WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.600 Let me ask you a question. If I was going to 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:04.179 take a straw poll of everybody in the room this 00:00:04.179 --> 00:00:06.080 morning and I asked you to raise your hand if 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:10.080 you've been part of a church split, what percentage 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:12.580 of hands do you think would go up? You don't 00:00:12.580 --> 00:00:16.000 have to say that a lot. So clarifying, if you 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:18.719 were a part of a church, maybe as a child or 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:21.739 as an adult, and that church split for some reason, 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:24.359 or maybe your immediate family is connected to 00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:27.339 a church that has split, what would the percentage 00:00:27.339 --> 00:00:30.469 be? I'm guessing more than half of the folks 00:00:30.469 --> 00:00:33.350 in this room would raise their hands. And that's 00:00:33.350 --> 00:00:36.049 heartbreaking, isn't it? Because we've sung it, 00:00:36.090 --> 00:00:37.950 we've said it, we've read it this morning, the 00:00:37.950 --> 00:00:40.630 church is to be won. It's heartbreaking that 00:00:40.630 --> 00:00:42.710 that happens. In my lifetime as a believer, I've 00:00:42.710 --> 00:00:45.969 heard more stories than I can count of men and 00:00:45.969 --> 00:00:49.310 women within seemingly good churches who end 00:00:49.310 --> 00:00:51.530 up breaking fellowship with other members of 00:00:51.530 --> 00:00:55.240 those same seemingly good churches. They break 00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:57.460 fellowship, it's nasty, it's ugly, and then they 00:00:57.460 --> 00:00:59.920 run off to start a new movement, or they find 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:02.740 another seemingly good church, and oftentimes 00:01:02.740 --> 00:01:06.079 they repeat that same pattern. And perhaps the 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:08.079 saddest part of these stories is the cause of 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:11.560 those splits. In many cases, it's not doctrinal, 00:01:11.579 --> 00:01:13.700 it's not an essential of the Christian faith. 00:01:13.879 --> 00:01:16.500 Most of the time, splits happen over opinions, 00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:21.340 over preferences, and over personalities. Which 00:01:21.340 --> 00:01:23.939 raises the question, why are we so known as a 00:01:23.939 --> 00:01:27.939 people who can't seem to maintain the unity of 00:01:27.939 --> 00:01:33.000 the church? That reputation is out there. And 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:36.079 again, it's heartbreaking. We all know and affirm 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:39.060 that Christ is one. We all know and affirm that 00:01:39.060 --> 00:01:41.359 his body is to be one. We all affirm what we've 00:01:41.359 --> 00:01:43.579 already heard in our New Testament reading from 00:01:43.579 --> 00:01:46.280 earlier. One spirit, one Lord, one faith, one 00:01:46.280 --> 00:01:49.879 God and Father over all. And yet... Knowing that, 00:01:49.980 --> 00:01:53.959 time after time, unity escapes us. Well, the 00:01:53.959 --> 00:01:55.900 biblical author James has something to say about 00:01:55.900 --> 00:01:59.340 this, doesn't he? What is the source of quarrels 00:01:59.340 --> 00:02:04.340 and fights among you? He asks, don't they come 00:02:04.340 --> 00:02:06.760 from your passions that wage war within you? 00:02:08.139 --> 00:02:10.180 Did you know that redeemed Christians struggle 00:02:10.180 --> 00:02:14.479 with their passions? Did you know that? They 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:17.620 do. We all do. Because we're in a war, right? 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:20.659 The flesh and the spirit, which Paul very clearly 00:02:20.659 --> 00:02:23.139 describes in his letter to the Galatians. He 00:02:23.139 --> 00:02:26.219 says the flesh sets its desire against the spirit 00:02:26.219 --> 00:02:29.860 and the spirit against the flesh. For these are 00:02:29.860 --> 00:02:32.419 in opposition to one another. And so even among 00:02:32.419 --> 00:02:35.099 professing Christ followers, we struggle with 00:02:35.099 --> 00:02:37.879 the flesh. We struggle with pride, self -centeredness, 00:02:37.979 --> 00:02:43.240 sinful wants, anger, bitterness. And we get stubborn 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:46.979 and hard -headed about our opinions. over secondary 00:02:46.979 --> 00:02:50.840 issues, over our preferences about what a church 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:53.039 should do, how a church should be run, and so 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:56.159 on. Simply put, conflict in the church happens 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:59.759 because men and women with strong passions bump 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:01.740 into other men and women with equally strong 00:03:01.740 --> 00:03:05.300 passions. And in the midst of the rock tumbler 00:03:05.300 --> 00:03:09.539 of that collision, if our desires aren't regulated 00:03:09.539 --> 00:03:13.050 by God's word, if we're unable to subordinate 00:03:13.050 --> 00:03:15.830 our feelings and passions to the lordship of 00:03:15.830 --> 00:03:19.009 Christ, then the results are going to be destructive. 00:03:20.409 --> 00:03:24.889 Let me say that again. If our desires aren't 00:03:24.889 --> 00:03:28.129 regulated by the principles of God, and if our 00:03:28.129 --> 00:03:30.590 passions are, we're unable to subordinate our 00:03:30.590 --> 00:03:33.430 feelings and opinions and passions to the lordship 00:03:33.430 --> 00:03:36.150 of Christ, then we're going to be in trouble. 00:03:37.590 --> 00:03:40.169 And let's face it. We all know about quarrels. 00:03:40.210 --> 00:03:42.449 It's a part of life, right? We've all grown up 00:03:42.449 --> 00:03:44.889 with quarrels. Think about this. We grow up around, 00:03:45.110 --> 00:03:48.569 let's see, toddlers fight over toys. And then 00:03:48.569 --> 00:03:51.110 little kids fight on the playground. And then 00:03:51.110 --> 00:03:53.150 teenagers fight with their parents over everything. 00:03:54.030 --> 00:03:56.250 Then college students fight over relationships. 00:03:57.310 --> 00:03:59.650 Then they grow into adults and they get a job 00:03:59.650 --> 00:04:01.150 and they fight with others in the workplace. 00:04:01.870 --> 00:04:04.949 Then they get married and guess what? They fight 00:04:04.949 --> 00:04:07.379 with their spouse. And then they have children, 00:04:07.460 --> 00:04:10.159 and they fight with those kids, and the circle 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:15.180 is complete. The beat goes on, right? And James 00:04:15.180 --> 00:04:18.079 tells us it's because of your passions that these 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:20.040 things happen. You're at war within yourself 00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:23.620 because of your unchecked desires. You want things. 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:28.120 You want things so badly, but you don't get them. 00:04:28.819 --> 00:04:33.300 Or worse, you can't have them. And so what do 00:04:33.300 --> 00:04:37.850 you do? You act out. You rage and you plot and 00:04:37.850 --> 00:04:40.949 you seethe and you grow bitter. And there are 00:04:40.949 --> 00:04:42.829 times, this is when it gets dangerous, when you 00:04:42.829 --> 00:04:45.290 might come to a place where you say, I will do 00:04:45.290 --> 00:04:48.670 whatever it takes to get what I want, even, catch 00:04:48.670 --> 00:04:52.709 this, even if it divides the body of Christ and 00:04:52.709 --> 00:04:55.170 harms other believers. Can you imagine that? 00:04:57.269 --> 00:04:59.430 This is totally out of character for people who 00:04:59.430 --> 00:05:01.949 profess to know Christ and yet it happens all 00:05:01.949 --> 00:05:04.149 of the time. And guess what? Our spiritual enemy? 00:05:04.829 --> 00:05:07.269 The prince of this earthly realm, he loves every 00:05:07.269 --> 00:05:10.829 single bit of it because it brings disgrace to 00:05:10.829 --> 00:05:12.949 the name of Christ. It degrades our testimony 00:05:12.949 --> 00:05:16.810 out there in the world. And here's the thing. 00:05:16.829 --> 00:05:19.129 We'll see this today. It's not new. Conflict 00:05:19.129 --> 00:05:21.529 and disunity go back to the very founding of 00:05:21.529 --> 00:05:24.209 the church. In fact, if there's any encouragement 00:05:24.209 --> 00:05:27.129 about the fact that we're going to study disunity, 00:05:27.189 --> 00:05:30.100 it's that It's not just a modern thing. It's 00:05:30.100 --> 00:05:32.459 not just us. It's been happening from the beginning. 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:34.980 Why? Because the church is made up of fallible 00:05:34.980 --> 00:05:37.560 human beings, and we're all in various stages 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:40.420 of spiritual maturity, and many of the folks 00:05:40.420 --> 00:05:42.699 in the church are still more driven by their 00:05:42.699 --> 00:05:45.139 passions than they're driven by the Spirit's 00:05:45.139 --> 00:05:47.939 leading. And so conflict is going to happen. 00:05:48.899 --> 00:05:51.060 So friends, before we dive into this text, hear 00:05:51.060 --> 00:05:53.319 me on this. This is one of the most straightforward 00:05:53.319 --> 00:05:56.240 teachings in all of Scripture, and yet one of 00:05:56.240 --> 00:06:00.470 the hardest. To live out. So don't underestimate 00:06:00.470 --> 00:06:02.769 the exhortation we're about to hear. Grab your 00:06:02.769 --> 00:06:06.750 Bibles. We're going to 1 Corinthians chapter 00:06:06.750 --> 00:06:13.870 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, find verse 10. You'll 00:06:13.870 --> 00:06:16.730 recall that the last two Sundays we have walked 00:06:16.730 --> 00:06:18.790 through the historical context of this letter. 00:06:19.230 --> 00:06:21.449 And then we have looked at Paul's greeting in 00:06:21.449 --> 00:06:25.120 verses 1 through 9. And if you remember, this 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:27.199 is a greeting which is quite unusual for Paul 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:29.980 in the sense that he mentions nothing positive 00:06:29.980 --> 00:06:34.439 about this church, the way they walk, in their 00:06:34.439 --> 00:06:37.160 faith. He says nothing positive about the church 00:06:37.160 --> 00:06:40.759 body in Corinth. What he does talk about is a 00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:45.019 thorough list of positional truths about the 00:06:45.019 --> 00:06:47.040 Corinthian believers. And this is so important 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:50.519 to recognize. Positional truths about these folks. 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:53.790 The list is on the screen. They've been sanctified 00:06:53.790 --> 00:06:56.569 in Christ, he says, meaning they've been chosen 00:06:56.569 --> 00:06:59.470 and set apart for God's purposes. They've been 00:06:59.470 --> 00:07:02.649 called into the kingdom of God as saints, which 00:07:02.649 --> 00:07:07.410 means holy ones. That is positionally true. They've 00:07:07.410 --> 00:07:10.470 been lavished with grace from God. They've been 00:07:10.470 --> 00:07:13.470 enriched in every way, Paul says, and they've 00:07:13.470 --> 00:07:16.529 been promised that Christ will confirm them blameless 00:07:16.529 --> 00:07:20.509 to the end. That's positionally true of every 00:07:20.509 --> 00:07:23.089 believer. It was true of these struggling believers 00:07:23.089 --> 00:07:25.910 in Corinth. And all of it, he says, is guaranteed 00:07:25.910 --> 00:07:29.430 by one thing, God's faithfulness. That's good 00:07:29.430 --> 00:07:31.730 news, isn't it? So in the first nine verses, 00:07:31.850 --> 00:07:34.189 Paul, he doesn't commend the Corinthian believers 00:07:34.189 --> 00:07:37.410 for anything. Listen, instead he thanks God for 00:07:37.410 --> 00:07:40.970 what God has done in them. And what a great posture 00:07:40.970 --> 00:07:44.160 that is for us to have as well. And now, having 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:46.120 laid out this greeting, beginning in verse 10, 00:07:46.300 --> 00:07:48.579 Paul's now about to turn his attention to the 00:07:48.579 --> 00:07:51.399 pressing matters that need to be confronted there 00:07:51.399 --> 00:07:54.160 in Corinth. And he starts with what he apparently 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:59.500 believes is the number one issue, unity. Without 00:07:59.500 --> 00:08:02.000 unity, the church of Corinth was struggling, 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:05.519 both inside and outside. Internally, they were 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:09.639 tearing each other apart. Externally, their infighting 00:08:09.639 --> 00:08:12.500 was a detriment to their witness in the culture. 00:08:13.230 --> 00:08:15.810 Guys, listen, without observable unity and love, 00:08:15.870 --> 00:08:18.810 a church has no platform to speak into the culture. 00:08:20.449 --> 00:08:23.029 It has no platform to make an impact with the 00:08:23.029 --> 00:08:25.069 gospel. If people look at the church and go, 00:08:25.189 --> 00:08:27.310 why should I listen to them? They can't even 00:08:27.310 --> 00:08:32.129 get along. They're splitting all the time. By 00:08:32.129 --> 00:08:33.970 the way, this is why unity is the number one 00:08:33.970 --> 00:08:35.870 statement that we make in our church covenant. 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:39.000 If you don't know it, this is what it says. This 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:41.759 is number one in our covenant. We will work and 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:44.159 pray for unity of the spirit within the body. 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:47.440 How do we do that? Always practicing forgiveness, 00:08:47.820 --> 00:08:50.960 pursuing reconciliation, and rejecting harmful 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:54.779 gossip. Unity is the foundation of a healthy 00:08:54.779 --> 00:08:57.659 church. It's the foundation of a strong witness 00:08:57.659 --> 00:09:01.740 to the culture. Amen? So, let's see what Paul 00:09:01.740 --> 00:09:23.740 says, beginning in verse 10. Now I mean this, 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:26.960 each one of you is saying, I am of Paul, and 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:30.120 I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:35.019 Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified 00:09:35.019 --> 00:09:38.240 for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:41.519 name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:44.740 of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one 00:09:44.740 --> 00:09:48.840 will say that you were baptized in my name. Now 00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:51.200 I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. 00:09:51.320 --> 00:09:53.379 Beyond that, I don't know whether I baptized 00:09:53.379 --> 00:09:56.879 any other, for Christ did not send me to baptize, 00:09:56.899 --> 00:09:59.980 but to preach the gospel, and not in cleverness 00:09:59.980 --> 00:10:02.539 of speech, so that the cross of Christ would 00:10:02.539 --> 00:10:07.080 not be made. void. This passage always takes 00:10:07.080 --> 00:10:09.279 me back to something that the late Adrian Rogers 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:12.740 once said. It's one of those quotes that's always 00:10:12.740 --> 00:10:14.620 stuck with me. Here's what he said. The church 00:10:14.620 --> 00:10:18.500 is at its best when it's on the battlefield fighting 00:10:18.500 --> 00:10:21.580 the real enemies of the gospel. She is at her 00:10:21.580 --> 00:10:23.720 worst when she's in the barracks fighting one 00:10:23.720 --> 00:10:29.549 another. What a truth that is. Now, it's interesting 00:10:29.549 --> 00:10:31.269 how Paul approaches the issue. Look at verse 00:10:31.269 --> 00:10:33.929 10 again. The way he writes this is very revealing. 00:10:34.210 --> 00:10:36.769 I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord 00:10:36.769 --> 00:10:38.850 Jesus Christ. So there's some important things 00:10:38.850 --> 00:10:40.850 happening here. First of all, in the original 00:10:40.850 --> 00:10:44.870 Greek, Paul writes, parakaleo de humas adelphoi. 00:10:44.889 --> 00:10:49.309 I appeal to you, brothers. I appeal to you. Now, 00:10:49.330 --> 00:10:53.009 parakaleo is a compound word. Kaleo means to 00:10:53.009 --> 00:10:57.659 call. Para means alongside. So catch this. Even 00:10:57.659 --> 00:10:59.860 though Paul is an apostle with full authority 00:10:59.860 --> 00:11:02.639 to rebuke and to judge, what he does here is 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:05.919 he starts with a gentle tone. He starts very 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:10.200 gently. It's as if he's like a big brother who 00:11:10.200 --> 00:11:12.580 comes alongside a little brother and puts his 00:11:12.580 --> 00:11:15.279 arm around him, calls him to his side, and says, 00:11:15.299 --> 00:11:18.639 we need to talk about something. We need to have 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:21.200 a conversation. There is no doubt in Paul's mind 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:23.059 that the issue is important, that it's urgent, 00:11:23.179 --> 00:11:25.879 but he starts, this is so important for us, by 00:11:25.879 --> 00:11:28.639 making that family connection. Hey, little brother, 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:32.700 come over here. My brothers, he says. This reveals 00:11:32.700 --> 00:11:36.019 a pastoral heart of care and concern. Remember, 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:39.000 Paul knows these people personally. He cares 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:43.700 for them. But then he raises the stakes in terms 00:11:43.700 --> 00:11:45.820 of authority, right? He says, look, I'm appealing 00:11:45.820 --> 00:11:48.840 to you. By what authority? In the name of the 00:11:48.840 --> 00:11:52.120 Lord Jesus Christ, the full title of our Savior. 00:11:52.740 --> 00:11:55.139 I appeal to you by the name of our Lord Jesus 00:11:55.139 --> 00:11:57.120 Christ. In other words, what he's saying is, 00:11:57.139 --> 00:11:59.360 look, what we're about to talk about, it's not 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:02.879 just my private opinion. But this is the opinion 00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:05.799 of the Lord himself, what he desires for you 00:12:05.799 --> 00:12:08.519 and for your church. And by the way, that should 00:12:08.519 --> 00:12:09.960 have grabbed their attention, right? Would that 00:12:09.960 --> 00:12:12.490 grab your attention? But what we're going to 00:12:12.490 --> 00:12:14.309 find out as we go through this letter is this 00:12:14.309 --> 00:12:17.649 is why the Corinthians are in such a mess. Again, 00:12:17.690 --> 00:12:19.649 they're more driven by their fleshly passions 00:12:19.649 --> 00:12:23.370 than they are by what God desires for them. That's 00:12:23.370 --> 00:12:27.129 how a church finds itself in trouble. So here's 00:12:27.129 --> 00:12:29.350 how I want to walk through the rest of the passage. 00:12:29.629 --> 00:12:31.610 We're going to go slightly out of order here 00:12:31.610 --> 00:12:33.549 and we're going to start by looking at the problem 00:12:33.549 --> 00:12:37.049 that Paul diagnoses. Then we'll look at his rebuke 00:12:37.049 --> 00:12:39.990 and then finally the command or the remedy to 00:12:39.990 --> 00:12:42.840 what he's And along the way, we'll make some 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:45.519 practical observations for us here at Oak Hill, 00:12:45.620 --> 00:12:47.440 because this is a very practical passage, is 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:49.860 it not? And also, by the way, I'm going to invite 00:12:49.860 --> 00:12:52.120 another one of our elders to come up, and he's 00:12:52.120 --> 00:12:54.100 going to share a personal testimony about this 00:12:54.100 --> 00:12:56.659 very same issue, so stay tuned for that. But 00:12:56.659 --> 00:12:59.960 let's start with the problem. Look at verses 00:12:59.960 --> 00:13:02.899 11 and 12. What is the problem that Paul diagnoses 00:13:02.899 --> 00:13:05.860 here? Again, let me say this. This is not, sometimes 00:13:05.860 --> 00:13:08.159 we get into passages and we're like, this is 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:10.460 difficult to interpret, difficult to understand. 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:13.740 Not this one. This is very straightforward, right? 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:16.320 And if you've ever experienced a church split, 00:13:16.379 --> 00:13:19.340 you read this and you go, I recognize that spirit. 00:13:19.480 --> 00:13:22.679 I've seen this happen. For I've been informed 00:13:22.679 --> 00:13:26.139 or it's been reported to me concerning you, my 00:13:26.139 --> 00:13:30.139 brethren, again, family connection, by Chloe's 00:13:30.139 --> 00:13:32.539 people that there are quarrels among you. And 00:13:32.539 --> 00:13:35.159 then he talks about these various parties that 00:13:35.159 --> 00:13:37.440 people are lining up behind, including, by the 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:40.559 way, Kephas is just Peter. That's the Aramaic 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:43.879 name for Peter. In terms of the Greek here, the 00:13:43.879 --> 00:13:45.559 implication is that the people in the church 00:13:45.559 --> 00:13:47.899 are saying, look, I belong to that particular 00:13:47.899 --> 00:13:52.460 teacher. I belong to him. I only follow him. 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:56.519 That's my guy. That's what they're saying here. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:59.440 And remember, where's Paul writing this letter 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:03.220 from? From Ephesus, so directly across the Aegean 00:14:03.220 --> 00:14:05.220 Sea from Corinth. He's writing from Ephesus. 00:14:05.580 --> 00:14:08.299 And for some reason, he gets a negative report. 00:14:09.070 --> 00:14:11.549 From somebody named Chloe, we don't have any 00:14:11.549 --> 00:14:13.529 information about Chloe. She's not mentioned 00:14:13.529 --> 00:14:15.769 anywhere else in the New Testament, but she has 00:14:15.769 --> 00:14:18.870 people, which is funny, right? Chloe's people. 00:14:19.649 --> 00:14:23.210 And so the speculation is that she's probably 00:14:23.210 --> 00:14:25.769 a member of the church in Corinth. She may have 00:14:25.769 --> 00:14:28.129 been a wealthy businesswoman who had business 00:14:28.129 --> 00:14:31.070 interests in Ephesus. So her people, her agents, 00:14:31.149 --> 00:14:33.529 go to Ephesus, and she says, you know what? Find 00:14:33.529 --> 00:14:37.029 Paul and tell him about what's going on back 00:14:37.029 --> 00:14:40.700 here. Because it's not good. And the message 00:14:40.700 --> 00:14:43.820 Paul received is, verse 11, he says, I hear there 00:14:43.820 --> 00:14:46.379 are quarrels among you. Now, the word quarrels 00:14:46.379 --> 00:14:49.500 here is erodes, in the plural form of a word 00:14:49.500 --> 00:14:52.100 named eros. It's a word that is used both in 00:14:52.100 --> 00:14:55.000 biblical Greek and classical Greek, and it refers 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:57.220 to all kinds of conflicts. You see some of them 00:14:57.220 --> 00:15:00.320 on the screen. It can refer to quarrels, contention, 00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:04.539 strife, wrangling, even rivalries, which fits 00:15:04.539 --> 00:15:07.629 the context of this very, very well. Interestingly, 00:15:07.710 --> 00:15:09.830 Paul's the only New Testament author that uses 00:15:09.830 --> 00:15:13.110 this word. He uses it nine times in his letters. 00:15:13.149 --> 00:15:16.850 And get this, three of those nine times in Romans 00:15:16.850 --> 00:15:20.730 1, Galatians 5, and 1 Timothy 6, this word shows 00:15:20.730 --> 00:15:24.990 up in a vice list. Okay, if you know anything 00:15:24.990 --> 00:15:27.330 about, there's virtue lists in scripture, there's 00:15:27.330 --> 00:15:31.149 vice lists. And three times Paul lists this in 00:15:31.149 --> 00:15:34.610 these vices that are called deeds of the flesh. 00:15:35.820 --> 00:15:38.240 So these kinds of conflicts, Paul says, are deeds 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:40.960 of the flesh and they have no place in the life 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:44.500 of a Christian or in the church. That's how serious 00:15:44.500 --> 00:15:48.179 Paul views this. Then in verse 12, he lists the 00:15:48.179 --> 00:15:50.559 rivalries that have sort of come to the surface, 00:15:50.679 --> 00:15:52.539 right? These are, we would call these cliques 00:15:52.539 --> 00:15:55.600 or factions, right? Within one congregation, 00:15:55.720 --> 00:15:58.879 we have four groups and each one has a certain 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:01.820 nuance to it. So we have the Paul party and you 00:16:01.820 --> 00:16:04.039 might call this the loyalist party. I'm going 00:16:04.039 --> 00:16:07.799 to give each one of them names. Paul, why? Because 00:16:07.799 --> 00:16:09.840 these are the people that are most loyal to the 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:12.919 guy who came and planted the church, to the apostle. 00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:15.559 And it's possible that the people in the Paul 00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:18.360 party, they were saved through his initial ministry, 00:16:18.460 --> 00:16:21.600 those 18 months in Corinth. And so he's their 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:24.480 guy. Look, he planted the church. I got saved 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:28.299 through him. I follow Paul. The second guy is 00:16:28.299 --> 00:16:30.620 Apollos, and we might call this the cultured 00:16:30.620 --> 00:16:34.639 party. Remember, when Paul left Corinth, he sent 00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:38.009 Apollos, to come and watch over the church. Apollos 00:16:38.009 --> 00:16:40.710 was the second pastor of the church of Corinth, 00:16:40.769 --> 00:16:43.330 and he was known for his intellect, known for 00:16:43.330 --> 00:16:46.049 his eloquence as a teacher. He was a Greek man, 00:16:46.149 --> 00:16:48.570 so it was likely that he was a man of philosophy 00:16:48.570 --> 00:16:50.710 and rhetoric, and people were super impressed 00:16:50.710 --> 00:16:54.049 by him, super impressed by this guy, right? So 00:16:54.049 --> 00:16:56.629 it's possible that the members who lined up behind 00:16:56.629 --> 00:16:59.730 Apollos were the more educated or cultured parts 00:16:59.730 --> 00:17:02.700 of the Corinthian church. Then you have Kephas 00:17:02.700 --> 00:17:05.220 or Peter. You might call this the traditional 00:17:05.220 --> 00:17:07.579 party because remember, Peter was one of the 00:17:07.579 --> 00:17:10.000 original pillars of the church from the very 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:12.779 inner circle of Jesus. So what a connection to 00:17:12.779 --> 00:17:14.880 make there, right? Going back to the original 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:18.900 church in Jerusalem. He's my guy. And it's very 00:17:18.900 --> 00:17:21.359 possible that the people in this party also were 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:24.200 more partial to the forms and the ceremonies 00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:27.759 of Judaism. There's a lot going on in this church, 00:17:27.779 --> 00:17:30.359 isn't there? And then there's the Jesus party. 00:17:30.519 --> 00:17:36.539 Now, how does that strike you? You might look 00:17:36.539 --> 00:17:38.500 at that and go, well, that's the party I'd pick. 00:17:40.059 --> 00:17:44.299 But be careful. Be careful. We should all be 00:17:44.299 --> 00:17:46.759 followers of Christ, but the fact that Paul lists 00:17:46.759 --> 00:17:49.519 this as one of the rival parties tells us that 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:51.579 he believes there's some unhealthy things going 00:17:51.579 --> 00:17:54.519 on there as well. Now, why? It's likely that 00:17:54.519 --> 00:17:58.079 the Jesus party was the most prideful. Of all 00:17:58.079 --> 00:18:01.240 the four. Perhaps by saying we only follow Christ 00:18:01.240 --> 00:18:03.779 they were looking down at others and saying well 00:18:03.779 --> 00:18:07.880 you don't follow Christ. In other words we're 00:18:07.880 --> 00:18:11.259 the only ones who are really saved. And sometimes 00:18:11.259 --> 00:18:14.039 we find people like this in the church. They 00:18:14.039 --> 00:18:16.000 look down their nose at others and say well you're 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:18.000 not as mature as I am. Maybe you're not saved. 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:19.819 Maybe I'm the only one who's truly saved here. 00:18:20.359 --> 00:18:22.240 Or it's possible they come to the conclusion 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:24.900 by saying we only follow Christ that we don't 00:18:24.900 --> 00:18:28.099 need any human leaders. or teachers, and that's 00:18:28.099 --> 00:18:31.440 dangerous as well. So it's as if the church of 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:34.559 Corinth is divided into four distinct worshiping 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:36.599 communities, maybe even meeting in four different 00:18:36.599 --> 00:18:40.140 locations, in different houses, but shattering 00:18:40.140 --> 00:18:42.619 the union of the church as a whole. Now notice 00:18:42.619 --> 00:18:44.700 this is not a leader problem, it's a follower 00:18:44.700 --> 00:18:47.579 problem. There's no indication in the text that 00:18:47.579 --> 00:18:51.000 the leaders were fostering these divisions, that 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:52.880 they were trying to build cults of personality. 00:18:53.970 --> 00:18:56.230 It's the members of the congregation. They are 00:18:56.230 --> 00:18:58.450 the ones putting these teachers on a dangerous 00:18:58.450 --> 00:19:02.529 pedestal. We see this all the time today, don't 00:19:02.529 --> 00:19:07.349 we? Falling into the cult of personality or the 00:19:07.349 --> 00:19:11.509 cult of giftedness and almost bowing down behind 00:19:11.509 --> 00:19:15.289 certain men. We see this all the time, engaging 00:19:15.289 --> 00:19:20.430 in an ungodly devotion to godly men. And make 00:19:20.430 --> 00:19:22.329 no mistake, the root of the problem is actually 00:19:22.329 --> 00:19:25.430 pride. It's a sense of superiority. Each group 00:19:25.430 --> 00:19:28.289 thinks their guy is the best, that their wisdom 00:19:28.289 --> 00:19:31.029 and lining up behind their guy makes them superior 00:19:31.029 --> 00:19:34.549 to everybody else. So pride is at the root of 00:19:34.549 --> 00:19:37.250 all of this. And again, we see this today, the 00:19:37.250 --> 00:19:40.289 danger of taking pride in knowing or being associated 00:19:40.289 --> 00:19:46.519 with this preacher or that pastor. People today 00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:49.420 select churches based solely on the cults of 00:19:49.420 --> 00:19:52.619 personality or giftedness of the guy behind the 00:19:52.619 --> 00:19:55.859 pulpit. They don't even see the other members, 00:19:55.960 --> 00:19:58.019 the other believers. That's not the issue. The 00:19:58.019 --> 00:20:02.880 issue is that guy behind the pulpit. It can be 00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:07.980 dangerous. Especially if they run around going, 00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:11.690 well, I listen to all of the sermons. All of 00:20:11.690 --> 00:20:13.549 his classes, I read all of his books, I listen 00:20:13.549 --> 00:20:15.829 to all of his podcasts, and you know what? He's 00:20:15.829 --> 00:20:20.809 perfect. I never disagree with him. He's their 00:20:20.809 --> 00:20:24.549 guy. Like my guy is the fount of all truth in 00:20:24.549 --> 00:20:27.490 all matters of faith and practice. Here's where 00:20:27.490 --> 00:20:30.470 it gets bad. If you criticize my guy, you become 00:20:30.470 --> 00:20:34.349 my enemy. And we draw lines and divisions, and 00:20:34.349 --> 00:20:36.990 we line up behind guys. And by the way, if you're 00:20:36.990 --> 00:20:38.710 not on the bandwagon I'm on, you're not listening 00:20:38.710 --> 00:20:40.619 to the same things I'm listening to. you're just 00:20:40.619 --> 00:20:44.559 deaf, dumb, and blind. And sadly, I've seen this 00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:47.880 play out many times among churchgoers, but can 00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:50.519 I shock you this morning? I see this happen with 00:20:50.519 --> 00:20:54.480 pastors. I see this happen with, believe it or 00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:56.539 not, guys in the ministry who should know better, 00:20:56.660 --> 00:21:00.200 but so idolize their favorite preacher or teacher 00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:03.160 that they turn them into spiritual celebrities. 00:21:04.660 --> 00:21:06.880 I've seen this happen at the Shepherds Conference. 00:21:07.059 --> 00:21:09.079 I've been to Shepherds Conference. More times 00:21:09.079 --> 00:21:11.940 than I can count. And if you go, and you should 00:21:11.940 --> 00:21:14.319 go, it's a wonderful event. But one of the things 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:17.460 that you will see is guys looking at the, these 00:21:17.460 --> 00:21:20.440 are pastors, looking at the lineup of speakers 00:21:20.440 --> 00:21:28.180 and waiting by the door. waiting by the door. 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:30.900 When those doors open, they will elbow brothers 00:21:30.900 --> 00:21:34.400 in Christ. They will push and shove. Why? So 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:37.380 they can get as close as possible and let the 00:21:37.380 --> 00:21:39.660 shadow of their favorite teacher fall upon them. 00:21:41.960 --> 00:21:43.619 Some of you guys have been there. You've seen 00:21:43.619 --> 00:21:48.339 this. It's pastor worship among pastors who should 00:21:48.339 --> 00:21:52.740 know better. How easily we forget that even the 00:21:52.740 --> 00:21:54.640 best of preachers and teachers in the church 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:58.680 are just men. who need to continually repent 00:21:58.680 --> 00:22:03.299 of sin. And if you don't have a balanced perspective 00:22:03.299 --> 00:22:06.079 on this, if you don't have a balanced perspective 00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:09.119 on your preacher or your pastor or your elder 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:12.039 team, what happens when that man lets you down? 00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:17.759 Or, God forbid, has a moral failure. It's devastating. 00:22:18.200 --> 00:22:24.240 It can devastate the lives of believers. We've 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:26.180 seen it happen too many times, right? Some big 00:22:26.180 --> 00:22:28.559 names in recent years who have fallen. And I've 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:33.319 seen people stumble and crash out because they 00:22:33.319 --> 00:22:37.039 put too much stock into that man. Somehow Christians 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:39.160 forget that the church belongs to no man but 00:22:39.160 --> 00:22:42.839 Christ. We've got to keep that perspective. I'm 00:22:42.839 --> 00:22:44.480 going to have Jeff Steele come up for a second. 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:46.819 Jeff is, if you don't know Jeff, Jeff is one 00:22:46.819 --> 00:22:49.599 of our elders here. And not only that, he has 00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:53.859 been, oh, and Carol, even better. Even better. 00:22:55.640 --> 00:23:02.099 Right? Even better. That's right. Jeff is one 00:23:02.099 --> 00:23:05.319 of our elders here and has seen the back room 00:23:05.319 --> 00:23:08.019 of many churches in many different roles in ministry, 00:23:08.140 --> 00:23:09.880 and I thought it would be interesting to hear 00:23:09.880 --> 00:23:13.519 his perspective as well. Well, Jeff asked Carol 00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:17.099 and I to share what we've seen and learned about 00:23:17.099 --> 00:23:19.720 factions in the church over our 50 years of ministry. 00:23:20.410 --> 00:23:22.309 And if you live long enough, you see all kinds 00:23:22.309 --> 00:23:24.730 of stuff, even in the church. And so we wanted 00:23:24.730 --> 00:23:28.349 to touch on three items where we've seen factions 00:23:28.349 --> 00:23:30.910 grow up in the church and the problems it created. 00:23:31.670 --> 00:23:35.470 The first one is youthful arrogance. And I'm 00:23:35.470 --> 00:23:37.410 starting with this one because I was guilty of 00:23:37.410 --> 00:23:40.650 it. I was young, I was in Bible college, serving 00:23:40.650 --> 00:23:42.569 on the staff at my church, and I was learning 00:23:42.569 --> 00:23:45.069 all this stuff about what the church should be 00:23:45.069 --> 00:23:47.710 and how it should work. And I didn't grow up 00:23:47.710 --> 00:23:49.269 in a church, and there was a lot I didn't know 00:23:49.269 --> 00:23:51.710 about how the church worked and didn't work. 00:23:52.250 --> 00:23:54.829 But I had ideas and dreams, and I thought everybody 00:23:54.829 --> 00:23:59.009 should listen to me. And after a while, I came 00:23:59.009 --> 00:24:01.109 to the point where I realized I couldn't be on 00:24:01.109 --> 00:24:03.410 staff anymore because I just didn't see eye to 00:24:03.410 --> 00:24:07.710 eye with the pastor. But I continued to push 00:24:07.710 --> 00:24:09.990 and talk about my ideas that I had to anyone 00:24:09.990 --> 00:24:12.410 who would listen, and it got to the point where 00:24:12.410 --> 00:24:14.549 I didn't have much confidence in the old guys 00:24:14.549 --> 00:24:18.289 leading the church. What did they know? And finally, 00:24:18.369 --> 00:24:20.650 a year after I left staff, Carol and I made the 00:24:20.650 --> 00:24:22.490 decision to leave the church. And I got to be 00:24:22.490 --> 00:24:24.569 honest, when we met with the pastor, it did not 00:24:24.569 --> 00:24:28.190 go well. But what struck me is that many of my 00:24:28.190 --> 00:24:31.349 friends who'd known me for a long time, when 00:24:31.349 --> 00:24:33.329 they found out that we were leaving the church, 00:24:33.390 --> 00:24:36.430 they all said the same thing. It's about time. 00:24:38.170 --> 00:24:40.569 And apparently they recognized something that 00:24:40.569 --> 00:24:43.829 I hadn't, and that was that my unhappiness was 00:24:43.829 --> 00:24:47.029 hurting the church. And I wasn't helping anyone 00:24:47.029 --> 00:24:51.710 by staying. There comes a point when you're better 00:24:51.710 --> 00:24:53.690 off leaving than trying to push something that 00:24:53.690 --> 00:24:56.190 most people in your church don't want. And in 00:24:56.190 --> 00:24:58.670 my youthful arrogance, I wanted the church to 00:24:58.670 --> 00:25:01.349 listen to a 24 -year -old who knew all the answers, 00:25:01.549 --> 00:25:05.009 and I was wrong. And I bring this up because 00:25:05.009 --> 00:25:06.650 a lot of you are young and you're learning a 00:25:06.650 --> 00:25:08.950 lot of stuff, but make sure you have the humility 00:25:08.950 --> 00:25:11.440 to admit what... that you do not know at all. 00:25:11.640 --> 00:25:16.019 There's a reason Peter in 1 Peter 5 exhorts young 00:25:16.019 --> 00:25:19.220 men to submit to their elders and to clothe themselves 00:25:19.220 --> 00:25:24.940 with humility. All right, second area is two 00:25:24.940 --> 00:25:29.119 different philosophies of ministry or preferences 00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:31.619 for ministry. And this can form around structure, 00:25:31.799 --> 00:25:34.440 around worship, or even around spiritual gifts. 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:37.619 In one church, it came to a head over the role 00:25:37.619 --> 00:25:42.319 of the Bible. and how we were going to live it 00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:44.240 out. And there were some who believed the Bible, 00:25:44.420 --> 00:25:48.200 but wanted to be more laid back in how you applied 00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:50.539 it on some issues. And they really couldn't make 00:25:50.539 --> 00:25:53.359 a decision about baptism or the Lord's Supper 00:25:53.359 --> 00:25:56.259 or the role of women in the church. And the attitude 00:25:56.259 --> 00:25:58.700 kind of was, if you had a belief, just go with 00:25:58.700 --> 00:26:02.220 it. And others felt like we should work through 00:26:02.220 --> 00:26:05.400 these issues from Scripture and make a decision. 00:26:05.579 --> 00:26:07.859 And eventually the church split over all this. 00:26:08.970 --> 00:26:11.589 And the church that I pastored always tried to 00:26:11.589 --> 00:26:14.529 find this balance at the time between being anti 00:26:14.529 --> 00:26:17.269 -charismatic and hyper -charismatic. I know. 00:26:18.609 --> 00:26:21.289 But at a certain point I discovered it was like 00:26:21.289 --> 00:26:23.970 trying to ride two horses going different directions 00:26:23.970 --> 00:26:27.549 at the same time. And it didn't work. I had two 00:26:27.549 --> 00:26:29.970 elders resign in the same week from my church. 00:26:30.009 --> 00:26:32.430 One because we were charismatic and one because 00:26:32.430 --> 00:26:37.289 we weren't. And I realized that I had to pick 00:26:37.289 --> 00:26:40.200 a direction. And when we did, we lost some people 00:26:40.200 --> 00:26:42.440 because of it. And the church went through a 00:26:42.440 --> 00:26:45.900 lot during that time. And for me, as a pastor's 00:26:45.900 --> 00:26:49.440 wife, these are my dear friends. We planted the 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:52.420 church together. And so I had friends over here 00:26:52.420 --> 00:26:54.599 going, no, we need to go this way. And I had 00:26:54.599 --> 00:26:56.220 friends over here going, no, we need to go this 00:26:56.220 --> 00:26:57.900 way. And you need to talk to your husband about 00:26:57.900 --> 00:27:02.779 this because, and it was such a hard thing for 00:27:02.779 --> 00:27:05.200 me as a pastor's wife to be torn between these 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:11.289 two preferences and practices. The last issue 00:27:11.289 --> 00:27:14.369 that where we've seen division rise up is powerful 00:27:14.369 --> 00:27:18.690 people. Powerful people with strong personalities 00:27:18.690 --> 00:27:21.470 who aren't necessarily in positions of leadership, 00:27:21.670 --> 00:27:24.730 but who try to influence people and events often 00:27:24.730 --> 00:27:27.750 behind the scenes. They are masters of manipulation 00:27:27.750 --> 00:27:30.230 and they work through rumor and innuendo and 00:27:30.230 --> 00:27:33.329 even slander at times to sway people to their 00:27:33.329 --> 00:27:38.049 point of view. There was one woman, she terrified 00:27:38.049 --> 00:27:41.390 me. She was very impressive, and she came to 00:27:41.390 --> 00:27:43.609 me one day, and we were just associate pastors. 00:27:44.650 --> 00:27:48.529 And she said, Carol, you need to take over women's 00:27:48.529 --> 00:27:50.190 ministry, and your husband needs to start preaching. 00:27:50.450 --> 00:27:55.289 And we're like, whoa, whoa, whoa. And when we 00:27:55.289 --> 00:27:56.670 didn't, both of us were like, wait a minute, 00:27:56.690 --> 00:28:00.809 this is wrong. And so when we turned away from 00:28:00.809 --> 00:28:05.109 her flattery, she got real nasty, and she started 00:28:05.109 --> 00:28:08.519 all sorts of rumors about us. Yeah. And the common 00:28:08.519 --> 00:28:10.299 denominator in these people is that they are 00:28:10.299 --> 00:28:13.779 self -willed and they aren't content unless they 00:28:13.779 --> 00:28:16.339 get their own way. Twice in my life, I have had 00:28:16.339 --> 00:28:18.779 powerful people start rumor campaigns against 00:28:18.779 --> 00:28:22.220 me with stories that were completely false. But 00:28:22.220 --> 00:28:24.559 the problem is, by the time the truth comes out, 00:28:24.619 --> 00:28:27.569 the damage has been done. Trust and leadership 00:28:27.569 --> 00:28:30.230 is undermined. The church is divided. That's 00:28:30.230 --> 00:28:32.789 why Paul cautions the Romans to keep an eye on 00:28:32.789 --> 00:28:35.490 those who cause dissension and to turn away from 00:28:35.490 --> 00:28:39.230 them. And why he warns Titus to reject the factious 00:28:39.230 --> 00:28:42.630 man after a first and second warning. The unity 00:28:42.630 --> 00:28:47.970 of the church is at stake. Amen. Thanks, you 00:28:47.970 --> 00:28:50.369 guys, for sharing a little bit about your lives. 00:28:50.410 --> 00:28:54.519 Appreciate that. We've had many stories. We've 00:28:54.519 --> 00:28:56.500 talked so many times at the elder table about 00:28:56.500 --> 00:29:00.039 these stories and more. And it's heartbreaking 00:29:00.039 --> 00:29:04.140 to see the church. Oh, thanks, sound guy. That's 00:29:04.140 --> 00:29:07.940 great. All right, so we've looked at the problem 00:29:07.940 --> 00:29:11.019 that Paul brings up here in the letter. Let's 00:29:11.019 --> 00:29:13.119 turn our attention to the rebuke in verse 13. 00:29:13.339 --> 00:29:15.359 And this will go quickly because this is such 00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:18.700 an obvious teaching. In verse 13, look at it, 00:29:18.740 --> 00:29:22.349 Paul asks three rhetorical questions. Has Christ 00:29:22.349 --> 00:29:26.789 been divided? He asks, obviously not. And if 00:29:26.789 --> 00:29:29.230 that's true, then we dare not divide his body. 00:29:29.390 --> 00:29:33.650 Amen? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? 00:29:34.690 --> 00:29:36.869 Obviously not. Only the precious blood of the 00:29:36.869 --> 00:29:39.569 eternal God -man is capable of paying the debt 00:29:39.569 --> 00:29:42.789 that we owe for sin. That's ludicrous, isn't 00:29:42.789 --> 00:29:45.930 it? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 00:29:46.049 --> 00:29:49.250 Again, obviously not. Your union in the waters 00:29:49.250 --> 00:29:53.970 of baptism. is with Christ alone. So what Paul's 00:29:53.970 --> 00:29:56.130 doing here is he's using a literary tool that 00:29:56.130 --> 00:29:59.509 we call an appeal to absurdity. Because this 00:29:59.509 --> 00:30:02.029 is all absurd, isn't it? And it's by design. 00:30:02.430 --> 00:30:04.609 These questions are designed to point out the 00:30:04.609 --> 00:30:07.069 foolishness of what's going on in Corinth. Paul 00:30:07.069 --> 00:30:09.150 was saying, look, why would you line up behind 00:30:09.150 --> 00:30:14.380 mere men when you have Christ? And notice how 00:30:14.380 --> 00:30:17.200 tactical he is by using himself as the example, 00:30:17.339 --> 00:30:20.400 right? If he pointed to Apollos or Peter, then 00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:22.160 he would have been attacked by the other parties 00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:24.359 saying, see, he's attacking the other parties 00:30:24.359 --> 00:30:26.680 and building up his own following. So he appeals 00:30:26.680 --> 00:30:29.819 to himself in these examples. Very smart, very 00:30:29.819 --> 00:30:33.200 tactical. But you can picture Paul writing these 00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:36.539 questions out and thinking to himself, how ridiculous 00:30:36.539 --> 00:30:40.730 that we would even ask these questions. Were 00:30:40.730 --> 00:30:43.029 you purchased by my blood? Did I redeem you? 00:30:43.450 --> 00:30:46.490 Were you baptized in my name? No? Well, then 00:30:46.490 --> 00:30:50.509 stop being man -centered. And the church needs 00:30:50.509 --> 00:30:53.630 to hear that message. Stop being man -centered. 00:30:55.210 --> 00:30:57.670 Now, I'm going to resist the temptation to dive 00:30:57.670 --> 00:31:01.089 into baptism here in verses 14 to 17. And if 00:31:01.089 --> 00:31:03.089 that disappoints you, sorry, we'll get it next 00:31:03.089 --> 00:31:05.589 Sunday. I promise we'll come back. The only thing 00:31:05.589 --> 00:31:07.710 I'll say today about the baptism issue is Paul 00:31:07.710 --> 00:31:10.730 simply making the point that he's glad he didn't 00:31:10.730 --> 00:31:13.750 baptize more people because even that could have 00:31:13.750 --> 00:31:17.049 been a source of division in the church, if you 00:31:17.049 --> 00:31:19.089 can imagine that. Members of the church getting 00:31:19.089 --> 00:31:21.750 puffed up because I was baptized by this guy 00:31:21.750 --> 00:31:24.609 or I was baptized by that guy. But that shows 00:31:24.609 --> 00:31:27.710 you just how fleshly the Corinthians were acting 00:31:27.710 --> 00:31:29.890 in this day. So we'll come back to that next 00:31:29.890 --> 00:31:32.890 week and we'll talk about what Paul says about 00:31:32.890 --> 00:31:36.670 his preaching as well. That's a tease for next 00:31:36.670 --> 00:31:39.420 week to come back, right? Okay, so we've seen 00:31:39.420 --> 00:31:42.339 the problem. Now you've seen the rebuke. As absurd 00:31:42.339 --> 00:31:46.259 as it is, let's look at the command. Let's look 00:31:46.259 --> 00:31:49.079 at the command. What is Paul's remedy for the 00:31:49.079 --> 00:31:51.819 problem that he's diagnosed? And we find this 00:31:51.819 --> 00:31:55.900 back in verse 10. Now I exhort you, brethren, 00:31:55.980 --> 00:31:57.880 by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we looked 00:31:57.880 --> 00:32:00.920 at that already, listen now, that you all agree 00:32:00.920 --> 00:32:05.740 and that there be no divisions among you. Okay, 00:32:05.799 --> 00:32:07.900 if you're worn out, I want you to stop and take 00:32:07.900 --> 00:32:09.920 a deep breath because this is where it gets really 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:13.160 practical. And as we go through this, I want 00:32:13.160 --> 00:32:16.279 you each to think about how you function within 00:32:16.279 --> 00:32:19.339 the body of Christ here at Oak Hill, the way 00:32:19.339 --> 00:32:22.779 you think about your role in the local congregation. 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:25.920 First of all, there's some important word choices 00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:28.819 here. The word for divisions, which in the Greek 00:32:28.819 --> 00:32:32.119 is a very familiar word, it's called schismata. 00:32:33.549 --> 00:32:35.349 Schismata, and so the first thing we think about, 00:32:35.410 --> 00:32:38.289 of course, is schism. And yes, that's where our 00:32:38.289 --> 00:32:41.829 word comes from. But in classical Greek, schismata 00:32:41.829 --> 00:32:44.769 is a word that's used to describe the tearing 00:32:44.769 --> 00:32:49.069 of something, particularly the tearing of a garment. 00:32:49.349 --> 00:32:51.849 And so what a great word picture we have. Paul 00:32:51.849 --> 00:32:54.049 is commanding the members of the Corinthian church 00:32:54.049 --> 00:32:58.359 to stop tearing apart their congregation. What 00:32:58.359 --> 00:33:00.079 a beautiful, right? You can picture that in your 00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:02.279 mind, the tearing apart. How do you put those 00:33:02.279 --> 00:33:05.839 things back together once it's torn? Second, 00:33:05.960 --> 00:33:09.400 Paul speaks of everyone agreeing. Boy, when you 00:33:09.400 --> 00:33:13.039 read that, is that not a tall order? Everybody, 00:33:13.079 --> 00:33:16.119 we're all going to agree on something. Man, asking 00:33:16.119 --> 00:33:18.720 everybody in the local church to agree on anything 00:33:18.720 --> 00:33:22.980 is difficult these days. But listen, I want to 00:33:22.980 --> 00:33:27.319 make something clear. There are legitimate times 00:33:27.319 --> 00:33:31.380 and places for disagreement in the church. Okay, 00:33:31.440 --> 00:33:34.220 lest we have some utopian view of how this works, 00:33:34.380 --> 00:33:37.940 there are times when we can disagree. It's how 00:33:37.940 --> 00:33:41.119 you handle those disagreements that makes all 00:33:41.119 --> 00:33:43.980 the difference, right? More on that in a moment. 00:33:44.619 --> 00:33:46.740 Something important to see in the language here 00:33:46.740 --> 00:33:49.039 in the Greek is the word that Paul uses for agree. 00:33:49.200 --> 00:33:52.079 It comes from the root of the word lego, which 00:33:52.079 --> 00:33:56.140 means to speak. So essentially what Paul is commanding 00:33:56.140 --> 00:33:58.720 here is that believers in the local body should 00:33:58.720 --> 00:34:03.599 all speak the same things. We should all speak 00:34:03.599 --> 00:34:06.559 the same things here at Oak Hill. In a practical 00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:09.039 sense, here's where this plays out in two areas. 00:34:09.099 --> 00:34:12.460 First of all, in terms of doctrine. And I'll 00:34:12.460 --> 00:34:15.219 even divide doctrine into essential and non -essential. 00:34:15.849 --> 00:34:17.329 Which, by the way, is one of the most important 00:34:17.329 --> 00:34:20.349 things you can do in your development of theology 00:34:20.349 --> 00:34:23.210 is to make sure you can define what is essential 00:34:23.210 --> 00:34:26.389 and what is not. When it comes to essential doctrines 00:34:26.389 --> 00:34:29.090 of the Christian faith, the unshakable beliefs 00:34:29.090 --> 00:34:32.550 that define historic Christianity, there can 00:34:32.550 --> 00:34:37.670 be no room for disagreement among any of us. 00:34:37.869 --> 00:34:40.409 We speak with one voice on those things, right? 00:34:40.530 --> 00:34:43.650 We must. But then there's the non -essential 00:34:43.650 --> 00:34:47.050 doctrines. And there we can leave room for a 00:34:47.050 --> 00:34:50.070 diversity of opinions, especially when there 00:34:50.070 --> 00:34:53.590 are legitimate interpretive disagreements. And 00:34:53.590 --> 00:34:55.489 that happens in the Bible, right? Where good 00:34:55.489 --> 00:34:58.230 and godly people look at a text and we have a 00:34:58.230 --> 00:35:01.170 different interpretation of it. And we're brothers 00:35:01.170 --> 00:35:03.369 in Christ. We have fellowship, but we differ 00:35:03.369 --> 00:35:06.730 on a non -essential. Does that make sense? Very 00:35:06.730 --> 00:35:08.889 important. I mean things like the details and 00:35:08.889 --> 00:35:12.230 the timing of the last days. Right? We can disagree 00:35:12.230 --> 00:35:14.650 on those things. Whether you're dispensational 00:35:14.650 --> 00:35:17.250 or you take a covenant approach to the whole 00:35:17.250 --> 00:35:19.869 of biblical theology. Whether you're Calvinist 00:35:19.869 --> 00:35:22.550 or Zwinglian in terms of the presence of Christ 00:35:22.550 --> 00:35:24.750 in the elements of communion. Whether you're 00:35:24.750 --> 00:35:28.130 tradution or non -tradution. Whether you're superlapsarian 00:35:28.130 --> 00:35:30.449 or infralapsarian. And we could do this all day. 00:35:31.289 --> 00:35:33.969 Right? Because there's a lot of disagreements 00:35:33.969 --> 00:35:37.670 among godly people in the church. Now, as I say 00:35:37.670 --> 00:35:39.909 that, we can leave room for differences of opinions 00:35:39.909 --> 00:35:42.469 on those things, but it is imperative that the 00:35:42.469 --> 00:35:46.909 elders of the church all agree. Why? Because 00:35:46.909 --> 00:35:49.789 the teaching arm of a local church has to speak 00:35:49.789 --> 00:35:52.349 with one voice on all matters. Otherwise, what 00:35:52.349 --> 00:35:56.070 we do is just sow confusion in the congregation. 00:35:56.150 --> 00:35:59.010 That's very important. On your end, you, the 00:35:59.010 --> 00:36:01.210 members of the body, you might see something 00:36:01.210 --> 00:36:03.610 different than the elder team does on a non -essential. 00:36:04.469 --> 00:36:09.190 And that's okay. provided you remain teachable 00:36:09.190 --> 00:36:13.289 and you take seriously the exhortation to not 00:36:13.289 --> 00:36:18.190 cause divisions over that issue. And look, I've 00:36:18.190 --> 00:36:20.550 talked to so many of you, and sometimes we disagree. 00:36:20.650 --> 00:36:22.829 You say, I have a little different take on this 00:36:22.829 --> 00:36:25.630 than the elder team. Okay, are you teachable? 00:36:26.670 --> 00:36:29.150 Will you, as Jeff said, listen, submit to your 00:36:29.150 --> 00:36:34.110 elders and listen? Right? Most of all, Will you 00:36:34.110 --> 00:36:36.369 make sure that you don't divide the body of Christ 00:36:36.369 --> 00:36:40.210 over it? That's incredibly important. That means 00:36:40.210 --> 00:36:42.230 so if you have a difference of opinion on a non 00:36:42.230 --> 00:36:45.090 -essential doctrine, that you carefully regulate 00:36:45.090 --> 00:36:49.369 the way you speak about it. Do you catch that? 00:36:49.449 --> 00:36:52.250 That's what Paul's talking about, to speak. Carefully 00:36:52.250 --> 00:36:54.809 regulate the way you speak about it. Here's what 00:36:54.809 --> 00:36:56.690 that means. And I'll take a page out of Paul's 00:36:56.690 --> 00:36:59.550 letter to the Romans. Go home this week and read 00:36:59.550 --> 00:37:02.880 Romans 14. It's very informative. Paul makes 00:37:02.880 --> 00:37:05.460 the case that Christians ought to develop convictions 00:37:05.460 --> 00:37:09.519 about biblical issues. You shouldn't just be, 00:37:09.619 --> 00:37:11.760 you know, I don't have to see or think because 00:37:11.760 --> 00:37:13.980 my elders just say this. No, you should each 00:37:13.980 --> 00:37:16.300 be studying the word and developing convictions 00:37:16.300 --> 00:37:20.400 on your own. But when your conviction on a non 00:37:20.400 --> 00:37:22.820 -essential issue differs from your brother's 00:37:22.820 --> 00:37:26.099 conviction, you're not to fight about it. And 00:37:26.099 --> 00:37:29.760 you're not to impose your conviction on him and 00:37:29.760 --> 00:37:33.670 vice versa. So go ahead and talk about it. Kick 00:37:33.670 --> 00:37:36.050 it around. Open your Bibles and study in the 00:37:36.050 --> 00:37:39.090 spirit of brotherly love. That is all good, but 00:37:39.090 --> 00:37:43.269 do not create a tear in this body. You hear me 00:37:43.269 --> 00:37:46.769 on that? I love when guys are like, hey, can 00:37:46.769 --> 00:37:48.369 we get together and wrestle through this text? 00:37:48.750 --> 00:37:51.510 Nothing pleases an elder more than that. But 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:54.349 we will not create tears over non -essential 00:37:54.349 --> 00:37:57.190 doctrines. And just as a warning, this is sort 00:37:57.190 --> 00:38:00.610 of how... How this happens. I've seen this happen 00:38:00.610 --> 00:38:03.070 too many times in the church. Jeff sort of hinted 00:38:03.070 --> 00:38:06.010 at it. You have somebody in the body who starts 00:38:06.010 --> 00:38:08.429 off with goodwill and he gets into a particular 00:38:08.429 --> 00:38:11.510 issue and he starts reading books about it and 00:38:11.510 --> 00:38:14.070 he listens to every podcast about it. He gets 00:38:14.070 --> 00:38:18.170 very excited about this one thing. And he's convinced 00:38:18.170 --> 00:38:19.929 that everybody in the church needs to believe 00:38:19.929 --> 00:38:23.130 what he believes. And it becomes his pet issue, 00:38:23.250 --> 00:38:27.110 his thing. And oftentimes he'll either avoid 00:38:27.110 --> 00:38:29.210 talking to the elders about it, or if he just 00:38:29.210 --> 00:38:31.550 can't get their attention, he will start to whisper 00:38:31.550 --> 00:38:33.889 about that issue in the corners of the church. 00:38:34.869 --> 00:38:36.989 Or he will start meeting with people to try to 00:38:36.989 --> 00:38:39.869 convince them that he has this right. And if 00:38:39.869 --> 00:38:43.389 he has the charisma, he will gain a following. 00:38:44.989 --> 00:38:48.170 If he has the charisma to pull that off, he will 00:38:48.170 --> 00:38:50.630 gain a following. And over time, he'll make that 00:38:50.630 --> 00:38:53.090 pet issue a point of division in the body, and 00:38:53.090 --> 00:38:57.349 here's the kicker, he'll be proud of it. He'll 00:38:57.349 --> 00:39:00.309 be proud. Why? Well, I've straightened out what 00:39:00.309 --> 00:39:02.829 was crooked in the church. God gave me that assignment. 00:39:02.849 --> 00:39:07.710 Now I've fixed everything. Really? The truth 00:39:07.710 --> 00:39:09.769 is he's not serving Christ. He's not serving 00:39:09.769 --> 00:39:14.230 the church. He's serving himself. And he tears 00:39:14.230 --> 00:39:19.389 the church apart. And he pumps up his ego. And 00:39:19.389 --> 00:39:22.409 he chips away at the testimony of the church. 00:39:22.489 --> 00:39:26.070 Imagine you arrive at the judgment seat. And 00:39:26.070 --> 00:39:29.769 your legacy is, I brought harm to the bride of 00:39:29.769 --> 00:39:35.050 Christ. Now, it's not only doctrinal issues where 00:39:35.050 --> 00:39:37.409 this matters. Sometimes it's speaking the same 00:39:37.409 --> 00:39:39.929 things related to decision -making processes 00:39:39.929 --> 00:39:42.949 in the church. This happens all the time. After 00:39:42.949 --> 00:39:45.530 much prayer and discussion, an elder team makes 00:39:45.530 --> 00:39:47.630 a decision. They direct the body in some way, 00:39:47.710 --> 00:39:49.650 and a member of the church hears that from the 00:39:49.650 --> 00:39:52.650 elder team, and they think, I don't agree. And 00:39:52.650 --> 00:39:54.710 that's fine. You have every right not to agree. 00:39:55.400 --> 00:39:58.940 But rather than going directly to a leader, humbly 00:39:58.940 --> 00:40:02.719 seeking understanding to say, hey, help me understand 00:40:02.719 --> 00:40:05.400 that decision. Give me the background I might 00:40:05.400 --> 00:40:09.300 not have. Clarify for me. Give me insight. Instead 00:40:09.300 --> 00:40:12.800 of doing that, what does he do? He talks up his 00:40:12.800 --> 00:40:16.000 own opinion with the other members. And his goal 00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:18.159 is to get a whole bunch of people on his team. 00:40:19.049 --> 00:40:20.969 that all feel strongly about this thing. And 00:40:20.969 --> 00:40:23.130 then we'll try to manipulate the church to go 00:40:23.130 --> 00:40:26.409 in that direction by using, you ready? The subtle 00:40:26.409 --> 00:40:32.469 threat of rebellion. Well, I got a bunch of people 00:40:32.469 --> 00:40:33.969 over here that really think you guys are going 00:40:33.969 --> 00:40:41.349 the wrong direction. And it tears. It's divisive. 00:40:41.389 --> 00:40:45.030 It's corrosive. And for anybody that's ever been 00:40:45.030 --> 00:40:46.690 approached by somebody, they say, hey, let me 00:40:46.690 --> 00:40:48.780 talk to you about something. The elders, stop 00:40:48.780 --> 00:40:52.900 listening. Just cut it off right there. Nope. 00:40:53.940 --> 00:40:55.739 If we want to talk about something the elders 00:40:55.739 --> 00:40:58.880 are doing, let's invite an elder into this. Don't 00:40:58.880 --> 00:41:04.119 listen to it. Jeff mentioned it, Romans 16. Paul, 00:41:04.219 --> 00:41:07.420 talk about practical. Paul says, keep your eye 00:41:07.420 --> 00:41:10.900 on those who cause dissensions and turn away 00:41:10.900 --> 00:41:13.980 from them. For such men are slaves, not of our 00:41:13.980 --> 00:41:18.110 Lord Christ, but of their own appetites. And 00:41:18.110 --> 00:41:20.289 by their smooth and flattering speech, Carol, 00:41:20.429 --> 00:41:22.769 right? You said that. By their smooth and flattering 00:41:22.769 --> 00:41:25.929 speech, they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting, 00:41:25.929 --> 00:41:31.210 the immature in the body. So listen, practical. 00:41:31.550 --> 00:41:34.030 You're not always going to agree with or be happy 00:41:34.030 --> 00:41:36.030 with a decision or direction taken by an elder 00:41:36.030 --> 00:41:37.929 team here at Oak Hill or any church you're ever 00:41:37.929 --> 00:41:40.869 a part of. You may not be happy. When that happens, 00:41:40.929 --> 00:41:43.269 it may be a couple things. Because you don't 00:41:43.269 --> 00:41:45.349 have the full picture or the background of why 00:41:45.349 --> 00:41:47.730 they came to that decision. Or, you know what? 00:41:47.949 --> 00:41:51.250 You may be dead right. You may actually, your 00:41:51.250 --> 00:41:53.769 opinion might be 100 % legitimate and valid. 00:41:54.469 --> 00:41:57.210 But either way, the key is how do I go about 00:41:57.210 --> 00:42:00.110 handling that disagreement? So coming back to 00:42:00.110 --> 00:42:02.989 that concept, there are healthy ways to disagree 00:42:02.989 --> 00:42:08.159 in the church. The iron sharpening iron aspect 00:42:08.159 --> 00:42:10.619 of disagreements can produce spiritual fruit 00:42:10.619 --> 00:42:13.679 if it's handled the right way. It could even 00:42:13.679 --> 00:42:16.800 draw us closer together if we work through disagreements 00:42:16.800 --> 00:42:20.000 in a biblical fashion. But going back to the 00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:22.320 book of James, it's imperative that you take 00:42:22.320 --> 00:42:25.159 stock of your own heart before you take any action. 00:42:25.940 --> 00:42:28.260 To ask yourself the question, hold on a second, 00:42:28.400 --> 00:42:32.579 deep breath, am I being self -centered here? 00:42:33.739 --> 00:42:37.500 Have I made this about me? Am I angry or bitter 00:42:37.500 --> 00:42:40.500 towards leadership for some reason? If so, I 00:42:40.500 --> 00:42:42.340 have to deal with the Lord first on that issue 00:42:42.340 --> 00:42:45.099 before I do anything else. To lay that aside. 00:42:45.280 --> 00:42:49.300 Above all, am I seeking peace and unity and insight 00:42:49.300 --> 00:42:52.119 and clarification, or am I seeking to pump up 00:42:52.119 --> 00:42:56.019 my ego by dividing people? These are critical 00:42:56.019 --> 00:42:58.980 things. Jeff said it. Sometimes... Sometimes 00:42:58.980 --> 00:43:01.199 when you're on the younger side of this, you 00:43:01.199 --> 00:43:03.079 don't understand these principles. When you've 00:43:03.079 --> 00:43:05.519 been in ministry for 20, 30, 40 years, you're 00:43:05.519 --> 00:43:08.280 like, man, the same pattern. The same pattern 00:43:08.280 --> 00:43:14.119 in the church. And the enemy loves it. Here's 00:43:14.119 --> 00:43:17.579 the thing. We live in a bitterly partisan world 00:43:17.579 --> 00:43:22.420 today. Everybody online is angry. Everybody's 00:43:22.420 --> 00:43:27.179 hostile. Political... Political speech is a competitive 00:43:27.179 --> 00:43:29.519 sport. Everybody's running around pointing fingers 00:43:29.519 --> 00:43:32.099 and saying, labeling the other side with the 00:43:32.099 --> 00:43:35.179 most vulgar things you can imagine. We fight 00:43:35.179 --> 00:43:38.079 and argue on social media. We run to the comments 00:43:38.079 --> 00:43:40.800 section. Don't look at the comments section. 00:43:42.059 --> 00:43:46.139 Don't do it. And don't contribute to it. It's 00:43:46.139 --> 00:43:49.659 ugly. We shoot off texts and emails or post something 00:43:49.659 --> 00:43:52.260 on Facebook without thinking about the damage 00:43:52.260 --> 00:43:54.769 that we're doing. The way we're hurting people, 00:43:54.889 --> 00:43:58.010 the absolutism that we have in our position. 00:43:58.469 --> 00:44:02.110 And then we find certain heroes online, right? 00:44:02.409 --> 00:44:05.329 Certain podcasters, certain personalities. We 00:44:05.329 --> 00:44:07.849 love all their posts. We start to hang on their 00:44:07.849 --> 00:44:12.610 every word, like party loyalists. But the hatred 00:44:12.610 --> 00:44:15.110 is so, I wonder if this is part of what Jesus 00:44:15.110 --> 00:44:17.530 was talking about in his Olivet Discourse in 00:44:17.530 --> 00:44:20.690 Matthew 24, when he said, many false prophets 00:44:20.690 --> 00:44:24.579 will arise. and they will mislead many. And because 00:44:24.579 --> 00:44:27.480 lawlessness is increased, people's love will 00:44:27.480 --> 00:44:31.460 grow cold. I just wonder, are we in that moment? 00:44:33.059 --> 00:44:34.900 Now, you might object to me. You might say, well, 00:44:34.940 --> 00:44:36.739 look, that's the spirit of the world. That doesn't 00:44:36.739 --> 00:44:41.619 happen in the church. Oh, friends, it seeps into 00:44:41.619 --> 00:44:46.400 the church. How can it not? If any of us spends 00:44:46.400 --> 00:44:49.059 hours and hours online, on our phones, reading, 00:44:49.219 --> 00:44:51.679 listening, clicking, you are likely to bring 00:44:51.679 --> 00:44:54.420 all those tendencies into the church, into the 00:44:54.420 --> 00:44:57.960 fellowship. And when you do that, the danger 00:44:57.960 --> 00:45:00.280 of division skyrockets. You end up treating your 00:45:00.280 --> 00:45:02.719 leaders, your brothers and sisters in Christ 00:45:02.719 --> 00:45:05.820 in the same way you treat somebody online, as 00:45:05.820 --> 00:45:11.360 an enemy to be vanquished. We're all susceptible 00:45:11.360 --> 00:45:15.559 to this. If we're not guarding our hearts. And 00:45:15.559 --> 00:45:18.079 sadly, a watching world sees it. They see when 00:45:18.079 --> 00:45:20.380 we go after each other. They hear, oh, did you 00:45:20.380 --> 00:45:25.280 hear about XYZ Church? They split again. And 00:45:25.280 --> 00:45:27.139 what do we do? We give them an excuse to mock 00:45:27.139 --> 00:45:29.599 the church. We give them an excuse to disregard 00:45:29.599 --> 00:45:33.300 the name of Christ. So let's just finish. The 00:45:33.300 --> 00:45:35.820 last part of verse 10 now. What does Paul want 00:45:35.820 --> 00:45:38.280 us to do? He says that you may be made complete. 00:45:39.309 --> 00:45:41.889 Some translations say that you be perfectly united 00:45:41.889 --> 00:45:45.190 in the same mind and the same judgment. Now, 00:45:45.250 --> 00:45:48.150 that phrase, made complete, is a very scary Greek 00:45:48.150 --> 00:45:50.650 word, kadertismanoi. You see it on the screen. 00:45:51.030 --> 00:45:54.929 But it's the companion word to schismata. This 00:45:54.929 --> 00:45:57.630 is so important. Remember, schismata is the tearing 00:45:57.630 --> 00:46:01.550 apart. Kadertismanoi is the mending. It's the 00:46:01.550 --> 00:46:04.889 mending of a garment. It's the mending of a fishing 00:46:04.889 --> 00:46:07.969 net. It's even used to talk about bringing broken 00:46:07.969 --> 00:46:10.409 bones together. It talks about holding things 00:46:10.409 --> 00:46:15.789 together. This is what Paul wants for us. And 00:46:15.789 --> 00:46:17.929 for him, this comes with spiritual maturity. 00:46:17.969 --> 00:46:20.750 Hear me on this. Spiritual maturity in the Lord 00:46:20.750 --> 00:46:24.630 comes when you become a mender of things, not 00:46:24.630 --> 00:46:28.489 a terror of things. That you're committed to 00:46:28.489 --> 00:46:33.610 mending and to peace and to unity. And if you're 00:46:33.610 --> 00:46:36.920 a terror, listen, do you find yourself constantly 00:46:36.920 --> 00:46:42.659 contentious in life? If someone were to say, 00:46:42.800 --> 00:46:44.659 you know, what do you think about me? And one 00:46:44.659 --> 00:46:48.679 of the words is, he's a contentious person. You're 00:46:48.679 --> 00:46:50.559 always looking to argue, always looking to win 00:46:50.559 --> 00:46:54.260 a debate, win an argument. Paul would say, you 00:46:54.260 --> 00:46:59.460 lack humility and you lack love. He would say 00:46:59.460 --> 00:47:01.079 what he says here in verse 10, you should be 00:47:01.079 --> 00:47:03.380 one with your brothers and sisters. Put on the 00:47:03.380 --> 00:47:06.320 same mind. Have the same judgment. In other words, 00:47:06.340 --> 00:47:08.760 have the same perspective as others, especially 00:47:08.760 --> 00:47:12.599 your leaders in the Lord. See the big picture. 00:47:12.780 --> 00:47:15.179 Don't get caught up in the weeds on trivial things. 00:47:15.340 --> 00:47:17.940 Be able to discern what really matters and what 00:47:17.940 --> 00:47:21.679 you can lay aside. And to show what that looks 00:47:21.679 --> 00:47:24.139 like, I always go back to Philippians 2 because 00:47:24.139 --> 00:47:26.860 it is the, to me, the foundational New Testament 00:47:26.860 --> 00:47:29.340 passage that talks about how we should all be 00:47:29.340 --> 00:47:32.429 functioning in the body of Christ. Be of the 00:47:32.429 --> 00:47:35.769 same mind, Paul writes. Same mind, that's that 00:47:35.769 --> 00:47:37.989 same phrase. Be of the same mind, maintaining 00:47:37.989 --> 00:47:42.050 the same love, united in spirit, intent on one 00:47:42.050 --> 00:47:46.769 purpose. Do nothing from selfish or empty conceit. 00:47:47.150 --> 00:47:50.469 but with humility of mind, regard one another 00:47:50.469 --> 00:47:53.250 as more important than yourselves. Do not merely 00:47:53.250 --> 00:47:55.670 look out for your own personal interests, but 00:47:55.670 --> 00:47:58.570 also for the interests of others. Have this attitude. 00:47:58.670 --> 00:48:01.449 You ready? This is it. Have this attitude in 00:48:01.449 --> 00:48:05.230 yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. Guys, 00:48:05.289 --> 00:48:07.610 here's the ultimate model for how you should 00:48:07.610 --> 00:48:10.190 interact with others in the church. It's Jesus. 00:48:10.369 --> 00:48:13.590 Is that a shock? Is that a surprise? It's Jesus. 00:48:13.670 --> 00:48:16.230 What was Jesus's attitude towards you and me? 00:48:18.380 --> 00:48:22.300 He humbled himself, taking on the form of a bondservant, 00:48:22.320 --> 00:48:27.860 being made in the likeness of man for us. The 00:48:27.860 --> 00:48:32.920 Lord of glory went to the cross and allowed sinners 00:48:32.920 --> 00:48:37.800 to execute him for our benefit, and we can't 00:48:37.800 --> 00:48:40.880 respond to that sacrifice by being menders rather 00:48:40.880 --> 00:48:48.960 than terrors? Are you kidding me? Unity happens 00:48:48.960 --> 00:48:52.000 when the members of a congregation are all striving 00:48:52.000 --> 00:48:56.260 to put one another first. When all begin to see 00:48:56.260 --> 00:48:58.360 that the needs of others are more important than 00:48:58.360 --> 00:49:00.679 their own. And when everybody in the local church 00:49:00.679 --> 00:49:03.840 is doing that simultaneously, guess what? The 00:49:03.840 --> 00:49:09.340 church functions as Jesus designed it. That's 00:49:09.340 --> 00:49:11.800 what we want to be. That's what we want to be. 00:49:12.880 --> 00:49:18.719 Behold how good and how pleasant it is. For brothers 00:49:18.719 --> 00:49:23.719 to dwell together in unity, David says. Now, 00:49:23.739 --> 00:49:30.500 can I close with just some good news? Here at 00:49:30.500 --> 00:49:34.519 Oak Hill, we do unity really well. I mean, this 00:49:34.519 --> 00:49:36.239 might have felt like a little bit of a club today, 00:49:36.340 --> 00:49:39.659 but we do this really well. And we can praise 00:49:39.659 --> 00:49:42.179 God for this. Historically, the threat of divisions 00:49:42.179 --> 00:49:45.400 hasn't been a problem here. And I think that's 00:49:45.400 --> 00:49:48.000 because we've always made fostering unity a high 00:49:48.000 --> 00:49:51.699 priority and we don't let divisions linger. We 00:49:51.699 --> 00:49:55.019 deal with them biblically. And that's to your 00:49:55.019 --> 00:49:57.059 credit, brothers and sisters. Well done. You 00:49:57.059 --> 00:49:59.800 get it. You've understood the priority we put 00:49:59.800 --> 00:50:02.280 on that and you've been striving for it. So well 00:50:02.280 --> 00:50:04.699 done. But most of all, praise the Lord for all 00:50:04.699 --> 00:50:06.659 of that, for all the ways that he has protected 00:50:06.659 --> 00:50:11.199 us over 19 years as a church family. But having 00:50:11.199 --> 00:50:15.150 said that, can we get complacent? No. No, because 00:50:15.150 --> 00:50:17.530 the warning that we have in this text is real 00:50:17.530 --> 00:50:20.849 and it's still binding on us. And we know that 00:50:20.849 --> 00:50:23.050 our spiritual enemy is always out there, right? 00:50:23.250 --> 00:50:26.630 Prowling around, seeking to devour. So together, 00:50:26.730 --> 00:50:30.190 let's remain vigilant, let's remain alert, and 00:50:30.190 --> 00:50:32.809 let's keep holding each other to the high standard 00:50:32.809 --> 00:50:35.909 that we have in this particular passage of scripture. 00:50:36.130 --> 00:50:39.170 Amen? All right, I'm gonna ask you to bow your 00:50:39.170 --> 00:50:43.289 heads. This is one of those moments where it's 00:50:43.289 --> 00:50:46.949 good and helpful to give you a few moments to 00:50:46.949 --> 00:50:49.409 talk to the Lord and to pray quietly and to repent 00:50:49.409 --> 00:50:52.090 of any sin that you need to repent of and to 00:50:52.090 --> 00:50:55.369 affirm the truth of his word. So let's all spend 00:50:55.369 --> 00:50:57.829 just a few moments in prayer together. Then Grant's 00:50:57.829 --> 00:51:00.809 gonna pull us out and we will sing two more songs 00:51:00.809 --> 00:51:02.269 in response. Let's pray.