Severe Terms
Matt. 10:34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword."
If an incompetent man, a broken man, a man who has failed morally, is to realize healing, health, holiness, to realize the Divine purpose; that man must unreservedly and absolutely put himself under the guidance and direction and rule of Jesus. There must be no affection allowed to interfere, no earthly he must restrain, no passion or pride of the self-life must be permitted to hinder. The right hand must be cut off, and cast away; the right eye must be plucked out; neither father, mother, nor child must be loved more than He, or we are not worthy of Him.
These are the severest terms that it is possible for us to imagine; and therefore there must be a separating process; not peace, but a sword. This is a description of the process, of what must inevitably happen if men would follow Him absolutely, in order that He may heal them perfectly, and fulfill His high purpose within them; and so at the commencement, that there may be no mistake, He said, "not peace, but a sword."
If we are conscious of our moral malady, of spiritual sickness, and come to this great Physician, Whose ultimate purpose is our health of soul, and Whose immediate purpose is the redemption that shall produce that health, then we must give ourselves to Him entirely, absolutely; and to do this will divide households, and will separate between parents and children, between brothers and sisters. He came to send a sword. His mission was one of separation in order to the creation of the new, pure, strong, ransomed society, for the accomplishment of His purposes in the economy of God.
Some walked with Him no more.
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