FIVE-ALARM FIRE

(Luke 12:49-53)
Date: __________________
Read Lu 12:49-53 Abe Lincoln told of a man who enlisted in the War of
1812. His girl said shed embroider a belt: Victory or Death. He said,
Thats kinda strong. Suppose you put Victory or Be Wounded! He
wanted half-in. But a half-committed solider is a danger to everyone. Well,
Jesus followers must be all in. To be half for Him and half for me is a
modern, mostly American, invention. Jesus never taught it that way!
Here Hes urged preparation for His return by watching expectantly and
working earnestly. Faithful followers are rewarded; unfaithful are condemned.
Now Jesus explains why why the line that separates true faith and mere
professors is so defining! What He has to say is shocking. The death He will
soon die forces a choice. It is eternal life or death. So: I. Jesus Surprising
Strategy; II. Jesus Supreme Sacrifice; III. Jesus Severing Specter.
I.

Jesus Surprising Strategy

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I came to cast fire on the earth! Skip to v. 51: Do you think that I have
come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. Wow! Where
did that come from? The disciples were shocked at those words as are we.
Isnt Messiah the Prince of Peace? (Isa 9:6)? Didnt Jesus pronounce
blessing on peacemakers? Didnt Zacharias prophesy that He came to guide
our feet into the way of peace (Lu 1:79)? Didnt the angels sing on earth
peace among those with whom he is pleased! at His birth (Lu 2:14)? Didnt
He often send people away by saying, Go in peace (Lu 7:50)? Doesnt Paul
say in Eph 2:14, For he himself is our peace? Yes to all of those!
Jesus did come to bring peace the only peace that really matters in the end
peace with God. The peace He came to enable is between hopelessly lost
people and an infinitely holy God. But that peace comes at great price and it
automatically means war with the world. They are two sides to the same coin.
This is reflected in Jesus first statement: I came to cast fire on the earth. If
your conception is of a gentle Jesus meek and mild who would never harm a
flea, that is a Jesus of your own making. That is not the Jesus of the Bible.
That Jesus came to stir everything up, including you and me. That Jesus
came to stake claims on lives. That Jesus came to cast fire on earth.
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What does it mean to cast fire on earth? To the Jewish mind, steeped in OT,
fire represented two things. First and foremost it represented judgment. Gen
19:24, Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from
the LORD out of heaven. Psa 11: 6) Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and
sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. Isa 66: 15) For
behold, the LORD will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to
render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. The list goes on.
Jesus is saying, I came to cast judgment on the earth. Make no mistake,
what Jesus did in paying the penalty for sin set the stage for coming judgment.
But fire also meant purification. For believers. Mal 3:2: But who can endure
the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a
refiners fire and like fullers soap. Cleansing agents to purify believers so
they can offer acceptable sacrifices. But at the same time in v. 5 He also
judges unbelievers. When Jesus talks about casting fire on earth, He means He
will judge unbelievers and purify believers. His presence demands a reaction.
He doesnt draw a line in the sand, He IS a line in the sand. To follow Him
is to experience the fire of purification; to reject Him is to experience the fire
of judgment. Either way, He makes things hot. Hell make them hot for you.
Remember how the French greeted the Allies as conquering heroes when they
entered Paris in Dec. 1944? Cheers everywhere. But the Germans fled for their
lives. Why? Same troops; same time; different reaction! Why? For the
Germans the Allied invasion meant judgment for the French, the same
invasion meant liberation. Same troops totally different reaction. Same with
Jesus. He casts a fire on earth a fire of judgment for some and purification
for others. The difference? some accept his Lordship; most do not.
The Fresno Bee gave this weather forecast one day: "Precipitation is likely to
be lower than normal, higher than normal or roughly the same as normal."
Talk about straddling the fence! Thats what many want to do with Christ.
They want His blessings, but not His Lordship. They want Him at the
funeral, but not in life. They want Him on Sunday, but not the rest of the
week. He wont go there, Beloved. He didnt come to be patronized or used!
He came to cast fire on you and me. The question is, is it a purifying one or a
condemning one. Thats up to us. But God in the flesh wont be ignored. He
came to cast fire? Question is which side of the fire are we on?
II.

Jesus Supreme Sacrifice

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49

I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!
The problem of sin and guilt is deeper and wider and higher than any human
solution could ever address. Sin must be paid for. We know that. Thats why
we have human court systems. But how to satisfy Gods requirement for
justice? Payment must be made -- by each individual or assumed by God
Himself. Jesus came to assume that judgment, to cast fire on earth but note
that last phrase. It is heartrending. Here is the humanity of Jesus on full
display -- would that it were already kindled! The fire of judgment has not
yet been kindled as He addresses this crowd. But Jesus is anxious to get on
with it. The price is going to be so high, the penalty so painful, the cost so
great. He wishes it done and over. Oh, would that it were already kindled!
When I was a little boy, ice cream was a luxury we seldom got. We got more
little brothers instead and with all those mouths to feed, ice cream was seldom
on the menu. But one day, I knew there was some in the chest-style freezer on
our back porch. And I decided I could help myself to a spoonful or two when
no one was looking. The devil made me do it, folks! I got my little snack, put
the carton back and closed the lid only something didnt fit and it broke the
inside cover. I was in trouble. Mom found out; I confessed. But rather than
discipline herself which she was very capable of doing she left it for Dad.
Let me tell you that was a long day. The wrath of my father was always
Godly. He told you why, and then, if the situation warranted, he spanked you. I
could take that. It was the tears I couldnt take. I always knew he wasnt
kidding it hurt him more than it did me. I wanted the fire of my fathers
wrath kindled so it could get over with and I could get on the other side. It
was a long day. Now multiple that a million-billion times and you know what
Jesus meant when he said, and would that it were already kindled. He
longed to finish His mission and get on the other side of the cross.
Because its the cross were talking about, isnt it? V. 50 confirms: I have a
baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is
accomplished! Distrssed means to hem in, press. Ever see a thriller with a
guy trapped in a closed tank with water rising and no way out? Thats the
picture. Jesus is pressed. The cross has loomed over His whole life. Have you
seen the pix in our stairway? Joseph is working at a carpenter bench, and
Jesus, age 2 or 3 is kneeling down playing with some spikes. As He does, He
casts a shadow shaped like a cross. The cross has always been before Him.
It loomed even before time began. I Pet 1:19-20 says we are ransomed with
the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He
was foreknown before the foundation of the world. Death for sin has been
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on Jesus radar forever. And now, after eons of time, it is upon Him. The vice
is tightening; the cross is never out of His mind. He tells His disciples, but no
one gets it. He is alone in His distress. Gethsemane was the climactic battle.
But His life was a perpetual Gethsemane. The cross always loomed.
I have a baptism to be baptized with. We entirely miss the intensity. To us
baptism is a celebration, usually in heated water! But only because of what
Jesus purchased in a much different kind of baptism. The word baptize
means to plunge under water, to immerse. Jesus is overwhelmed at the thought
of what awaits Him. So, is it the horror of physical torture that drives His
distress? No. Hes not less than other men who have endured that with faith
and calm. Something else overwhelms Jesus. It is the anticipation of in Pauls
words becoming a curse for us (Gal 3:13). It is the horror of the devastating
torrent of sin that He sees coming His way like the boulder in Indiana Jones
that leaves His perfect self shaken every lie, every genocide, every adultery,
every murder, every child abuse, every evil thought and deed. For our sake
the Father was about to make him to be sin who knew no sin. (II Cor 5:21).
What crushed Jesus was the thought of becoming you and me, of absorbing
Gods wrath against sin in His own person. No wonder He was overwhelmed.
So, why did He do it? Why didnt He just say to the Father, I cannot abide
the thought of being separated from you. Our wills have been one for all
eternity. Our love has been one for all eternity. The prospect of a breach is
too much. Let me come home. His prayer in Gethsemane wasnt far short of
that. Mrk 14:36, And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.
Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will. Can you
sense the agony of His plea? Why did He go thru with it?
Heb 12:2 tells us why: who for the joy that was set before him endured the
cross, despising the shame. Jesus looked ahead. Just as He urged others to
take an eternal perspective, so does He. And as He looked into eternity future,
what did He see? Rev 5:9, for you were slain, and by your blood you
ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and
nation. He saw the redeemed of all the ages gathered around the throne. He
saw you, Beloved. And He said, Ill go. Ill go kindle that fire. Ill be
overwhelmed by the baptism of sin and wickedness and evil. Ill fulfill
Isaiah 53:4-5, Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet
we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced
for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities. He didnt go for
His own sake. He went for ours. Despite the distress He went until it is
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accomplished. The word accomplished is a form of Jesus next to last

words on the cross, Tetelesthai It is finished. What was finished? What did
He complete? The payment of sins penalty. Redemption was finished.
Do you see now why it is so evil to reject Him? Would the Father have put
Jesus thru all that and it wasnt absolutely necessary? That would be
unthinkable. But that means the cross draws a line in the sand, doesnt it? To
reject Him and insist that I can work my own way to heaven is the greatest
insult one could ever offer God and the greatest sin in the world. I might as
well be there pounding the nails myself. Its no wonder hell is in the future of
every person who rejects the Lordship of Jesus Christ. They have turned down
the most costly gift in history and turned it into a fire of judgment.
My Grandmother used to tell me of the deathly fear they had of wild fires on
the plains of NE. I read one time of a father and his daughter who were
walking through a Canadian prairie when they saw a great fire in the distance.,
headed toward them, sure to engulf them. But the father had a plan. He
quickly lit a fire and watched it burn away from them. Then they stood in the
section that had already been burned. As the flames approached the little girl
was terrified. But her father explained, The flames cant get us here. We are
standing where the fire has already been. Thats what the cross is all about,
Beloved. When you give your life to Christ, you are standing where the
wrath of Gods judgment has already been. It cannot touch you because Jesus
has absorbed it all. Hes taken the fire of judgment for you if you trust Him.
III.

Jesus Severing Specter

51

Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but
rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided,
three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against
son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against
mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law
against mother-in-law. Why cant we all just get along? Remember
Rodney King? And the answer spiritually is crystal clear. It is because peace
with God means enmity with the world and vice versa. This never surprised
Jesus in the least. He knew His presence was a lightning rod for antagonism
for those who do not love God. He came to bring peace, but the peace He
came to bring was peace with God thru forgiveness of sins made possible by
His sacrificial death. But with that priceless gift comes enmity with the world.
Jas 4:4: You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the
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world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the

world makes himself an enemy of God. We have to pick our poison. Peace
with God and war with the world; or peace with the world and war with God.
The line was drawn at Calvary, and we must all choose our side.
And sometimes the division will cut right through families. Is that what He
desires? Of course not? He is not willing that any should perish but that all
should come to repentance. That is His desire. But since many will not turn
to Him, division is inevitable sometimes within families. Some of you have
been there. Jesus has a severing impact bc some will accept Him and others
will not. He Himself draws the line in Lu 14:26, 26 If anyone comes to me
and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and
brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Of
course, Hes not literally saying, Hate your family. But Hes saying, If it
comes down to them or Me, it has to be Me. Our love for Jesus must far
exceed any other. And sometimes that means a high price.
Conc -- Mack Stiles was preaching in Magadi, Kenya one morning to some
Muslim students. No one moved at his invitation, and he closed the service,
disappointed, feeling he had not connected with the kids. Outside a young man
approached him, however. He introduced himself as Robert, and then, looking
down at the dust said, What you talked about in there I would like to have
it. So Mack went thru his normal presentation of salvation Gods holiness,
our sin, Christs death in our place, the need for commitment and the cost that
can come. Robert had clearly heard it all before, but when Mack asked if he
would like to accept Christ now, Robert said, Yes. But before they prayed,
Mack asked, almost as an afterthought. Robert, you seem to know most of
what it means to become a Xn. What has held you back from accepting
Jesus in the past? Robert looked down at the clay, making circles in the dust
with his foot. Then he said, My father has told me that if I become a Xn, he
will beat me. Tonight . . . tonight I will bleed.
We have no clue, do we? Lets face it, we know very little about the cost of
discipleship in America. Thats why Jesus statements seem extreme. But
when you begin to understand just a little bit the awful price He paid to cover
our sins, you begin to understand why there is no half-in with Him. Theres
no Ill take some of Jesus, but a lot of me, too. Its all or nothing, Beloved.
He bled for us; now the question is, are we willing to bleed for Him
whatever that means in our life. Lets pray.
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