Gtcotr/ss112818
God
has given us such a wealth of wisdom for our lives in the storehouse of His
Word. I have always been amazed at the pre-emptive strategy of God in that He
prepares us for problems before we encounter them. The fact is, God knows the
end from the beginning and He chooses just the right time to teach or remind us
about the principles we need to have ready to employ in our daily walk.
The
Christmas season is a season of family and a season of giving. God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son and whoever believes in Him shall not
perish but have everlasting life. The three major truths of this verse reveal
the hope God has in and through us.
The 3 Truths of The Gospel contained in John
3:16
1.
God’s love.
2.
His intent to include everyone.
3.
God’s love and intent to include everyone is shown by Him giving.
·
Love
·
Inclusion
·
Giving
Of
course we know that both the god of this world and our old carnal nature runs
in opposition to the will, the Word and the way of God. Several times in the
Bible the scriptures show us the marked difference between God’s ways and the
ways of this world.
Jesus
and the Apostles often addressed the temptations faced by Christians to be less
than loving, less than inclusive and less than giving. This evening we are
going to take a brief look at Schisms
and Heresies so
that we might be better armed and strengthen to reflect the heart of God during
this special Christmas season.
The
word schism means take something that is otherwise whole and to tear it apart,
weaken it or create division therein.
1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I
plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all
speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions (schisms)
among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind
and in the same judgment.
The
Apostle Paul continued to encourage the Church at Corinth to guard against schisms
within the Body of Christ. Rather he admonishes us to be perfectly weaved
together into one single piece of fabric.
1 Corinthians 11 (NLT)
17 ¶ But in the following
instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is
done when you meet together.
18 First, I hear that there
are divisions (schisms) among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent
I believe it.
19 But, of course, there must
be divisions (heresies) among you so that you who have God’s approval will be
recognized!
20 When you meet together,
you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper.
21 For some of you hurry to
eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry
while others get drunk.
22 What? Don’t you have your
own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace God’s
church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise
you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this!
There
may be factions at your own home, but not within your own home …
1 Corinthians 12 (NKJV)
12 ¶ For as the body is one
and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one
body, so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit we were
all baptized into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves
or free — and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
14 For in fact the body is
not one member but many.
15 If the foot should say,
“Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the
body?
16 And if the ear should say,
“Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the
body?
17 If the whole body were
an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing,
where would be the smelling?
18 But now God has set the
members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.
19 And if they were all one
member, where would the body be?
20 But now indeed there
are many members, yet one body.
21 And the eye cannot say to
the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no
need of you.”
22 No, much rather, those
members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.
23 And those members
of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater
honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty,
24 but our presentable parts
have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part
which lacks it,
25 that there should be no
schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for
one another.
26 And if one member suffers,
all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the
members rejoice with it.
27 Now you are the body of
Christ, and members individually.
Divisions
and Heresies are not the work of the Lord. Taking something God has designed
and desires to be whole and creating or participating in dividing it or tearing
it apart is not of God. (Families for example …)
Heresy
means the act of capturing others and forming them into a subgroup of
dissenters in opposition the opinion of the duly appointed leader of the larger
group. To form and champion an alternate which opposes God’s ordained leadership.
To lead a small group to dissent is to commit heresy against the larger whole
group.
Galatians 5 (NKJV)
19 Now the works of the flesh
are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred,
contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions,
heresies, (smaller opinionated subgroups),
21 envy, murders,
drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I
also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not
inherit the kingdom of God.
This
year let’s decide to not promote or participate in schisms or heresies.
