed you. Many people stay in error because the people they love or fellowship with are also in that error. And so they are comfortable with ignoring the word of God on some things.
.
Yet the Bible is clear on everything from church leadership to Christian love, from faith to forgiveness, from doctrine to daily life, from morality to marriage, and when two or more Christians are willing to obey the God of the word and the word of God, then they are automatically put in agreement and can therefore also walk together…

4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Eph. 4:4-6)

As we all know too well, this year of 2020 has been rife with division. And with the exposure of so many false prophets who never saw COVID coming, who never dreamed anyone would be calling Joe Biden President Elect, and who sought to do something so ridiculous as summoning angels from Africa and South America because they can’t imagine God wouldn’t give Trump a second term, through all that has been I remain quite confident that the divisive sword of the Lord has faithfully been at work giving America the kind of leaders it deserves.
.
But by the grace of God, this chaotic year has also shown us with crystal clarity which Christians are willing to operate by the godless wisdom of the world and which are willing to operate by the wisdom of the word of God. And, saints, we will never be able to unsee all that God has shown us. So we have one recourse, and that is to agree with God and His word NOW, and then we cannot help but begin to agree with each other.
.
May we recognize where we stand on all issues of life concerning God’s word and be sure that we either remain resolute in God’s truth, or if need be, we speedily run to it. After all, rightly divided word of truth is “righteously divisive” too. We may very well have to cut some people off. But I look forward to seeing you all on God’s side!
.
God bless, beloved.

The longer I live, the better I understand what Jesus meant in Matthew 10:34 when He declared that He did not come to bring peace on the earth, but a sword. Throughout the chapter He essentially teaches us about the cost of becoming a true disciple of Christ—not a denomination, not a local church name, but a true follower of Christ who learns, obeys, and loves God and His word.
.
In this chapter, the Lord provides some very uncomfortable yet necessary examples of the cost. For example in verse 21, Jesus says, “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death”. He does this to make it clear that no relationship is off the table when it comes to being obedient to God and His word above all.
.
And I will continually emphasize “God and His word” because unfortunately many appear to believe the two to be mutually exclusive. And that is the farthest thing from the truth. God and His word are to be equally reverenced. Jesus showed no condemnation and only commendation for the church of Philadelphia because, as He says in Revelation 3:8, they “…have kept My word, and have not denied My name”.
.
In Matthew 10:35-37, the Lord Jesus further said the following:

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. 37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

In other words, Jesus went right to our most loving relationships to warn us of the temptation to put those we love before God and His word. Notice that He says that even members of one’s own household will be one’s enemies.
.
The sad fact is that so many people who claim to be Christians are completely at odds with each other. Yet contrary to popular opinion, it is not politics, social media, money, skin color, or even the farce that is known as “irreconcilable differences” that divides Christians. Those things are mere symptoms of a much larger problem. And the dividing line is not drawn by social distinctions or political affiliations. The line is indelibly drawn by the God of the word and the word of God.
.
Jesus whose name is also “the word” (e.g. John 1:1-14; Rev. 19:13) said that He came to bring a sword. Please note that the word of God is also referred to as a sword. For example, Ephesians 6:17 tells us to take as part of the whole armor of God, “the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God”.
.
The sword of the Spirit is the only offensive weapon in the armor of God, and it is meant to be used the same way Jesus used it the three times He was tempted of the Devil in Matthew 4:1-11, where each time Satan tried to tempt Him, the Lord said, “It is written…” and gave a Scriptural basis from Deuteronomy for His stance.
.
In Hebrews 4:12, the word is referred to as a sword when it says, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
.
In other words, the word of God is infinitely beyond the most razor sharp weapon and is ultimately wielded by the hand of God to make impossibly precise cuts of division. Yes, I said division.
.
Even the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 49:2 declared that the Lord made his mouth like a sharp sword to tell the people of God what He wanted them to hear in order to separate them from the wickedness of the world. And let us not forget that in Revelation 2:12-16, Jesus warned the church of Pergamos by stating the following:

And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this: 13 ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 ‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit [acts of] immorality. 15 ‘So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 ‘Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.”

What was the Pergamos church’s sin? Verses 14 and 15 tell us it was compromise with false teachers and their false teachings.
.
So here is the point. If you are espousing teachings and beliefs that contradict rightly divided biblical truth, then you are promoting the need for the separating sword of the Lord to come and cut away the compromise and the contradiction. And that could be quite dangerous.
.
The apostle Paul obviously recognized this fact when, for example, he addressed the Corinthian church in the area of the Lord’s Supper.
.
In his stern rebuke of the church for causing division during the sacred ordinance, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:18-19…

18 For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.”

Factions are divisions. And Paul understood that those who are approved by God will of necessity be distinguished by division from those who are not approved by God. And what is the evidence of such approval? It is an understanding of and obedience to the word of God. This is the righteously divisive propensity of God’s living, powerful two-edged sword-like word.
.
It really doesn’t even matter how minor you might like to think a bible-contradicting thought or belief might be. All departures from truth start with the small stuff. So if after you were made aware of what the Bible says about something and you remain willing to avoid addressing it, or worse, you further defend your original position, then you are the divisive one, and God’s word has simply pointed you out as such.
.
Do not let the circles in which you travel make you like the man or woman who beholds his or her natural face in the mirror of God’s word, then walks away and forgets the error the mirror showed you. Many people stay in error because the people they love or fellowship with are also in that error. And so they are comfortable with ignoring the word of God on some things.
.
Yet the Bible is clear on everything from church leadership to Christian love, from faith to forgiveness, from doctrine to daily life, from morality to marriage, and when two or more Christians are willing to obey the God of the word and the word of God, then they are automatically put in agreement and can therefore also walk together…

4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Eph. 4:4-6)

As we all know too well, this year of 2020 has been rife with division. And with the exposure of so many false prophets who never saw COVID coming, who never dreamed anyone would be calling Joe Biden President Elect, and who sought to do something so ridiculous as summoning angels from Africa and South America because they can’t imagine God wouldn’t give Trump a second term, through all that has been I remain quite confident that the divisive sword of the Lord has faithfully been at work giving America the kind of leaders it deserves.
.
But by the grace of God, this chaotic year has also shown us with crystal clarity which Christians are willing to operate by the godless wisdom of the world and which are willing to operate by the wisdom of the word of God. And, saints, we will never be able to unsee all that God has shown us. So we have one recourse, and that is to agree with God and His word NOW, and then we cannot help but begin to agree with each other.
.
May we recognize where we stand on all issues of life concerning God’s word and be sure that we either remain resolute in God’s truth, or if need be, we speedily run to it. After all, rightly divided word of truth is “righteously divisive” too. We may very well have to cut some people off. But I look forward to seeing you all on God’s side!
.
God bless, beloved.

The longer I live, the better I understand what Jesus meant in Matthew 10:34 when He declared that He did not come to bring peace on the earth, but a sword. Throughout the chapter He essentially teaches us about the cost of becoming a true disciple of Christ—not a denomination, not a local church name, but a true follower of Christ who learns, obeys, and loves God and His word.
.
In this chapter, the Lord provides some very uncomfortable yet necessary examples of the cost. For example in verse 21, Jesus says, “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death”. He does this to make it clear that no relationship is off the table when it comes to being obedient to God and His word above all.
.
And I will continually emphasize “God and His word” because unfortunately many appear to believe the two to be mutually exclusive. And that is the farthest thing from the truth. God and His word are to be equally reverenced. Jesus showed no condemnation and only commendation for the church of Philadelphia because, as He says in Revelation 3:8, they “…have kept My word, and have not denied My name”.
.
In Matthew 10:35-37, the Lord Jesus further said the following:

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. 37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

In other words, Jesus went right to our most loving relationships to warn us of the temptation to put those we love before God and His word. Notice that He says that even members of one’s own household will be one’s enemies.
.
The sad fact is that so many people who claim to be Christians are completely at odds with each other. Yet contrary to popular opinion, it is not politics, social media, money, skin color, or even the farce that is known as “irreconcilable differences” that divides Christians. Those things are mere symptoms of a much larger problem. And the dividing line is not drawn by social distinctions or political affiliations. The line is indelibly drawn by the God of the word and the word of God.
.
Jesus whose name is also “the word” (e.g. John 1:1-14; Rev. 19:13) said that He came to bring a sword. Please note that the word of God is also referred to as a sword. For example, Ephesians 6:17 tells us to take as part of the whole armor of God, “the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God”.
.
The sword of the Spirit is the only offensive weapon in the armor of God, and it is meant to be used the same way Jesus used it the three times He was tempted of the Devil in Matthew 4:1-11, where each time Satan tried to tempt Him, the Lord said, “It is written…” and gave a Scriptural basis from Deuteronomy for His stance.
.
In Hebrews 4:12, the word is referred to as a sword when it says, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
.
In other words, the word of God is infinitely beyond the most razor sharp weapon and is ultimately wielded by the hand of God to make impossibly precise cuts of division. Yes, I said division.
.
Even the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 49:2 declared that the Lord made his mouth like a sharp sword to tell the people of God what He wanted them to hear in order to separate them from the wickedness of the world. And let us not forget that in Revelation 2:12-16, Jesus warned the church of Pergamos by stating the following:

And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this: 13 ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 ‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit [acts of] immorality. 15 ‘So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 ‘Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.”

What was the Pergamos church’s sin? Verses 14 and 15 tell us it was compromise with false teachers and their false teachings.
.
So here is the point. If you are espousing teachings and beliefs that contradict rightly divided biblical truth, then you are promoting the need for the separating sword of the Lord to come and cut away the compromise and the contradiction. And that could be quite dangerous.
.
The apostle Paul obviously recognized this fact when, for example, he addressed the Corinthian church in the area of the Lord’s Supper.
.
In his stern rebuke of the church for causing division during the sacred ordinance, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:18-19…

18 For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.”

Factions are divisions. And Paul understood that those who are approved by God will of necessity be distinguished by division from those who are not approved by God. And what is the evidence of such approval? It is an understanding of and obedience to the word of God. This is the righteously divisive propensity of God’s living, powerful two-edged sword-like word.
.
It really doesn’t even matter how minor you might like to think a bible-contradicting thought or belief might be. All departures from truth start with the small stuff. So if after you were made aware of what the Bible says about something and you remain willing to avoid addressing it, or worse, you further defend your original position, then you are the divisive one, and God’s word has simply pointed you out as such.
.
Do not let the circles in which you travel make you like the man or woman who beholds his or her natural face in the mirror of God’s word, then walks away and forgets the error the mirror showed you. Many people stay in error because the people they love or fellowship with are also in that error. And so they are comfortable with ignoring the word of God on some things.
.
Yet the Bible is clear on everything from church leadership to Christian love, from faith to forgiveness, from doctrine to daily life, from morality to marriage, and when two or more Christians are willing to obey the God of the word and the word of God, then they are automatically put in agreement and can therefore also walk together…

4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Eph. 4:4-6)

As we all know too well, this year of 2020 has been rife with division. And with the exposure of so many false prophets who never saw COVID coming, who never dreamed anyone would be calling Joe Biden President Elect, and who sought to do something so ridiculous as summoning angels from Africa and South America because they can’t imagine God wouldn’t give Trump a second term, through all that has been I remain quite confident that the divisive sword of the Lord has faithfully been at work giving America the kind of leaders it deserves.
.
But by the grace of God, this chaotic year has also shown us with crystal clarity which Christians are willing to operate by the godless wisdom of the world and which are willing to operate by the wisdom of the word of God. And, saints, we will never be able to unsee all that God has shown us. So we have one recourse, and that is to agree with God and His word NOW, and then we cannot help but begin to agree with each other.
.
May we recognize where we stand on all issues of life concerning God’s word and be sure that we either remain resolute in God’s truth, or if need be, we speedily run to it. After all, rightly divided word of truth is “righteously divisive” too. We may very well have to cut some people off. But I look forward to seeing you all on God’s side!
.
God bless, beloved.

​