“He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathers not with me scatters.”
Our text contains a message of hope on one hand and it is a bleak message on the other. Jesus Christ is a fact of history that people will have to deal with. Jesus really came into the world, lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death, arose from the grave and ascended to the Father. According to what Jesus said in our text, we are either with Him or against Him. The question for you to ask yourself is are you with Jesus? The way we would say it today is are you on Jesus’ side? It is important to be on Jesus’ side. It is important to be on Jesus’ side because those who are not on His side have made themselves His enemies. They do not see it that way, but that does not make it untrue. Even those who claim neutrality and say that it doesn’t matter to them either way, are His enemies. Jesus said that those who are not with Him “scatter.” What do they scatter? They scatter the truth of Jesus, the truth of His salvation, and they stand in the way of people who might "gather with" Jesus. The bible warns about keeping people out of the kingdom of God. This is not to say that everyone who “scatters” consider themselves enemies of Christ. They might even think well of Him and call Him a good man or good example. But Jesus did not die on the cross to win a popularity contest. He died on the cross to save those who would come to Him by faith. Jesus does not just want our approval; rather, He wants our hearts – our lives. He wants us to surrender our lives to Him and gather with Him. To not do that is to “scatter.” It is important to be on Jesus’ side because Jesus’ side is the victorious side. I know that a lot of people are puzzled by the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the last book in the Bible. I won’t take the time here to try to explain what it all means, but what I will do is tell you what the final message of Revelation is. In the final analysis, Revelation tells us that Christ and those who trust Him as Savior will ultimately win the battle. A lot of tyrants have marched across history, and all of them have eventually passed off the scene. People who followed them ended up frustrated and confused. Only Jesus will stand at the end as the real Savior. This is illustrated for us in Hebrews 12:25-27: “See that you refuse not Him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape, if we turn away from Him that speaks from heaven. 26. Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he has promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27. And this word, Yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” Those who are on the side of Jesus, will be part of that kingdom which cannot be shaken. It is important to be on Jesus’ side because it is the eternal side. The things that “can be shaken” as mentioned in Hebrews 12, belong to this world and are passing away. Everything of this world is passing away. As for myself, I do not want to hang on to that which is passing away, but that which will never pass away. Jesus gave His disciples a promise in John 14:1-3 that is also a promise to us: “Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me. 2. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself: that where I am, there you may be also.” That is a promise of eternal life that will be lived with Jesus. The bottom line of being on the side of Jesus is that those who are on His side will go to heaven and live with Him eternally. Jesus promises us good things in this life. For example, Jesus said that He gives “abundant life.” (See John 10:10) But what Jesus ultimately gives us is heaven. There are many other reasons to be on Jesus’ side, but these three are uppermost in my mind at the present time. As the title asks, “Are You With Jesus?” Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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