“Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.”
It is interesting that the very same religious leaders, the Pharisees, who were contending that Jesus provided for and healed the withered arm on the Sabbath and in the synagogue, then busied themselves to immediately go off into a huddle to plot to get rid of Jesus .
They too were divided in their self imposed prioritising of priorities and illogical in their actions.
Their intentions to discredit greater than their intentions to their own belief.
Opposition in their own ranks will arise in our international churches if there is a division between whether we believe in the power of God and the Holy Spirit or not.
Historically there have been divisions between the Roman Catholic church and the Eastern Orthodox.Between the traditional denominations and the charismatic Pentecostal denominations.
Where God’s default is for unity there are occasions when it is His will and righteousness that there be a separation in His church. One such as at this time where the division will be between the Nominal churches and the Power filled churches. Those that are unable to be bound together as one.
This may look like a great decimation and tearing apart but if it is His will so be it and from it a remnant will arise who have understood the heart of Christ and the power it hosts.
“a time to break down, and a time to build up;”
The catalyst will divide those who will host that Spirit of power in their heart and those with the religious or political spirit at heart only.
In the interim the storm where a house is divided against itself and a world quick to attack, could give rise to an increased persecution.
The order will be for a clash of kingdoms first in the church giving rise to the remnant who will measure success not on how mega or wealthy but on how Christ like.
There is a cost and a win to becoming the remnant. To be hated but to be power filled. The desire to be liked has to be outweighed by the desire to be submitted to the heart of Jesus.
Many of the underground subversive churches flourishing in the world know the tension of that.
Instead of allowing the next generation to become governed by the social media generated passion to be liked we must train how to stand up to opposition and store value in what we stand for and celebrate.
There are parts in our scripture that we choose not to want to acknowledge but they cannot be white washed over, they are as much truth as those parts that we cling fondly on to.
Wisdom is being prepared for and accepting of knowing the greater prize is worth it.
“and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
Jesus prays on our behalf in John in recognition that we will also take up His cross in the world and will need to know the hope of His prayer for us.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
His remnant will not be divided against itself. His remnant will be the church which becomes His bride, United as one and one within the Trinity. “All mine are yours, and yours are mine, “
The illustration shows the division symbol, the divide between the Nominal and the Power filled. The diamond cut remnant showing the faceted light of Jesus pushing back the darkness.
Six Scriptures that come to mind:
“a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;”Ecclesiastes 3:3 ESV
“Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.”
Matthew 12:25 ESV
“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.”
Matthew 10:16-18 ESV
“When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”Matthew 10:19-22 ESV
“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.””John 17:6-26 ESV
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”Matthew 5:11-12 ESV
The song Wait Upon The Lord. Leeland
https://youtu.be/A0agizm-4ro
Lessisgreater 