The Dangers Of Division
Sermons From 1 Corinthians • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
Greetings…
Theme: Lessons From 1 Corinthians.
Hope: To gain a further understanding of the letter that has the most doctrines discussed.
As we mentioned in the introduction lesson, this letter to the church in Corinth was based on a report given to the apostle Paul about the quarreling going on in the church by someone of Chloe’s household.
10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
Obviously, when there is quarreling amongst brethren there is not unity or fellowship but rather division.
And as you and I know God hates division amongst his people.
God hates those that “sow discord” among brethren.
19 a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.
God considers division in the brotherhood as worldly or fleshly mindedness not spiritually mindedness.
3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?
Unity and not division was so important to God that Jesus prayed for it.
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Why does God hate divisions so much though?
What is it about division that cause him to have this reaction to it.
Well, “The Danger Of Division” is real.
How does division in the church or our lives affect us?
Well…
It Weakens Our Fellowship.
It Weakens Our Fellowship.
With God.
With God.
God is light and there is no darkness in him.
This is a simple fact concerning God’s nature.
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
God is light and therefore he does not want anyone in darkness.
46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.
Now here is the thing, we can only have fellowship with God if we are walking in that light as well.
6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
Why, because sin or darkness separates us.
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
Thankfully, God has given us his word to “light our path” into his fellowship.
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
What does this have to do with “divisions” in the church like we find in the church at Corinth.
There simply isn’t any fellowship with God when we are divided with him on his word.
This is why God spends so much time telling us to examine his word properly.
15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
Not only is our relationship with God weakened and eventually removed when we are causing division or part of that which is dividing but we also find a weakening of our fellowship…
With Our Brethren.
With Our Brethren.
In the same way we cannot have fellowship with God when we are involved with division in the church we also can’t have fellowship with our brethren either.
Fellowship with those that have fellowship with God only comes through being united with God first, then we can be united in fellowship with others walking in the light.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
5 O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
If we can’t agree on God’s word and be united in it fully then we simply cannot walk together spiritually.
3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
Summary
Summary
God hates division because of the great danger it causes by weakening our fellowship with him and our fellow brethren.
We must be children of the light not darkness (1 Thessalonians 5:5).
Not only does it weaken our fellowship with God and our brethren but we also find another great danger of division.
We find…
It Weakens Our Relationships
It Weakens Our Relationships
Within The Home.
Within The Home.
Simply put we cannot be effective in our home and live a life of divisiveness.
When a husband, wife, father, or mother seek to cause divisions between each other or other parts of the family this is not good.
Far too many homes have been devastated by a divisive person in the home.
If the home is functioning like it is supposed to and not divided, we will find…
Husbands are to put their wives on pedestals.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
Wives are to put their husbands on pedestals.
Ephesians 5:33 (ESV)
33 …let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Parents are supposed to be putting their kids on pedestals.
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. 5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
Children putting their parents up there as well.
Ephesians 6:1–2 (ESV)
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise)
When division is allow to fester in the home it weakens every aspect of the family and their relationships.
We also find that when there is division in one’s life it weakens their relationship…
Within The Community.
Within The Community.
The only thing more important than our lives in how we help others get to heaven is our own salvation.
And if we are known as someone that causes divisions with our community relationships, we cannot be effective at teaching them the saving power of God’s grace.
We cannot be effective at teaching the lost if the lost want nothing to do with us.
This is why God spends so much time reminding us of the importance of having a “good reputation” by those in our communities.
Having a reputation as one that is always causing problems and dividing people is not having a “good reputation.”
1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.
1 A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth.
Summary
Summary
When we live divisive lives, we weaken our family and community relationships.
And the truth of the matter is, sometimes our “good reputation” is the only thing that gives someone who is lost pause to hear us teach the gospel.
We must strive in our lives to weaken our relationships due to our unwillingness to hold our tongue and divide those around us.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Paul begins this great letter to the church in Corinth by demanding they change the way they were thinking so that they could change the way they were living.
A house divided cannot stand, it will always fall sooner or later.
25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.
To be clear, I’m not talking about being divided over scriptural matters but rather matters of attitude and opinion.
Jesus said houses would be divided scripturally over the truth (Luke 12:52) but when it comes to our attitudes on non-scriptural matters we cannot be this way.
Invitation
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.