[SUB12] CASA DIVIDIDA - Luciano Subirá

Hello! I'm here in Ponta Negra, in the city of Manaus in the state Amazonas, passing to bring one more message to your heart. The subject of our conversation today is based in a sentence, a statement of the Lord Jesus to the jews that accused him of casting out demons by Beelzebub, the chieftain of demons.

The Lord Jesus counters their attack not by defending or not the authenticity of His ministry, but by showing them their argument was very poor. He said: "if satan casts out satan its kingdom will not subsist. A divided kingdom does not subsist.

" He says: "a divided house does not subsist. " And it is upon this sentence from Lord Jesus, that talks about a divided house, that we are going to direct our conversation. In the next few minutes we are going to understand why Jesus said that not even the devil would allow himself to use the power of division against him.

In the same way, we can not allow it in our houses and in our families. Lord Jesus shows us a principle connected to the house when He says that a divided house does not subsist. He shows us that this, spiritually, is something so strong, what I would call the power of division, is something so serious that not even the devil would be crazy to use it against himself.

Interesting fact, someone said we can measure how important something is to God by how much the devil fights it. For example, the word of God shows that any and every sin is outside the body but he who commits the harlot sins against his own body. We can understand how seriously God takes the sexual purity matter when we see how much satan struggles to bring distortion in that area.

And when we talk about division it is no different. So we can understand the damage division can bring, the power it has, we need to begin measuring what the word of God talks about unity and the power of unity. And the first truth is that God moves in a unity environment.

We have statements in God's word of the manifestation of God's glory associated with an unity environment. For example, in Acts chapter 1, what preceded the pentecost experience wasn't just a prayer environment, but Acts 1:14 says that they persevered unanimous in prayer. So, we have prayer but also unanimity, we have unity supporting the prayer.

In Acts, chapter 4 when the apostles exited jail, forbidden to priest in Jesus's name, they gatherd the others to pray. Once again, we have prayer, but the bible says that they raised their voices unanimously to God in prayer. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, the place they were gathered shook, what we realize is that manifestations of God's glory are related not only to prayer, but also with the unity environment.

In 2 Chronicles, chapter 5 when Solomon consecrates the temple to the Lord, the bible says that the priests raised their voices unanimously, the instruments unanimously and what we have it is not just musical harmony but a single heart turned to God at that time. And the bible says that the house was filled with a cloud, that is, the glory, God's "shekinah" and the priests could not stand to minister before the Lord. God Himself testifies the power of unity when He descends, in Genesis 11, He descends to see what men were doing in Babel.

Statement of God Himself, He says: "the people are one and speak one language. From now one there will be no limit to all they plan to do. " God Himself recognizes that because it was a design that was not according to His design, He could not allow the people to continue to be one or to speak the same language, because He says: "there will be no limit to what they plan to do.

" Well, if God is saying that the people who doesn't know Him, doesn't have His presence, His glory, the resources from heaven at their disposal but unites and speaks a single language won't have limits, the question is: what you and I, serving the Lord, waking in the word of God, relying on the Lord's grace and favor, answers to our prayers cannot achieve when we understand what is the unity environment? When we realize the power that is behind unity, what it can release, what it can untie we will understand the power of division, by the simple fact that it steals the available power, the benefits of unity. Now, looking at the word of God and I want to talk about house in the familiar sense too.

Because man was created by God to live in relationships, he was not created to live alone. Proverbs 18:1 says that he who isolates himself rebels against true wisdom and is seeking only his own interest. We were created by God as social beings and in addition to relationships outside the family, everything starts from our childhood with the relationships inside our home.

And we need to understand that, to live God's best, God's fullness in our homes and families, we need to learn to live in unity. I have seen, in the twenty and something years of pastoral ministry, how many families, even professing the christian faith, worshiping God, attending churches, are fragmented, are divided. They are parents and children who barely talk or interact.

They are sorrows that have never been solved, matters that have never been properly solved. And so, we are losing what God could have been doing in our lives. When I look to the word of God I see the damage division can bring to a family.

For example, the prophet Malachi says that the Lord would come as the righteousness sun bringing healing in His wings. Healing for what? He soon after says: "he will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.

" God has healing for our families. Because when families are divided, parents’ hearts and children's hearts are disconnected, when generations stop connecting correctly, instead of blessing, what will hurt them will be curse. God is saying: "so the curse won’t touch them, there needs to be reconciliation, there needs to be restoration.

" We need to understand that the vertical relationship, with God, is directly affected by the way we live in our horizontal relationships. And not only in a general way, with every and each person, but starting with our own home and with our own family. Bible says: "Anyone who does not provide for their relatives and especially for their own household, has denied the faith.

" The way we live our relationship with our family will affect our relationship with God. Apostle Peter says, in 1 Peter 3:7 "husbands, treat them with respect as the weaker partner, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. " He is saying that my vertical relationship with with God, my prayers might be hindered by the way I live my horizontal relationship, with my wife.

In 1 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 8, Paul says: "Therefore, I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger and disputing. " The definition of holy hands to be lifted in prayer is"without anger and without disputing", both of them are sins of relationship. Because when we break our horizontal relationships, this will affect our vertical relationship with God.

We just need to look at the way Lord Jesus handled the matter of forgiveness. He said: "if you don’t forgive those who sin against you", problem in the horizontal relationship with people. he says "neither will your heavenly Father forgive your sins", so now we have a vertical problem, in our relationship with God.

The problem with divided houses is that not only do they stop living the the best of God for themselves as a family but they also stop living their relationship with God as it should be lived. The reason why God wants to act in mine and your house, so that we can be united families, strong families, it is not only for us to have a better quality of life. God does not only want to affect the emotional aspect, this fulfillment we can have in an emotional level.

God wants to bring complete fulfillment, including in our espiritual life, through the manner, the way we live our family relationship. A divided house cannot stand. There are a lot of people who believe that problems can be swept under the rug, that we can pour oil on troubled water, but the word of God is very clear about this.

Apostle Paul writes to the Ephesians and he says: "Be angry yet do not sin. " Anger itself does not necessarily mean sin but it can lead us to sin. And, right after, he says the following: " Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.

" One of the ways of turning rage, the outrageousness that usually grows in our relationships issues, it's when we don't deal with it right away. The bible says: "don't let the sun go down, don't leave it for the next day, don't stall, don't put it off. " I'm used to hearing people saying that time heals everything but that's not true, many times time only makes things worse when we don't act as we should.

Maybe it's time you stop and consider how is your relationship with your household, with your family. How is your marital relationship. If you're married.

How is your relationship with your parents, with your children, with your siblings, because that will affect not only the joy you'll be able to live in a familiar environment, but it will affect you in every other area. Obviously God doesn't want to fix our horizontal relationship only in the family aspect, God wants to lead us to live in the correct way with people regarding this. The word of God says that we have factious feelings in our hearts, it's in the book of James, chapter 3, bible says: "For where you have envy and selfish ambition there you find disorder and every evil practice.

" We can't allow our houses to be fragilized by division. Problems will come up, people will be different from one another, bible says: "as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. " Someone told me the other day: "pastor, marriage is so hard.

" I said: "It's not marriage. It's every relationship. " Siblings who live together have difficulties, parents and children have difficulties, but when the bible says that iron sharpens iron we can either look only at the sparkle, the friction that comes from the relationship, or we can see how much we can be perfected living with each other's differences.

We need to allow God's love to sprout in our heart. We need to learn to walk in forgiveness. We need to fight for the unity in our households.

We need to understand that this is God's plan and purpose for us, because, as Jesus said: "a household divided against itself will not stand. " If in this moment you are living in this context, of a divided household, a divided family, you can believe in the God who turns the hearts of the parents and the hearts of the children to the parents, but you can also do your part. You can be the one who turns the other cheek, who walks the second mile, you can be the one who hands the coat and the cloak together, who decides in love.

You can be the one who declares forgiveness, who doesn't let the heart become bitter. You can be someone who fights for unity to be promoted. Bible says: "Blessed are the peacemakers.

" You can be the one who goes to those who are against you, even if you have nothing against them, so that you can reconcile. Jesus said: "If you are worshiping, offering your gift at the altar and remember that your brother or sister has something against you, first, be reconciled to them. " God is saying: "For our connection to be good, maintain the same thing with the people around you.

" May the Lord help us understand, absorb and above all practice these truths of His word. May He give you grace, may He bless you, in Jesus' name.