[Note: This sermon expounds Matthew 12:30, comparing it with Mark 9:40. Delivered 18 December 1977, Montreal.]
Matthew 12:30: "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters." Compared with Mark 9:40: "He who is not against us is for us." At first reading these two statements appear to say the same thing. They do not. Understanding the difference is of the greatest importance for any person who calls himself a Christian.
There is no neutral ground in spiritual warfare. Neutrality is not genuinely possible even in ordinary life — Belgium and the Netherlands declared themselves neutral before the Second World War, but Germany invaded them anyway. Switzerland survived its neutrality only because the cost of invading the mountains was calculated to be too high. In the spiritual realm, the person who says, I am neither Christian nor anti-Christian, I am neutral — is already, from God's point of view and Satan's point of view, on one side. By declining to decide, he has decided.
Now the crucial difference between the two texts. In Matthew 12:30, the Lord Jesus uses the words "with me." In Mark 9:40, he uses the words "for us." These are not the same. To be "for" China does not mean you are actively doing something on China's behalf; it means you have a sympathy, a non-antagonistic disposition — you are not doing anything against China. In the same way, "he that is not against us is for us" means simply: this man casting out demons in Jesus' name has at least a sympathy for Jesus; he is not hostile. He is not a Pharisee. But he is also not following Jesus. The disciples wanted to forbid him; the Lord says, do not forbid him — he has some sympathy and good will toward what we are doing, and that is something. The Lord is teaching his disciples patience and tolerance toward those who are not fully following with them.
But Matthew 12:30 is an altogether different matter. "With me" is not sympathy — it is union, commitment, the yoke we spoke of weeks ago. To be with Christ in this sense is to be one with him in heart and mind and soul and strength. It is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:17: "He that is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him." It is what the Lord Jesus prayed in John 17:23: "That they may be one, even as we are one." Being "with" Christ means you go where he goes, your whole desire is to please him, to love him, to glorify him.
The tragedy this exposes is vast. You can be "for" Christ and still be a tare. The Crusaders went to Palestine fighting under the cross, taking their oaths upon the wooden cross, dying in the name of Christ. Were they for Christ? In some sense, certainly. Were they with Christ? The question is different. The people in Matthew 7:21 who cry, Lord, Lord, and did mighty works in Jesus' name — they were for Christ; they used his name. But Jesus says to them: "Depart from me, I never knew you." They were not with him. Philippians 1:15–18 reveals that there were those in Paul's own day who preached Christ out of envy and rivalry and selfish ambition — for Christ in a definite sense, their mouths full of his name. But not with him. A pastor who preaches Christ because it is his bread and butter is for Christ in one sense. The question is whether he is with him. And a denominational zealot who turns red defending my church and my tradition is certainly for the church — but that is not the same thing.
The most searching question the Lord Jesus asks is this: are you for me, or are you with me? Many Christians have never clearly faced this distinction. They made a profession of faith, they were baptised, and they assumed that being "for" Christ — going to church, singing hymns, giving to the offering box — was enough. But to cheer from the sidelines is not to be in the battle. As long as the church in China met in peace, many hundreds were present and enthusiastic. When the communists placed a sign-in register at the door of the church, and anyone who entered had to give their name to the authorities, the cheering team disappeared overnight. Only those who were truly with Christ remained.
# Not Only Gather for Christ but Also With Him — Matthew 12:30 (Part B) — The Weight of Decision; Total Commitment of the Will
[Note: This is Part B of the sermon on Matthew 12:30, continuing directly from Part A. Delivered 18 December 1977, Montreal.]
Even the refusal to make a decision is a decision. If you are a non-Christian and you decline to decide to follow Christ, you have already decided not to follow him. You cannot be neutral. This is so important to understand, because man's deepest instinct is to evade the weight of decision. When I turned sixteen, my father sat across from me at the birthday table and told me: from now on, you are a man. From today, all decisions concerning your life are yours. I will be your advisor, but I will give no more commands. I thought: this is a very heavy day. Before that, my father told me what to do, and though I sometimes grumbled, the weight of the decision was on him. Now it was on me. Every important decision in life produces this feeling — the weight of responsibility pressing down on the shoulders. But there is no decision more important than this one: are you with Christ, or against him? Compared to that decision, all other decisions — medical, financial, military — are of no comparable weight.
Many people make a compromise. Because the cost of being truly with Christ seems too high, they settle for a lesser decision: I will be for Christ. They become enthusiastic church attenders, cheerleaders on the sidelines. And this second choice soothes the conscience — it feels like progress in the right direction. But being "for" Christ will not do. The Lord's words are plain: "He that is not with me is against me." There is no intermediate category. By settling for being "for" him, you have in effect chosen against him, because you have stopped short of what he requires. And you will deceive yourself into thinking the question has been settled when it has not.
The difference is visible whenever pressure comes. Those who are "for" Christ will cheer the church on enthusiastically in comfortable times. When the communists put the sign-in register at the church door in China, and signing your name meant being known to the authorities, the cheerleaders vanished. The people who remained, who stood up to be counted, were those who were with Christ — because to be with him means your life is now involved, not just your sympathy. You cannot cheer safely from the sidelines when the battle comes into the streets.
What distinguishes true growth in the Christian life? In all my years of serving the Lord, I have seen only one kind of Christian who ever moves forward strongly — the determined Christian. Not the one who has good resolutions and vague desires and says, I would like to do this, I really should do that. Those get nowhere. It is the one who has made a total commitment of the will, who says, Lord, I am nothing, I am weak, but by your grace I am determined to follow you to the end. The Apostle Paul's whole vocabulary is marked by this quality. "I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." He doesn't say, I think it's a good idea. He is determined. No athlete wins a race on vague aspiration. He decides to press to the end, disciplines himself day and night, faces the cost. That decision is something every person can make — even those who feel themselves utterly weak. I cannot give myself power, but I can give myself determination, and I can ask God for grace to act on it.
Where do you stand? Are you for Christ, or are you with him? Are you in the battle or on the sidelines? This is not a question about feelings or experiences — it is a question about the will. Will you say, Lord, I am nothing, but by your grace I commit myself totally to you? God can only work powerfully through those who are determined. The secret of the Christian life is not great ability — it is complete, irrevocable commitment of the will. If you have not made that commitment, make it now. Let us be quiet before God in prayer.