It takes very little to observe
the fact that among men, horrible divisions exist. Since the days
of Noah, men have been dividing into groups. Usually, they divide
according to race and place and face. We're proud of our race,
proud of our place, and proud of our face. And if yours isn't
like ours, we don't want you around. That's the nature of
the beast called humanity. It seems that man by nature prefers
strife to unity. He prefers conflict to communion. He prefers war to peace. If that weren't the case, they
wouldn't invent ways to cause so much conflict and so much
strife and so much war. Men and women everywhere look
for excuses to quarrel. Just look for excuses to quarrel.
You watch people when you're sitting in a restaurant or you're
in a crowded place, you look at folks and you know that fellow
beyond, he's just looking for somebody to fuss at. He's just
looking for an excuse to gripe. Just looking for an excuse to
be upset. People look for it. Look for
an opportunity. to be ugly, how easily families,
husbands and wives and brothers and sisters are divided from
one another, how easily sons and daughters, mothers and fathers
are split from one another. Families, how sad, how sad. Terribly sad. Even among those
who are brothers and sisters in Christ, divisions often come. I hear folks say that believers
don't experience those things. You're living in a bubble. No. Paul and Barnabas were both faithful
men, weren't they? They were both separated by God
the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, weren't
they? They were both gifted of God for that work. And they labored
together as co-laborers where one was found, the other was
found. Where one walked, the other walked. Where one preached,
the other preached. Until one day, they locked horns. They locked horns and never worked
together again. Even among believers, strife
and division comes. What's the cause? What's the
cause? What causes strife in your home? Strife in the church? Strife
in the world? What causes division among men? As you were reading through the
book of Proverbs last week, did you notice how often you were
told? Only by pride cometh contention. If you weren't so blooming proud,
you wouldn't be so easily offended. Only by pride cometh contention. Nosy, busy bodies cause strife. And nosy, busy bodies aren't
necessarily women. I found out men are just as bad.
Stick your nose in where it doesn't belong. Attend other folks' business. Try to figure other folks out.
I don't gossip. With slandering tongues, men
call strife. Yak it, just yak it, about things
they know nothing about. The wise man said, a wrathful
man stirreth up strife. He that covereth a transgression
seeketh love. But he that repeateth the matter
separateth very friends." When was the last time you heard
something bad and didn't repeat it? When was it? When was the last
time you heard an evil report or a rumor? Usually that's what
it is, a rumor about someone. Did you hear what I heard that
Bobby, you reckon that could be true? Nah. Well, I heard it. When was the last time you heard
such and didn't repeat it? It's called gossip, slander,
it's vile, and it's evil, and it causes strife. Those who seek
love, well, I saw Bobby do it. I heard him do it. I was there
when he did it, but I ain't gonna talk about it. I'd cover it up. You mean you cover up a man's
transgression? Listen to what the book says. He that covereth
a transgression seeketh love. What business is yours? Talk
about it. What good is it going to do to talk about it? What
benefits going to come from talking about it? Well, I just don't
think that's right. Well, take it up with God then.
Cover the transgression. If you love your brother, cover
it. A forward man soweth strife. A whisperer separated friends. He that loveth transgression
loveth strife. That's what it is. He that loveth
transgression loveth strife. Where no wood is, the wise man
said, there the fire goeth out. So where there is no tailbearer,
the strife seethes. As coals are to burning coals
and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. When the tail bearer has got
nobody who will listen to him, do you know where the tail bearer
goes? They go home. They go home. I seldom ever hear
the things that most people hear about other people. Because I'll
tell folks real frankly, I don't want to hear it. I'm not going
to hear it. You got no business talking about
it. And if you'd send the tail bearer home, you wouldn't have
to listen to it either. And the strife ceases. He that is of a proud heart stirreth
up strife. Now I've said all that because
I pray God will teach me and teach you kindness. Give us grace
to use our influence and use our energy to promote others
and to promote peace. Spirit of God, keep me from grieving
you by the corrupt communication, bitterness, anger, wrath, and
evil speaking that injures and causes strife. Our Lord said,
blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children
of God. I won't be a peacemaker, don't
you? I'd like wherever I go to calm troubled waters, not stir
them up. Blessed are the peacemakers.
They shall be called the children of God. But having said all that,
I want you to turn to John chapter 7. And I hasten to say, not all
strife is evil. Not all strife is evil. Not all
peace is good. It's not always best to have
peace. Division is not always evil and unity is not always
good. A united mob of rebels is still
a mob of rebels. A united group of thieves is
still a bunch of thieves. A united group of murderers is
still a bunch of murderers. So being one is not always good. And peace is not always good. You drive down the road a little
ways and you can go inside this place. It looks a little bit
like a church building and feels like most I've been in. It's
called a mausoleum. You can go inside that thing
and everything's peaceful. It's quiet. Nothing's going on. That's because it's dead. That's what you expect in a mausoleum.
And the peace and stillness of death is not desirable. Here
in John chapter 7, we read about a strife that can't be avoided. If we're faithful to God and
faithful witnesses of Christ in this age or in any age, Christ
himself, you see, is the cause of division among men. That's
the title of my message, Christ the Cause of Division. Let's
begin at verse 40, John chapter 7. Many of the people, therefore,
when they heard this saying, they heard our Savior's doctrine
in this chapter, they said of a truth, this is the prophet. Here he is. They knew that the
time for the Messiah was at hand. They said, this is the prophet,
verse 41. Others said, this is the Christ,
this is the Messiah. But some said, shall Christ come
out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said that
Christ cometh to the seat of David and out of the town of
Bethlehem where David was? So there was a division among
the people because of him. There was a division among these
people who heard him preach because of him. And some of them would
have taken him, but no man laid hands on him. Then came the officers
to the chief priest and the Pharisees, and they said unto them, Why
have you not brought him? And the officers answered, Never
man spake like this man. Then answered them the Pharisees,
Are ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers of the
Pharisees believed on him? Do you see any of us following
him around? Do you see any of us speaking
well of him? We're the leaders here, you know. We're the recognized religious
authorities. We're the theologians. Who are
you? Have any of the rulers believed
on him? But this people who knoweth not the law, these ignorant masses,
they're cursed. These people who disagree with
us, why, they're cursed. They don't know what's going
on. These people who knoweth not the law are cursed. Nicodemus,
who's right here with the Sanhedrin, this ruler of the Jews who came
to Jesus by night just a few months earlier, saith unto them,
He that came to Jesus by night, being one of them, he said, Doth
our law judge any man before it hear him and know what he
doeth? And they shut him up right now.
They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? You
taking sides with him? You're one of his disciples.
Search and look, for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet, and every
man went into his own house. Now, why was John inspired of
God to record these things? Why does he tell us about this
division that was caused by our Savior? That is caused because
of his person, his doctrine, and his work. What do we learn
from this passage? Let me show you four things that
are obvious. Number one, number one, and I'm going to spend a
little time here. It's about knowledge. It's about
knowledge. There is a vast, vast, vast difference
between religious knowledge and spiritual or saving knowledge. Religious knowledge is knowledge
of religious things without faith in Christ. Religious knowledge,
knowledge without faith in Christ is useless. It's damning. It is never beneficial. Spiritual
knowledge is the gift of God. The gift that is the accompaniment
of God's saving grace. Religious knowledge is nothing
but the acquirement of the human mind and human effort and human
works. Nothing else. We're told here
that some of our Lord's hearers knew clearly where Christ was
to be born. He's supposed to be born in Bethlehem.
We're told down in Micah chapter 5 verse 2 verse 7 that that's
where he's to come from. This one who's the Messiah, he
must be of the seed of David out of Bethlehem, not out of
Galilee. This can't be the Christ. Others
said, oh no, this is the prophet. This is that one of whom Moses
and the Law spoke. This is he of whom Isaiah spoke. This is the Christ, the Messiah,
the one we've been looking for. They understood the word of Scripture. They understood the history of
Scripture. Not only that, they understood
Bible history better than most people in our day who study the
Bible regularly. They had figured out that the
time in which they were living was the 70th week of Daniel.
They figured it out, they went back and calculated it. They
understood this is when Messiah is supposed to come. He's got to come sometime right
about now. Right about now. And they were
looking for Messiah at the time. And yet, the eyes of their understanding
were utter darkness. They had lots of knowledge. They
could recite long texts of scripture. They didn't have a Bible like
we had divided up in chapter and verse and in a nice leather
cover. They had scrolls, rolls of paper. And when they wanted to read
scripture, they had to go to the synagogue and find one of
these rare rolls of scripture and read it from that. Put it
back. Take it home with you. No, no, this ain't rare. And
yet they memorized scripture, verse and chapter, memorized
scripture, and didn't have a clue what scripture was saying. Didn't
have a clue. These folks groped about in darkness. The Christ, the Messiah, was
standing right in front of them. And they couldn't see Him. They
couldn't see Him. He was standing in their midst,
and they were standing in front of Him debating about His coming.
debating about religious practice and religious theory and dates
and family trees and such nonsense. Christ was in their midst and
they didn't know him. They didn't believe him. They
didn't trust him. They refused to hear him. And
they went to hell with the Son of God standing in front of them. Without question. There is no
faith without knowledge. I don't belittle it at all. I
get a little upset, more than a little upset. I hear preachers.
I heard one recently, it's a while back, but I heard him just recently.
A fellow preached two or three times and every time he got in
the pulpit, he repeated this as if it were to be something
to be proud of, as if it was something that was really true.
He said, he's when God, well, he didn't say when God saved
me, he said when I got saved, that's a dead giveaway. That's
a pretty good giveaway. When you got saved, you probably
didn't. There's a big difference between God saved and God saving.
He said, when I got saved, I didn't know anything about God. And
I finally concluded he really didn't. He really didn't. I didn't know anything about
Christ. Didn't know anything. No, no, that's not even possible. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God. Men and women are born again
by the power of God's Spirit and God gives them faith, but
that faith is not a leap in the dark. It is faith in the Word
of God and in the Son of God given by the Spirit of God. Without
knowledge, there's no such thing as faith. but you can have a
ton of knowledge and not have faith. You can have a ton of
knowledge and not have faith. Many in our day, like these folks
standing here in John 7, know the words of scripture. You go talk to them, sit down
with them, They can read, they can turn it into place in scripture
right now. Or they can recite it to you right now, but don't
have a clue what scriptures mean. They know the facts of Bible
history, but they haven't a clue why those facts are recorded
or what those facts describe what they teach. They know the
doctrine, many know the doctrine of Christ, know it right well.
They know, in theory, the things that the Lord Jesus taught, but
they don't know Him. What I'm trying to say is this.
You remember when Paul came to the Athenians, and he was going
down there in the area up where all those folks were worshiping
every kind of God imaginable. The Gentiles, you know, they've
always always had plenty of gods. If they didn't have one for this
day, they could make one in a heartbeat. And just in case they missed
one, these were brilliant fellows. You know, they were philosophers.
They were learned. These were the folks who followed
after the great philosophers of the Gentile world. And just
in case they missed one of their gods, they had a little shrine. First time I ever saw one of
those idol boxes down in Louisiana, I had seen one when I was a kid,
we used it. When I was just a child, we had a telephone sitting in
it. I thought it was a telephone box. I didn't know it was an idol
box. And I wonder why nobody put telephones in those things.
Down in Louisiana, almost all the houses are built with those
things. Walk in the front door, there's an idol box. So you can
put your crucifix there or your bobble-headed Mary or something
like that. You can set it in there and worship it before you
got the door. And so they had their idol boxes. Well, they
had one, a big shrine. And over it was an inscription,
to the unknown God. Oh, isn't that good? We worship
Zeus, and we worship Jesus, and oh! Just think that we worship
the unknown God too. There's just one problem with
that. You can't know an unknown God. And you can't trust an unknown
God. And you can't worship an unknown
God. Can't describe an unknown God. He's unknown. Faith is the
knowledge of God, our Savior. Turn to John 17. Hold your hands
here in John 7. Salvation is knowing Christ. Not knowing about Him. Not knowing
even His doctrine. Salvation is not knowing what
he did. Salvation is not knowing about
blood and righteousness. That's not it. That's not it.
That's not it. Salvation is knowing Jesus Christ,
the Son of God. Is this what he says? John chapter
17, verse 3. Our Lord Jesus says, this is
life eternal, that they might know thee. the only true God
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Turn back to Jeremiah chapter
9. Jeremiah 9. Salvation is knowing a person. Salvation is trusting a person.
Salvation is embracing a person. Salvation is living with, in,
and by a person. Salvation is knowing Christ,
Jeremiah 9, 23. Thus saith the Lord, let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory
in his might. Let not the rich man glory in
his riches. Don't trust your wisdom, and
don't trust your strength, and don't trust your wealth. But
he that glorieth, he that trusteth, let him trust in this, that he
understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise
lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For
in these things I delight, saith the Lord. The fact is the devils
know scripture, and they know doctrine. and they know prophecy,
and they know facts, and they're still devils. They're unaffected
by what they know. Many men and women are just like
them, familiar with the letter of scripture, able to quote scores
of text. They reason and argue and debate
about theological theory, and they're dead in trespasses and
in sins. Saving knowledge is heart knowledge. heart knowledge that is imparted
to chosen sinners by the gift of God's Spirit in the new birth. When Christ is formed in you,
you know it. When Christ is formed in you,
you know it. In fact, Paul says in 1 Corinthians
2, verse 16, we have the mind of Christ. Now, we don't know
Christ after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Suddenly, I know Him. I know Him. And knowing Him, I trust Him.
And having the mind of Christ, though nobody understands us. Nobody in their right mind, Bob
Duff, would understand why feeling like you do right now, you'd
struggle with that cane to get up the steps to come over here
to worship. Nobody understand it. Why would you do that? Well,
he's going down there because he's afraid he might go to hell
if he doesn't. He's going down there because it'd make him feel
good to go down there, go down there. Yeah, yeah. They don't
understand. Don't have a clue. Don't have a clue. Those religious
fools filled with knowledge don't understand us, but we understand
everything. Is that what Paul said in 1 Corinthians
2.15? We understand everything. We discern everything. Because
we have the mind of Christ. No, I don't understand what politicians
do. I don't understand what doctors
do. I don't understand what architects do. I don't understand what plumbers
do. I don't understand what ditch
diggers do. But I understand what this book teaches. I understand
things spiritual. And you do too if you're born
of God. How many times, Rex, when you've been listening to
me or Brother Todd or Lindsey or somebody preach and they say
something, just immediately, something's been confusing to
you all your life. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's
it. How can you how can you make
such quick judgment? Because it matches the spirit
of Christ in me and everything revealed in this book about him.
That's it. That's it. There's no question.
Immediately. That's it. Our Lord Jesus shows us the necessity
of this spiritual knowledge that comes by the Spirit of God in
divine revelation. Turn to John 16. I've got to
hurry. When Christ is revealed in you,
when a man or woman made a new creature in Christ, when grace
creates you new, grace causes the heaven born soul to know
the plague of his own heart, the guilt of sin, the righteousness
of God in Christ, and the accomplishment of redemption by Christ. John
16, verse 7. Our Lord Jesus is speaking. He
says, nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It's expedient for
you. That is, it is necessary for
you that I go away. For if I go not away, the comforter,
God, the Holy Spirit, will not come to you. But if I depart,
I'll send him unto you. And when he is come, he will
reprove. The word is convince. Convince. He will convince the world. Now, if you think the word world
there means everybody in the world. You got some strange things
said here. Folks over world means world.
No, it doesn't. It means what it means. He will convince the
world of God's elect. The world of God's redeemed?
Because all the world is not convinced of sin, or of righteousness,
or of judgment. Matter of fact, very few people
in this world are convinced of those things. But all God's elect
in this world, when God the Spirit comes to them, are convinced.
I mean convinced. Paul says, I am persuaded. The
word is, I stand convinced. Immediately, David, he teaches
you something. Sin. You know, I had trouble finding
out what sin was because I tried to curb it and quit it and stop
it. I thought that sin was cussing,
so I quit cussing. And I thought that sin was smoking,
and I quit smoking. And I thought sin was drinking,
so I quit drinking. And I thought sin was dressed
in a certain way, so I quit dressing that way. I thought sin was going
this place, and I quit going there. And I thought sin was
that, and I quit doing that. But when God saved me, I saw
something immediate. I saw, Merle, my problem between
me and God wasn't chewing tobacco or smoking it. It was unbelief. the inbred hatred of my heart
for God. He'll reprove you. He'll convince
you of sin because you believe not on me. When the Spirit of
God comes, He will convince you of righteousness, of righteousness. He'll convince you that you ought
to start doing something. No. False prophets will convince
you of that. And your religious inclinations
will go right along with the false prophets. He'll convince
you of righteousness. He'll convince you God's righteous.
You were born knowing that. You were born knowing that. That's
the reason you're scared to death to die. What does it mean to
convince of righteousness? He will convince you of righteousness. Look at the reason. Of righteousness,
verse 10, because I go to My father. He came down here to
bring in everlasting righteousness, didn't he? He came down here
as Jehovah's Servant to fulfill all righteousness, he told John
the Baptist. He came down here to make an end to transgression,
to fulfill all righteousness as Jehovah's Servant for the
saving of his people. And he could not go back to the
father, except he had done what he came here to do. When the
Spirit of God comes in saving grace, he will immediately convince
you There's not anything to be done by you to please God. Christ did it all. He'll convince
you. He'll convince you. Well, it
takes folks a long time to learn that. It does. Takes them as
long as it takes God to save them. Takes them just as long
as it takes God and the Holy Spirit to give them faith. And
he'll convince you of judgment. Of judgment. Not that judgment's
coming someday. One of the fellows down in Tennessee
years ago preached a sermon, payday someday, and scared the
whole world to death. Well, every barbaric cannibalistic
tribesman who ever lived in New Guinea, eating his neighbors,
knew there's payday someday. That's the reason they ate their
neighbors. That's exactly right. That's exactly right. Everybody
knows that. Everybody knows they're going
to meet God in judgment one day. I know folks say they don't believe
that. They're liars. That's the reason they're scared to die.
What's the meaning of conventional judgment? Because the prince
of this world is judged. He'll convince you judgment's
over because Christ, by his blood atonement, has finished the work
of redemption and he's cast Satan out. All right, very quickly,
let me show you three of the things here. The second thing
in this passage, back in John 7. Our master is held before
us here as an example to be followed by all preachers. He shows us
what it is to preach with authority. To preach with authority. Authority. You remember when he got done
preaching on the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7? The last two verses of chapter
7 read like this. It came to pass when Jesus had
ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine,
for he taught them as one had an authority. Not like the other
preachers. Not as the scribes. Authority. That doesn't mean he stood up
like I'm standing here and spoke in a loud voice as I naturally
do. In fact, we're told plainly that
he sat down on the mount and preached a sermon on the mount.
I suspect he sat there maybe piddling with some grass in his
hands. Maybe every now and then just reach down and scratch it
on the ground. He sat there and talked to folks, but he preached
as one having authority. Not like the scribes and pharisees.
Oh, authority. He preached with tremendous eloquence
and oratorical skills. No, that's not it. No. He preached with such profound
depth and logic and reasoning. No, he didn't. No, he didn't. I defy you to find me any indication
of that anywhere in this book. He did not. Well, you say he
wasn't a brilliant man. Oh, no. No, he was so smart.
He didn't have to act smart. He's brilliant. But he didn't
preach like that. He told tremendous stories to
illustrate truth. And he he could just paint the
picture so beautifully. Well, he did illustrate truth.
But you know how he did it? See that field over yonder? See
that little cattle out yonder? See the coronet you're under?
They just pointed to it. But what authority did he have?
He preached with confidence. Remember how David put it as
he spoke for him? I believed, therefore have I spoken. He believed
what he preached. He just flat believed what he
preached. He believed it. So he spoke with
confidence. He knew it to be truth. not like
the scribes, not like the Pharisees. These Pharisees had their authority.
Their authority was in numbers, recognition, and position. They
came to these officers, they sent them out to arrest the Lord
Jesus, and said, said, why haven't you arrested him? And they came
back and said, well, fellas, honestly, you might have made
a mistake sending us down there, because we ain't never heard
anybody preach like this fellow preaches. He speak. as never spake a man." And you
know what the Pharisees responded? Who are you fools to make such
judgment? Have any of us believed on Him? Have you seen any of
the religious leaders following Him? Our Lord Jesus spoke with
authority as one who believed. God give me grace to be such
a preacher. For you who preach, Rod and Lindsey,
others who preach here, Larry, don't ever stand here and dabble
in stuff you don't believe, that you've not experienced, that
you don't know. Theory makes for good bedtime reading material,
and it'll put folks to sleep sitting in front of you. But
speaking with authority, that's something else. Speaking with
authority, you speak from your heart to the hearts of men. Speaking
with authority, you speak what God has taught you himself. Speaking
with authority, you speak the word of God that you've experienced
by God's grace. You speak what you don't have
to retract. You speak what you don't have
to take back. Number three, this man, Nicodemus, down the
latter part of this seventh chapter, shows us clearly that God's work
of grace in converting a sinner is a gradual work. I started
to say often a gradual work, usually a gradual work. A gradual
work. It's not certain. Not many are
converted like Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. Not
many are. So he was a pattern. He was a
pattern in that he was chosen of God, chosen of God, made the
object of God's grace, saved by anything he did, but not in
that he was suddenly struck down on Damascus Road. I know that's
not the case because nobody else ever was. Nobody else ever was. This man, Nicodemus, is a pretty
good example of how God converts sinners. Eighteen months earlier,
it's now been a year and a half Nicodemus came to Jesus by night
secretly, this ruler of the Jews, because something was going on
inside him he didn't understand. I think I understand it. Something was going on in him
that he didn't know what was happening. There was something
about this Jesus of Nazareth that had won his heart and had
won his affections, but it was confusing to him. And he was,
after all, a learned, wise, respected, well-to-do theologian, a leader,
a ruler of the Jews. He couldn't be seen coming to
ask this carpenter's son about theology. So he comes to Jesus
by night, and he is very polite, and he's a good master. We know
that no man can do these things that you do except God be with
him. Master said, Nicodemus, you need to find out something,
buddy. You're as dumb as a box of rocks. You don't know anything. You
don't know anything. Until you're born again, you
can't see the kingdom of God. Until you're born again, you
can't see it and you can't enter it. No point in talking to me about
it. Well, all right, then, how's a man born again? I call back
up in my mother's belly. You fool. You know you're talking
better than talking nonsense. You know that. You've got to
be born of flesh and of the spirit. And what's born of flesh is just
flesh. What's born of spirit is spirit. And the only way that happens
is you don't do it. It's like the wind. It blows
where it will. You can't see it. You can't hear the sound.
You hear the sound there, but you can't tell where it comes
from, where it's going. So is everyone that's born of the spirit.
In other words, Nicodemus, you ask what you can do, you can't
do anything. But if God does something for you, there's some
hope. And something else has got to be done. The Son of Man
has got to be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness. You've got to trust Him. You've got to trust Him.
Well, I don't know what happened with Nicodemus, but here he is,
18 months later, still seated with the Sanhedrin. But something
happened to him. Something happened to him. Nicodemus
comes to the Master's defense. He's not yet openly identified
himself with the Lord's disciples. He's not yet openly identified
himself with the Lord's people. And in God's good providence,
it's best that he hadn't. Otherwise, he couldn't have done
what he did in John 19. Couldn't have. God knows what he's doing.
Nicodemus, however, speaks to these Jewish Sanhedrin. And he
said, does our law judge a man, condemn a man before it's tried
him to know what he does? And of course, they jumped on
real quick, you know, real quick. But now Nicodemus had begun to
identify himself with him, with the master. And in just a little
while, we're going to see the same Nicodemus, John chapter
19, identifying himself clearly with the Lord Jesus. After the
Lord was crucified, when all the disciples had forsaken him,
when every apostle, not just Peter, every one of them had
abandoned him, every one of them. Everybody else was gone when
nobody else had the nerve to identify with that crucified
Jew. Nicodemus went with Joseph of
Arimathea to Pilate and said, we want him. We want to prepare him for burial,
and I want to put him in my tomb. Grace works gradually in men. I've said that because we all
are prone to set ourselves up as judges of that which is real
and that which is false. We all are very quick to form
an opinion where she's a Christian, she's not. He's a believer, he's
not. He's real, he's fake. And we
always judge wrong, girl. I don't mean now and then, I
mean always. Because we can only judge by outward appearance.
Outward appearance. I have over the years seen some
folks who I thought were examples of faith. Examples of godliness
to be followed. Examples of devotion who proved
at last to be reprobate. And I've seen some. I thought,
well, he'd go. He'd go. Never see him again. He'd go. He's apostate. He's reprobate. No hope for him.
And they proved themselves faithful at last. What's that tell you
about you, Don? Tell me. I don't know much. And
you either. You either. My dear friend, Brother
Harry Graham, was talking to me one time about tares and wheat.
He said, Don, you know how to tell the difference between tares
and wheat? How could I know that? I was raised on the south side
of Winston-Salem. I'd never seen tares or wheat. I'd know half. I don't have any idea. He said,
you can't till harvest time. You're from Kansas. You've seen
it. What's the difference? Harvest
time, the tare stands tall and straight, and the wheat bows
its head. So our Lord said, let them both
go together. If you try to pick them apart, you pull up the wheat
and leave the tears. Leave them alone. Leave them
alone. And here's the fourth thing. We're plainly told that
our Lord Jesus is the cause of division among men. There was
a division among the people because of him. The unbelieving folks
around him were divided. Some said he's a charlatan. Some
said he's a prophet. Some said he's the Christ. None
of them followed it, but they all were divided about it, much
like the unbelieving world around us. There was also a division
of the believer from the unbeliever because of him. This division
always exists. It's a great wide chasm. It's a division that ought to
exist and ought to be deliberately maintained. The more clearly
it's seen, the better. It's a division commanded of
God. Those who believe and those who
believe not can't walk together. They can't walk together. Eventually,
Nicodemus was forced to separate himself from the Sanhedrin and
from the Pharisees. because he belonged to Christ.
And sooner or later, God's going to force you to do the same thing.
This is the command of our Savior. Come out of her, my people, that
you be not partaker of her sins, that you receive not of her plagues.
Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 6. I'll wrap this up. We must come out of Babylon. Babylon. You hear a lot of talk
about that on the news media. All the false prophets, all the
sects talk about the religious Babylon of the world. Well, they've
got a point. Babylon is used throughout the
scripture to represent false religion. It is the religion
of the world. Revelation 18 will show you plainly.
It is the religion that is accepted by the whole world. Well, nobody
accepts, not all the world accepts any one religion, does Babylon.
It does Babylon. It's the religion that tells
you salvation is in your hands. It's the religion that sets man
at the center, not God. It's a religion of free will
and human works. It's Babylon. And our Lord commands
us to come out of Babylon. We must come out and deliver
every man his soul, Jeremiah tells us. Look here in 2 Corinthians
6, verse 14. This is what Paul's talking about. For you're the temple of the
living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk
in them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people.
Wherefore, come out from among them and be you separate, saith
the Lord. Oh, well, we won't go to the
restaurant down here because they've got a bar there and they
sell liquor. And we want folks to know we're Christians. That
ain't what this is talking about. That ain't what it's talking about.
Well, we're not going to go over there because those folks over
there, they don't dress right. That's not what this is talking
about. Now, I'm not suggesting you ought
to go to those other places. I'm just telling you, that's
not what this is talking about. It's not what it's talking about.
What's it talking about? That goat barn right across the road
over yonder? That's what it's talking about. That nice smack
dab across the road. Or any other like it. The pretty
goat barn is down the road. Any of them. Stay away from them. What's he saying? He says, come
out from among them and be you separate, sayeth the Lord. Don't
have anything to do with the religion of this world. Don't
have anything to do with the religion of this world. Nothing
to do with it. Touch not. Look at what he says. The unclean thing. It's unclean,
Billy. It's unclean. The whole religious
world, unclean. All their sacrifices, unclean. God says in Malachi 2, he won't
accept them. He'll take the dung of their
sacrifices. That's what he calls it. Dung. Manure. Smear it on their faces and send
them to hell eating it. Comeeth from among them. Be you
separate, saith the Lord. Touch not the unclean thing and
I'll receive you. I'll be a father to you. You
shall be my sons and daughters. Say it to the Almighty. Oh, I
just, I don't know whether I can make this break or not. I've
been going to church down here all my life. This is where mom
and daddy go to church. This is where my brothers and
sisters go to church. Well, Christ causes divisions like no one
else. This cleavage, the word division
here is the Greek word schism. It identifies a violent split,
a split involving fierce contention. It's a cleavage of the dearest
friends and the closest relatives. It's the deepest, the tenderest,
the most real, the most permanent separation of men and women in
the world. It's separation unto Christ. Oh. You mean, Brother Dodd, the Lord
calls for us to leave off all the former religious works and
idolatry we've been taught all our lives? Separate from family
and friend? How can that be expected? Oh,
I wouldn't do it if I were you. I wouldn't do it. I just flat
wouldn't do it. I'd stay right there. I'd hug
up to the idols and get along with family and friends. That's
what I'd do. If you can. If you can. If you can't. Merle Hart, God Almighty says,
I'll be a father to you. And I'll receive you. And you'll
be my sons and daughters. Amen.