So, Sowing separation and unraveling unity. This
is clue number six. This is part six of the sermon
series that we've been working through, which
as yet no one has figured out the title or the
text. So clue six of seven. So next week will
be the last clue. And then Easter Sunday. You
ain't got it. You ain't got it. All right. Romans
16 verses 17 to 20. Thank you. Out of this. You
will get the lightning point, I hope you'll take
it with you, that the sower and the unraveler
have no place in the community. The sower and
the unraveler have no place in the community.
Have you heard the story of the boy who cried
wolf? I mean, have you really heard it? Did you
know that some, a couple of decades ago, the
story of the boy who cried wolf was adjusted
to be somewhat politically correct? In the story
of the boy who cried wolf, there is a boy who's
up in the hills watching the sheep. He's been
assigned there as a shepherd by the town. And
he's a little nervous at first. And he says to
himself, what happens if a wolf comes? What will
I do? And the town says, if you face a wolf,
you just cry and we'll come running. But a little
while after he's watching the sheep, he begins
to wonder. He's alone and lonely and bored. And
just maybe I should test the system. And so he
cries out, wolf, wolf. And they come a running.
The town all grab their sticks and stones and
come running up to the hills to fend off the
wolf. come out in force. The boy feels pretty
good about himself. And they say, oh, you go
back to watching. There's no wolf. He said, well,
I thought there was something. And they said,
no, there was nothing. And they go back to town,
and he goes back to watching. Sometime later,
whether it be by mischievousness or whatever,
he decides to cry out, wolf, wolf, again. And
they come running to protect him and the sheep
from the wolves. Their livelihood is at stake.
But they arrive, and there is no wolf. In the
third instance, he is by himself. And now he
well knows that he's crossed the line, that he
has done more than he probably should have already.
But he did get kind of a kick out of it, seeing
them all come running. And he's feeling a rush
of power and whatever. And so he cries, wolf,
wolf. And just as he cries, wolf, wolf, he notices
a wolf's head pop up out of the bushes. And he's
like, wolf, wolf, there really is a wolf, wolf,
wolf. And he's yelling at the top of his lungs,
wolf, wolf. And the people in the town do not
come. And the original version of that story,
the wolf rips him limb for limb and destroys
that boy. And it is a story about not crying
wolf, not lying, not. saying there's a problem
when there isn't and so on. You know, you could
use it a couple of different ways. But in the
PC version of the story, the wolf simply takes
a couple sheep, drives apart the flock, and chases
the boy back down the hill. Children don't have
a problem with justice. Innocence does not have
a problem with justice. If a child does wrong,
that child is expecting to be corrected. And
if it's a severe wrong, they're expecting an
extreme correction. They want to know. In fact,
if you will not correct them severely when they
have done an... a severe wrong as a parent, for
example, then you run a very severe risk of them
wondering whether or not you love them. There
are lots of people whose parents are actively
taking care of them on a regular basis, and they're
growing up. than adults. And in the back of their
minds, subconscious, they're wondering whether
or not their parents love them because their
parents do not discipline them when they do wrong.
God, who loves us, always disciplines us when
we do wrong, so say it's scripture. And if you
want to be a parent like God, you'd have to discipline.
Children do not have a problem with justice.
Adults who have a problem with justice, because
we want to get away with whatever it is. We don't
want to face the ramifications for whatever it
is. We want to think that we're crafty enough,
tricky enough, or whatever, to be right in front
of everyone. Presenting the face that we're presenting
while over here on the side we're doing the things
that we want to do. And as long as this is who
you think I am, I can get away with that over
there. Call it secret sins, if you will. That's
called hypocrisy. And Jesus faced it often in
his public ministry. In fact, he said, beware
of hypocrisy in a couple of specific instances.
Romans 16 is not about hypocrisy, but in some
sense it is about people who are right in the
midst. of the church doing something that just
cannot be. And they're getting away with it.
In fact, they look like every other believer.
They even look like somebody who is doing the
church a favor. And Paul writes very clearly
to the Romans these verses. Romans 16, 17 to
20. He says, Now I urge you, brethren, keep your
eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances
contrary to the teaching which you heard and
turn away from them. So first of all, he's saying
this is really important. Pay attention. Do what
I'm about to say. tell you, brothers and sisters
in Christ, and he says, eye on those who cause
dissensions and hindrances. Now, I want to be
very clear about something, and that is that
as a Christian, it is not your job to keep your
eye on other Christians. It is your job to keep
your eye on the shepherd. And so the very thing
that he is telling us to do here presents a possible
contradiction, where Paul is saying, I want you
to keep your eye on these other people who are
in the church, other people in the church who
are doing this certain set of things. I want
you to keep your eye on them and deal with them
this way. have nothing to do with that. But then
he goes on to qualify it very shortly and says
that it is dissensions and hindrances contrary
to the teaching which you learn and turn away
from them. So in other words, he's saying you're
going to keep your eye on those people who are
claiming to be Christians, claiming to be the
church, but bringing about dissension and hindrances
when the dissension and hindrances are contrary
to the scripture, contrary to the doctrine, contrary
to the thing you've been taught by God. See,
we know in Matthew 18, Jesus says, when a brother
sins against you, go and show him his fault between
you and him. And if that doesn't work, and they're
still in sin, or they don't repent, or they're
still going the wrong way, then you bring one
or two others into the conversation. So in order
for that to be the case, we can't simply sweep
under the rug everything that everyone does is
wrong. Paul says, I did not say that you should
judge the world. Of course I say that you should
judge the church. But again, our job is not to
have our eyes on other Christians. So before
we are through, We will need to know how to discern
when to pay attention to what somebody is doing.
when to pay attention to the actions of that
individual. And it's pretty clear in the text.
Starting back from the top, he says, Now I urge
you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause
dissensions and hindrances. So first of all,
the action is key. It's simple. It's straightforward
as long as you understand the definitions of
the words. So a dissension is a break between
brothers or sisters in Christ. So when there's
a person who's trying to cause a problem between
other Christians, trying to get one person to
step away from the intimacy of community, in
the church that we are called to. That sounds
like, hey, come over here. I want to talk to
you for a second. Or, did you see what Bob did?
Or, I got to tell you, man, I'm really hurting.
I'm really struggling right now. I'm going through
something I'm really struggling with and I'm
praying about it. And you say, well, what is
it? Let me pray with you. And you say, well,
so -and -so did this to me and I just can't get
over it. It looks like that. Because that person
is trying to create dissension between person
A and person B by consulting, supposedly by commiserating,
supposedly by working with that person to pray
over this thing. But we already have parameters
in Matthew 18 for if a person has sinned against
you, what do you do? You go and show them. Listen,
I'm still really hurting. I went and tried to
show that to them, what they had done wrong,
and they just don't seem to care. So I'm still
really going through something here. So I need
you to commit. with me so now i want you to form
an opinion with me about what that person did
to me because they really hurt me they really
caused a problem that's still sowing dissension
because there is a second step to matthew 18
where if you went to that person at first and
showed them their fault and they still wouldn't
listen then you go again with one or two others
those one or two others then judge between you
did that first person really do something that
should be cutting you to the quick or are you
being oversensitive that's what those one or
two other people they provide a measure of safety
community is the safety for community. And so
a person who sows dissension or unravels unity
between brothers or sisters in Christ is doing
something that we must be warned of. The other
part of it then is hindrances. Hindrances are
when somebody puts something in your path. The
same word is used as a stumbling block. In fact,
it says that Jesus became a stumbling block to
the Jews, and it's the same word. It's scandalized.
It's the same word. So somebody's putting something
in your path that makes it difficult for you
to follow the Lord, that makes it difficult for
you to be a godly person. Whatever that might
be, that's a problem. If you have a believer
in the church and they're making it harder for
somebody to follow, then that's a problem. But
it might not be sin per se. They might just have
a certain preference. They're very stuck on a
certain preference. And this person over here
disagrees with that. And this person over here
is now stumbling in their faith because they
disagree. So what does scripture say? If you
have a preference and it creates a stumbling
block for somebody else, you need to be ready
to give up your preference. So at the point that
you don't give up your preference and it becomes
a stumbling block for that other person, then
it is sin. The problem is... discerning when
that is. Who can figure out when somebody is,
it's a preference or they say it's from the Lord?
The carpeting's got to be black. I'm telling
you, it's got to be black. No, it'll show stains.
No, it's got to be black. I just can't get over
the fact that he insists that the carpeting's
got to be black. God has told me, I don't know
why, God has told me the carpeting's got to be
black. He says God told him the carpet. He's
going to be like, no, we all got to listen to
him now. Because now he said God said. So what
do we know? Maybe he's telling the truth. But
I just know that God is saying the carpet shouldn't
be black. So who is going to make the decision?
Is it going to be black or not black? No. But
who makes the decision when two people are saying
their preference is the correct one? Or even
they're saying, it's not my preference, but God
says. I want it, but God says. Definitely listen
to them, right? But then somebody over here says,
well, yeah, I don't want it either, but God says.
this and it's not the same thing as person who
is going to make that decision the bottom line
is whoever's throwing up hindrances contrary
to the teaching which you have learned he says
turn away from I'll come back to the idea of
turning away and what it exactly means in the
points, but right now we're moving on to verse
18. It says, For, or because, such men are slaves.
People who sow dissension and unravel unity,
great hindrances in the body, are slaves. They're
slaves. Not of our Lord Jesus Christ, but of
their own appetites. Jesus said, For whoever
sins is slave to sin. And they become slaves,
not of Jesus as we should be, but of their own
appetites, what they want, their own desires.
And it says, Their smooth and flattering speech,
they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.
So this is now a set of, it's telling us what
they do. how they do it. Also notice it tells
us to whom they do it, which is the unsuspecting.
19. The report of your obedience has reached
to all, so everyone has heard how you're following
the Lord faithfully. Therefore, I am rejoicing
over you, but I want you to be wise in what is
good and innocent in what is evil. I'll come
back on that in the points as well. It says then
in verse 20, this is the great promise of this
passage of scripture, the God of peace will soon
crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our
Lord Jesus be with you. Okay, so there are a
few things I want you to see in this text that
are huge. Remember, this is actually six of seven,
part of a sermon series. So if you think back
over past weeks and how it links together, all
of those sermons are podcasts on our podcast.
You can listen to the audio program. You can
actually get a transcript. If you wanted to,
you could copy and paste the transcript into
one document. How to figure out what this sermon
series is about. What are we talking about that
we're not talking about? That's what we're looking
for. And we will get there at the end. But if
you can figure it out before we get there, what
a cherished moment that will be. The first thing
I want you to see is that if you, or I, if somebody
becomes a faux mentor, that means that they're
a creator or a starter of division, or a person
who causes hindrances, then a few things are
going to happen according to this passage of
scripture. If you become a person who creates
division, barriers between believers or one who
causes hindrances in people's spiritual growth
then a few things are going to happen first of
all the devout faithful christians will see you
they will know you for what you are doing. They
are not unexpecting. The scripture says that
there are those who expect these things to happen
and there are those who do not expect them to
happen. And these people will get their way in
the lives of people who are not expecting someone
to create division or someone to create hindrances.
And so if only those people are going to be buffaloed?
Then it stands to reason that those who are about
faithful Christians would see you for what you
are trying to do if you are trying to create
division or hindrances. Notice that they will
be identified then by their smooth and flattering
speech. They know how to speak the Christian
words. They know how to encourage people in just
such a human way to make them feel better about
it, to stroke their pride a little bit, comfort
them in what it is that they do. And it's pretty
clear that that flattering speech is to deceive
the hearts of the unsuspecting. Has anyone ever
told you anything good about yourself in order
to get you to feel a certain way? Did they ever
try to get you to do something after that fact
that you shouldn't have? Has that ever happened?
It has, hasn't it? It's happened to me too, many
times in my life. And this is the truth. We want
to feel good about ourselves. We want to feel
like we're on the right road. Preaching doesn't
always do that. The Word of God doesn't always
do that. When you're failing at the Word of God
and not doing what it is that God would have
you to do, and you encounter that in the Word
of God, you've got to wake up. and realize that
God is calling you out of what you're doing into
what you're supposed to be doing. So if someone
comes to you with smooth and flattering speech,
you might want to ask yourself, are they doing
that to get control of my unsuspecting heart?
Also, this is someone who makes it difficult
to follow Jesus. If you hang around with somebody
or somebody in the church, it doesn't matter
if they have a title, if they've been your friend
for a really long time, and they make it hard
for you to follow Jesus, you're going to start
to see them for what they are. And the believer,
the faithful, devout Christian will say, I can't
go that way. I can't sit around with you and
talk about her. I can't sit around with you and
accept. complaints about the way things are going.
I can't do that. I'm not asleep here. I'm following
Jesus. Jesus is clearly not leading me into this
scandalous conversation. Jesus is clearly not
leading me to walk away from this and sneak behind
my parents' back or behind my boss's back or
to take something that doesn't belong to me or
to claim that I'm sick when I'm not so people
will leave me alone. Or to act angry or frustrated
when everyone around me has to be gentle and
kind and merciful because I say something. because
I am making them be nice to me. And if they're
not handling me with kid gloves, then I'm going
to blow up. There's a million ways to do it,
but the bottom line is if someone is making it
difficult for a devout, faithful Christian to
follow Jesus, then that devout, faithful Christian
is going to identify them and know what to do.
What will they do? Well, the answer is followers
of Christ, a fomentor of division, someone who
causes hindrances, followers of Christ will turn
away from you. Where you are supposed to find
the height of community, where people are going
to be honest, failings, they are not only authorized,
but commanded by scripture to pull back the hindrances
to their growth. Find your pulling back from
you have to ask Have I become a person or a person
who creates hindrances? When I'm supposed to
be, and by the way, if you can foment division
and talk like that and act like that, you probably
could do just the opposite and create unity.
If you can create hindrances to people's spiritual
growth, you can probably identify those same
hindrances and remove them so that people can
spiritually grow. But this is a person who is
choosing to foment division or create hindrances.
They're doing it out of their own appetites,
it says. If you become a fomenter of division
or one who causes hindrances, If you make it
difficult for people to follow Jesus, they will
remain unified with the community. They will
hang out with, they will talk with, they will
work with, they will serve with, they will love
with and love on and love others through people
who are not creating dissension and hindrances.
They will turn away from you. The truth is that
fomentors promise community, but that kind of
community turns up empty. Has anybody ever said
to you, you know, I need your help. Please, let
me talk to you about this. I need your encouragement
or whatever. And then you get talking with them
and you find out. they have a problem. But the
problem is they want you to themselves. We're
going to step away from the group. They're calling
the herd. They're going to pull somebody away.
in the group. If somebody has to pull you away
from the group, I had young people, young people,
I didn't ask to use this illustration so I won't
tell who the person was, but yesterday at the
Grand Prix, there was somebody on their phone,
and there was a text that wasn't necessarily
appropriate. And I said, and they were showing
it to a friend, but they were being careful that
nobody else, I said, if it's probably like that,
it's probably nothing. You delete it and repent,
okay? You want nothing to do with that. Somebody
was trying to pull you away from where you're
supposed to be. And if you're doing that, you
have to turn away from it. They're promising
a certain kind of community. Every boy who chased
after them was looking for a kind of community,
a fulfilling of an appetite, of an unseemly kind
of love. Mentors promise community, but that
community ends up empty, and in the worst, it
goes straight to hell. Ultimately, that's where
it winds up at. When mentors have chosen the
wrong side, and they want to entice other believers
to choose that side with them, who does that
sound like? Or would -be believers to do this,
and who causes hindrances, they want you to come
and... What they're doing. Because the pastor,
well, he doesn't understand us. Or mom or dad,
they don't know. They're bad. They don't have
the right rules. Or your dad is a jerk. You don't
have to listen to what he says. And so on. So
there's an entire group of believers or would
-be believers to do the same thing that they
are, to move into it. Cheap of the shepherd,
hear the shepherd's voice and ignore all other
voices. Even when it's somebody in the church.
Even if it would be me. Voice does not align
with God. You have a responsibility as a Christian
to recognize it for what it is and to pull back
and do not allow it to manipulate you. Now, I'm
not saying to abuse or mistreat. I'm not authorizing
if you say, well, I'm a faithful Christian, but
I see this person over here struggling to suddenly
go, oh, I'm not going to have nothing to do with
them, right? I'm not authorizing abuse or mistreatment.
Just the faithful will to do what is right. not
giving into the enticement to that false community.
A dozen times, naming no names, a dozen times
I've sat in my own living room and said, okay,
we're going to change the topic of conversation
now. Nothing meant, I'm not mad, but what we're
talking about has verged onto gossip, and I've
said, we're not going to do that now. And you
have to be ready, right? What did the verses
that we read two weeks ago say, right? Do not
give in to enticement. Do not allow enticement
to be in your presence. Don't willfully allow
it to continue to persist. You're enticing me
to do what's wrong. I'm not going to do it, and
I'm not going to listen to it. You're going to
need to stop now. Stop urging me to do what's
wrong. You can say to them like Jesus said to
Peter, get these. in me satan now you know who
the tactic is the enticement right and so i'm
not saying abuse them or mistreat them jesus
didn't stop loving him because he said get them
behind me satan what he was telling was i'm not
going to be enticed and i'm not going to allow
you to sit there to entice me to not die on the
cross it's not going to happen followers of christ
will turn away which is to say they will continue
to follow jesus and they will recognize that
that dissension that tactic of dissension or
that hindrance as something that is contrary
to god's word god's effort holy spirit work in
me and they'll say no i want nothing to do with
it the next thing to see in the scripture here
as paul says is to be wise in good and innocent
and evil to be wise and good and innocent and
evil remember that avoiding the evil is about
not being enticed to the evil. It's not just
somebody comes and says, somebody says to me,
for example, hey, did you see what Bob or Sally
did? And we're going to talk about them for a
minute. And it's that kind of conspiratorial
tone. We're going to talk about them. And you're
like. That's gossip. No, I don't want to have
that conversation. It should also be, just understand,
if you go somewhere else and have that conversation,
it's still gossip, right? You're asking me to
get into gossip with you, and I'm not going to
do that. I'm just using gossip as an illustration.
You could have a family member who lies to you,
and you're like, man, that's rough. I don't like
it. He or she lies to me on a frequent basis,
right? I'm not going to let them lie to me. I'm
not going to let them pull the wool over my eyes.
I'm not going to respond to their lies anymore.
I'm going to be stern. I'm going to be solid.
I'm going to follow the Lord no matter what.
No matter what their lies are, I'm going to follow
the Lord. But if you let them just keep on going
on lying over and over and over again, just keep
stretching the lie, you're leaving the enticement
in your presence. It's still there, right? And
there's no fixing it. So when someone's stuck
in sin, they're a slave to sin. Do you believe
in slavery? Would you personally own a slave?
I hope not. I don't believe in slavery. We're
supposed to be free in Christ. And so when you
encounter a slave, you have a responsibility.
And if they're coming into your life bringing
an enticement, then that's what they are. They're
a slave. And you need to free that slave. That's
at all possible. And so you don't just get to
go, okay, I'm just not going to listen. I'm not
going to believe his or her lies. You have a
responsibility to confront gently, lovingly,
by biblical standards, that lie every time it
comes up. Like, I'm sorry, but I don't really
believe what you're saying right now. I'm not
calling you a liar, but there's no factual evidence.
There's no proof here. There's no reason for
me to believe what you're saying. And they're
going to be upset. Yes, they're going to be upset.
But if someday they stop lying, someday they
turn that part of them that needs whatever it
is that they're... getting from lying over to
Christ, they're going to experience true freedom.
And until you keep calling it out, calling out
the unfaithful, it's in a loving way, calling
out the unfaithfulness, it's just going to continue.
Remember that avoiding the evil is about, first
of all, not being enticed, not just not participating,
but not being enticed. There is no tolerance
building. Have you ever heard the word, and I
might mispronounce this actually, mithridatism?
Artem probably has. You know it? No? It's a weird
word. It's based on a guy named... Mithras something.
He was a Roman guy. And he taught his body to
process poisons. So he took some poisons that
you could do this with, and he consumed little
bits of them over a long period of time. And
ultimately, he became immune. His liver began
to produce the right enzymes. Doctors think he
became immune to the poison. And then somebody
tried to kill him with one of the poisons that
he was immune to, and he didn't die. And so now
everybody thought he was immortal, right? He
gained a great power out of not being able to
be poisoned by certain poisons. Becoming aware
of evil, it's no good for you. It's not good
for me. The best thing we can do, Paul says,
is be innocent of evil. You don't want to know.
You don't need to go further and find out. You
don't need to ask, did somebody do something
wrong? You ask, did somebody do something wrong?
You're literally promoting the gossip. You're
asking for slander. Why are you upset? Careful.
Why are you upset? Oh, because so -and -so did.
You're literally asking for, is there something
I can do for you? Is there some way I can pray
for you? Those are good questions to ask when
somebody's upset. But if you say, well, why are
you upset? you upset and somebody did something,
the first thing they're going to do is tell you
what that person did. And maybe all they're going
to do then is adjust to what happened and they'll
get over it. They'll be fine. They'll submit
it to Christ. They'll move on. Everything will
be fine. But in the meantime, you've led them
to gossip, led them to slander. So be careful
about seeking out the evil as if you are some
kind of paladin or defender, great defender of
the faith. You're going to find out all the evil
that's in the world and squash it yourself. It's
not your job. Your job is not to crush evil.
Your job is to be good. And we overcome evil
with good. Remember that avoiding evil is about
not being enticed, not just not participating.
Next, he says, be wise and good and innocent
in evil. And he's telling us to delve into God's
word, to become keepers and doers of God's word.
We have the ultimate. The Holy Spirit deciphering
this word so that we can understand it and it
can work in our daily lives. He can tell you
how to dress yourself. He can tell you how to
feed yourself. He can tell you what jobs to take
and what jobs not to take and when to switch
jobs and when not to switch jobs. And we have
to seek out his will for our lives. We pray,
Lord, your will be done, not my will. Your kingdom
come here on the earth and your will be done
here on the earth as it is in heaven. That's
our daily desire. And the only way to get there
is to daily desire, delve into. work at it effort
in but the truth is we're we're kind of distracted
you know there's a lot of good things in this
life and we don't want to miss out on the opportunity
to consume with some of those other good things
and so the word doesn't become the greatest priority
and we become not so innocent of evil and not
so wise unto good and then along comes somebody
who's throws dissension or throws up a hindrance
and because we're not so innocent of evil we
know about evil then they say well did you know
we're like oh yeah i know that yeah i hear what
you're saying yeah i bet he did do that yeah
or we're not so wise unto good and they say hey
step over here let me talk to you for a second
and instead of us going that's not really something
i want to do It's got to be a godly conversation.
Instead of us doing that, we bow our head down,
perk our ear, because we are not innocent of
evil. We're not wise unto good, because we're
not delving into the word, because we're not
keepers of the word and doers of the word. Be
wise and good and innocent of evil. Be willing
to not know more about the evils that go on.
In fact, it said this way. It said, it's shameful
even to speak of the things that go on behind
closed doors. You know what the main problem
with TV, social media, and everything is? Is
that everybody is seeing what nobody should be
seeing. Everybody has easy access. Anybody in
this room that has social media or a browser
like Google can right now type the right words
into Google on their phone and see a girl half
naked. It will not take you two minutes. But
should you ever, you can read streaming foul
language posted by a variety of... of popular
stars, your favorite comedian, your favorite
actor from a movie, you can get all of that on
your phone in less than 90 seconds. But should
anyone ever? When the FCC was at its strongest,
Leave it to Beaver was fined $50, and that was
a lot of money back then, for showing a toilet
on TV. It was not a dirty toilet. It was not
a toilet being used. It was not a toilet that
had been used. In fact, they purposely said when
they put it in the scene, they said, we installed
a brand new toilet that no one has ever sat on,
and then they showed it on TV, and they were
fined $50. Right now, Google it, you'll find
1 ,000 people sitting on the toilet, as you can
see. guaranteed 60 seconds it only takes 60 seconds
people are involved in affected by a lack of
innocence because the world wants you to have
a lack of innocence because the enemy has a tactic
to create dissension. Don't kid yourself. The
greatest enemy, the enemy that will destroy the
church is Satan and a lack of innocence. He is
going to use that tactic to pull at the hearts
of the next generation and the next and the next.
People are not walking away from the Lord because
they're stupid. They're walking in the... the
Lord because they have selected a certain version
of wisdom, and it is not the wisdom unto goodness.
It is the wisdom unto a knowledge of evil. It
goes back to the very beginning, a knowledge
of good and evil, right? Before they ate, they
had only a knowledge of good. I wouldn't call
them wise. They were still under construction.
You know what I'm saying? But they were wise
unto good, innocent of evil. And then they had
the knowledge of good and evil. Why did they
need the knowledge of evil? They didn't need
it, and you don't need it. You say, but I could
be walking down the street someday, and some
criminal would come. do something to me because
I'm not being wary or watchful or careful because
I don't understand that there are mass murderers
out there that take 35 people a year and take
them off and kill them in a closet, right? You
don't need to understand that. By the way, if
a mass murderer comes against you on the street
in broad daylight, odds are you're going down
because they're probably going to come from behind
a bush or a wall or off a roof or whatever. And
what are you going to do about it? How much time
are you going to spend? How much of your brain
power, your soul power are you going to spend
knowing the tactics of evil so you can possibly
defend FYI? If you know the tactics of evil so
that you can possibly defend, you have lost your
defense. Because your defense is not knowing
the tactics of evil and being able to defend.
Your defense is, wait for it, being wise unto
good. That's your defense. Being willing to know
more about the evils that go on, it's shameful
even to speak of the things that go on behind
the scenes. Let it go. It's enough. Let God start
blanking that stuff out of your head and get
focused on the things that you should be focused
on. The next thing in here, and this is the great
blessing, is that the God of peace will crush
the enemies of his people. Do you understand?
We're kind of in that season where we're moving
toward the crucifixion. And the crucifixion and
resurrection, they are mighty works of God, are
they not? That God the Father sent God the Son.
That God the Son lived a sinless life. That God
the Son was crucified on a cross, which is a
sinner's death, to pay for sins for all mankind.
That is a mighty work that no one else could
do. No one else. Then he comes back to life on
the third day. That is a mighty work. that no
one else could do. God alone can put life where
there was death. That is amazing. But you know
what we sometimes forget? That the crucifixion
and the resurrection not only proves God's superiority
and power, but notice he did it right in front
of Satan. He even overcame Satan so that Satan
and his agents were complicit. in making the
sacrifice to pay for all sins, that very being
that Christians have been just foolish enough
to be afraid of because he knows the word better
than we do, if you don't count the Holy Spirit,
because he's done many acts and had millennia
to scheme against us and we've only been alive
for decades, that very being that we fear when
we're not smart enough not to, God used him.
God tricked the deceiver. God made the situation.
Do you think Satan knew what he was doing when
he crucified Jesus? Not that he physically crucified
him, but his agents worked in that? Because they
did. He tempted Jesus three times after he came
out of the wilderness. He offered him the whole
world to get him to stop. And Jesus said no.
And Satan had to say, this guy is not like anybody
else. Now, did he know he was the son of God?
We don't really know that for sure. But we know
he didn't. He's got to say he's not like anybody
else. And then his solution is what? Now. Lies,
accusations, mock trial, crucifying. Let's just
get rid of this guy. Never a thought in his head
that he could just come back from the death.
Have you ever seen The Lion, the Witch, and the
Wardrobe by C .S. Lewis? And it's great movie
series, really. All the books are great. I've
not seen all the movies, but they did make BBC,
British Broadcasting, whatever that C stands
for, made all the books into movies. And in one
portion of that... One of the guys is a betrayer.
He's a liar, Edmund. And he's in the captivity
of the queen. And they go and they rescue him.
And now he's back with his friends, with Aslan.
And the queen comes and says, you can't have
him. He's a betrayer. He belongs to me. I'm going
to kill him. Worthy of death. The wages of sin
is death. She doesn't use those exact words,
but that's it. He should die. And Aslan says,
she's right. Turn him over. So they turn Edmund
over to the witch to be killed when she's ready.
Then Aslan goes into private conference with
the witch and he says, take me instead. So now
Aslan is taken by the witch. And they go up in
a midnight ceremony in a kind of scary scene.
And she sacrifices Aslan in the C .S. Lewis stories
for the son of God. After all is said and done,
they go, he comes back to life. And he says,
if the witch had only known the true meaning
of what is written in the deep end. that if one
who is innocent should give his life for one
who is a liar, then time and death and all would
be turned backwards and life comes out of death.
You see, Satan knows the word better than any
living human being without the help of the Holy
Spirit. And even so, he was tricked by God. He
was pantsed in public in front of all mankind.
He was pantsed in public. public by God and God's
still doing it today. Satan's still running around
with his pants down every time he jumps up in
a believer's life because God's got him right
where he wants him. To crush an enemy is more
than to defeat an enemy. It does not say to defeat
an enemy. There's a word for that. It doesn't
say that. It says the God of peace will crush
Satan beneath their feet, whose feet the church's
feet our feet the church's feet a worthy opponent
might be spared like you're in combat and you
win the fight and they surrender throw up their
drop their arms throw up their arm you might
spare them right in the olden day they'd be taken
into slavery in your country or whatever and
sold for money or to somebody not because they
were Bad, but they lost in combat, so their life
is forfeit. A worthy opponent might be spared.
But what happens when they are beyond redemption?
When you're fighting somebody that is not worth
saving? That's a really scary thought, isn't
it? What happens when your enemy cannot be saved?
Who would you trust with the decision to decide
when somebody can be saved and when they can't?
Only God. Only God. I don't want that decision.
That is a scary thought alone, and we're not
supposed to. That's what it says in Judge Not
Lest You Be Judged. God alone should have such
authority, but this is what he says of those
who stay the course. Do not side with the fomenter
of dissension and the ones causing hindrances.
And if you do not side with the fomenter of dissension
and the one causing hindrances, God will crush
Satan beneath your feet. That brings us to our
conclusion. There are provisions for dealing
with disagreement. There had better be, because
as long as there are humans, there will be disagreement.
There are provisions for dealing with disagreement.
There are methods of demonstrating love, even
though we are each unique and different. In this
room, as many people as are in this room are
that many different types of personalities. Don't
let sociologists or psychologists or philosophers
tell you that you can lump people into small
groups and that there are five or six groups
that covers everybody, because it's just not
true. There are as many types of personalities,
psychologies, etc., as there are people. people
in this room, and yet we're able to work together,
and yet we're able to serve and love one another.
People who would never have known each other
and in general would not tolerate each other,
say, very well in the workforce if it were not
for Christ or in the community, right? But here
we are, called by Christ to be the church, and
there is a way of demonstrating love even though
we are each unique and different, even though
we offend or have failings in our efforts at
biblical community. There's Matthew 18 accountability,
which I already talked about. There's reconciliation.
Two believers come together and work it out,
come to peace, commit the whole thing to Christ,
repent, and move on. There is a biblical definition
of love, which we have studied ad nauseum. We
have been over it for months, what it means to
love, what it means to be loved, what's not included
in love. And yet, even though all of that...
Do some find occasion to argue persuasively that
someone else in the church is an error? Hear
me. This is not the way. Understand? Arguing
persuasively that someone else did something
wrong is not the way. It's not included. Just
in the steps of Matthew 18, show me in Matthew
18, one goes, one takes one to two, they call
him before, show me in there where is the person
who was sinned against going to rally a crowd,
to talk to somebody, to get advice first. Your
advice is done. it's done if somebody sins against
you go them and show them their sin between you
and them black and white you don't get advice
you don't talk to somebody you don't ask for
comfort you don't ask for somebody to hold your
hand just do what you are told to do conveying
persuasively that someone else in the church
is in error is not the way. There are provisions
for bringing people who are slaves to sin, he
who sins is a slave to sin, into biblical community.
These involve a great amount application of the
gospel truth and Jesus' grace, as well as repentance
and trust by the individual previously not at
peace with God. And yet, some so -called Christians
are satisfied with their own self -righteous
indignation, looking down their noses at a lost
and dying world, doing ignorant and desperate
things. My dad used to say, even though he was
a backslidden Christian the whole time I was
growing up, he didn't get saved until I was 30.
I was about 30, 32, something like that. My dad
used to say, poor people do. What poor people
do. Poor people act like poor people. So you
see, we'd be driving down the road and somebody's
driving down the road with their bumper duct
taped on their car. And you say, yeah, poor people
do what they got to do. Poor people act like
poor people. And they shouldn't be judged for
it. It's just what they do. Listen to me. Lost
people act like lost people. People who do not
know Jesus act like they don't know Jesus. They
may even say that they do know Jesus. But if
they act like they don't know Jesus, then you
assume they don't know Jesus and share the gospel.
You tell them the truth about Jesus and the availability,
again, of grace from Jesus. To sit there and
look at the way the world is going and condemn.
the world. That's not us. Jesus loved the world.
He did not come to condemn the world, John 3,
but rather they are condemned already by what
they do with the Son of God. And if we go around
condemning them, if we say bad things about them
or whatever, are they going to be somehow more
condemned? If you're mad at them because they
did something you stole from you, hurt you, persecuted
you, whatever, are they going to somehow be more?
Do you think a person is going to more go to
hell because they persecuted you? Because they
did something you don't like? No, you can only
go to hell once for eternity. That's it. That's
all it is. There's no worse punishment. So if
you go around condemning them, how bad they are
and the bad things they do, that's not going
to make it any worse. Indeed, we should do just
the opposite. You should go around and every
time someone sins against you, wait for it, you
should forgive them. Pronounce them verbally.
I forgive you. In the name of Jesus Christ, I
forgive you for what you've done to me. The hurt
that you've caused me, I forgive you. I declare
you forgiven by the Lord. Now, if their heart
doesn't change, they're not going to be saved.
You can't make a person be saved. But if their
heart changes at some point in time, then that
sin could be eternally forgiven. We are a pronouncer
of forgiveness. That's what the church is. We
are the body of Christ. Christ came not to condemn,
nor do we. So stop looking at the world and going,
oh my gosh, I can't believe what they're doing
and condemning them. and start delivering the
gospel so that instead of acting out of their
desperation and ignorance, they can act out of
a relationship with Jesus. I could go on, but
what I'm getting at is this. If you aren't armed
to detect someone who foments division in the
community or brings about hindrances, then you
risk becoming one yourself. Either because they
are inviting you to go and talk, or they are
inviting you to go and do, inviting you into
another kind of community, or... Because you're
just not armed and somebody hurts you. And so
then you, out of your own appetites, do what
makes logical sense, what makes reasonable sense.
You get mad. You say things. You do things. And
those things then become traps. And you are enslaved
by your sin. And beware. If you do, real Christians
will cling to community. They will recognize
your efforts as fruitless. You will go that road
alone. Be fair warned. You don't want to do it.
You're not creative. You're created to be in
relationship with God, relationship with other
believers, and to be the church. You will lose
the great promise of this passage, which is that
the God of peace will soon place Satan under
the feet of those who watch out and proceed by
God's way. Do you want to be plagued by Satan
and his schemes and his efforts and evil spirits
and your own flesh for your whole life? Do you
honestly want to keep going through the trials
and temptations and enticements? Do you want
to keep doing that for your whole life? Some
of you are young. Being Satan, like, do you want
to follow Jesus your whole life? You could live
for another 100 years. Haley, you could live
for 100 years. It's possible. And you said you're
going to follow Jesus. Are you sure you want
to do that? You really want to follow Jesus for
100 years? That's a long time. Big investment
for such a young person to know and be so sure.
But the same is true on the other side of the
fence. Do you want to be trapped, struggling
with evil spirits and flesh and Satan's stupid
schemes? trying to win you over, create dissension,
pull you away from the church, mess with your
community and your unity, and put hindrances
in your path of spirit? Do you want to mess with
that for your whole life? Or do you want to get
in line, follow God, stay in community, and let
God do the work under your feet? Well, B sounds
like the right plan to me. A few illustrations
and then I'll be closed. First one is this. A
woman called me on the phone. She's a member
of the church. She called me about another woman
in the church who she had heard had gossiped
about her. An alarm went off. I was like, wait
a minute. Let me make sure I get this straight.
You're calling me. That's what I said. You're
calling me to gossip about her because she gossiped
about you. No, I'm telling you. I'm like tattling.
I'm a tattletale. Okay, fine. But I'm not a gossip.
So what am I going to do about it? It's not my
job. Matthew 18 says you are supposed to be going
to talk to her. She had to talk to the woman
first because, quote, she didn't want to cause
trouble. Oh, that's very sober. That's very nice.
I'm so glad she didn't want to cause trouble.
I submit to you what we really know what happened.
She called me to cause trouble, but not trouble
for her. Trouble for that other person. So we're
going to have a new community. So we're going
to have a church now with Pastor Dan and Church
Member A. But Church Member B, we've got to get
rid of that one. Clearly bad. See? A woman called
me. No, I'm sorry. This was done in person. Insisted
that she would never return to worship at our
church as long as another woman, both are married
women, mature adults, as long as another woman
who had offended her was attending our church.
Years later, the woman that she complained about
had left the church. And the first woman still
never came back. In the meantime, I talked to
the first woman. The woman was complaining about
the other one about three times. She said, well,
if she leaves, I'll be back. If she leaves, I'll
be back. If she leaves, I'll be back. What was
she doing? She was sowing dissension. She was
unraveling units. She was trying to get me or
the church or whoever to respond to that person.
But what happened to them happened on a job across
town. It wasn't here. It wasn't in the church
building. It wasn't at an event. It wasn't all
family fellowship, whatever. It wasn't even over
between them on a job across town. If that has
nothing to do with me, there's nothing more under
the sun that has nothing to do with that. And
yet, I get the report that she won't be back
unless that other person is gone. That's a person
sowing dissension. A man in his anger says mean
things about the foolish ways that the world
acts and seems to find some peace in it. Like
every time he complains, gets upset about the
dumb things that people are doing, he seems to
have some peace. But at the same time, that same
man would openly admit that he's not sharing
the gospel with lost people. Hear me now when
I say, the last time an idiot cut you off on
purpose in traffic or flipped you off out his
window or posted a half -nude picture, Because
if we were sharing the gospel, people would be
getting saved and they would know, they would
at least have a choice. We are culpable if we
don't share the gospel. And every time you snort,
and that's what the word disgusted in the Greek
means, to snort out your nose like this. Every
time you do that, you're disgusted at what the
world is doing. You need to realize they're doing
it because nobody told them how to be saved or
because God didn't call them to be saved. In
other ways, is it their fault then? If nobody
told them how to be saved or God didn't yet call
them to be saved, then they're just doing what
lost people do and lost people do what lost people
do and you need to get on doing what saved people
do. Church member, me to understand claiming
they have no problem with me i haven't done anything
wrong but they just can't get over how so and
so another church member did something wrong
the church member is professing to be deeply
hurt and states that they are unable to do anything
about their hurt there's nothing they can do
to get over it asked about the offense the offense
seems relatively minor though in a certain manner
if you look at it just a certain way Now you
see it, don't you? It's pretty obvious, isn't
it? Good people responding to the world's way
of doing things, responding to appetites in themselves
to feel better about themselves or better about
the situation, bringing dissension, bringing
hindrances. A church member says that they would
just rather walk away than be involved in any
more drama or stress through relationship. According
to their account, they did not do anything to
cause the dissension and they don't want to be
involved in it at all. But at the same time,
they are prepared to walk away from the unity
with the church. They have responded to someone
who was sowing dissension, and now what? Become
themselves someone who was sowing dissension.
That's how it works. I propose an alternative
solution, and I think it's Paul's solution. Do
not be enticed into dissension, nor fall into
creating dissension. Do not remain in the presence
of those who are causing hindrances, but also
never give up community for the sake of the offense.
or to achieve a simulation of peace. Simulation
of peace? Peace is not not fighting. That's what
the world thinks peace is. Peace is not not fighting.
Peace is no turbulence in here, no matter what
you face. That's peace. Making a peace treaty
between two countries that hate each other is
not worth the paper it's written on, because
they'll fight again. Stay in. Go to battle for
community and await the promised victory. God
promised victory. Stand together. as the church
and love one another in a God -given, God -led,
and God -recognizing way. And the next time someone
comes to you as a fomentor of some kind of lack
of community, unraveling unity, sowing dissension,
you say, I'll have nothing to do with that. I
don't want to know what so -and -so did wrong.
The wrong is that I would know. Have you followed
Matthew 18 accountability? When the one or two
go with, they don't even have to know why they're
going. I need to do Matthew 18 accountability
with Brother Tim, and I have to do about it myself.
So Arden and Ron, can you meet with me and Brother
Tim on Saturday? What are we talking about? We
don't need to know what we're talking about.
It's a Matthew 18 accountability conversation.
Can you go or not? Well, I can go. Well, I can't
go. Okay, well, Tommy, can you go? That's my
dad. I don't want to go. Natalie, can you go?
Yeah, I guess. It's really outside my wheelhouse,
but I'll do whatever you need me to do. Then
we go and we talk it out. Brother Tim says he
doesn't think it's sin. I say, I think it is
sin. And Arden and Natalie have to decide between
the two of us. And they will say, you know what,
I'm sorry, this is sin. It needs to stop. Brother
Tim, you've got to stop. Brother Tim says, okay,
well, I didn't realize. I see that now, looking
at Scripture, hearing from other believers. I'm
repentant of this sin. I will not do it again.
And it stops. That, my friends, is love. Arden,
I've got to talk to Brother Tim on Saturday.
I'm really hurting over this, man. I already
tried talking to him. He's doing this, and is
there anything you think I could do to get through?
Let me tell you what he did. You give me some
advice. That is sowing dissension. It's not godly,
and it does not have God's power, and it makes
us a church without the promise of God to crush
Satan under our feet. And I want it. I want that.
promise. I want to be free in Christ the way
Christ said I can be. Don't you want it? Arm
yourself to know the tactics of someone who is
sowing dissension or causing hindrances and say,
not me, not me. I'll not have any part of it.
Prepare yourself to need to do Matthew 18 accountability
with somebody who has done something wrong, a
sin that you've become aware of, and go to them,
just you, and say, hey, this is what I feel.
This is what I think. What do you got to say
about that? They'll probably say, holy cow, I
did not realize. I'm so sorry. I do want to follow
Jesus. And then the two of you can be in the
church.