Last Sunday, last Sunday, April the 13th, a church, a body of people, a church where
I have preached and people to whom I have preached many, many
times and a congregation in which I
have many friends, I thought all of the congregation were my friends. Last Sunday, these people met
together, not to worship God. They didn't meet together to
break bread. around the Lord's table, remembering His broken
body and shed blood. They didn't meet for fellowship, heart with heart, praising the
Lord God. They didn't meet to give thanksgiving
and everything give thanks. This is the will of God for you.
They didn't meet last Sunday to preach the gospel. as I trust
we've met today. In fact, they didn't even meet
in the name of Christ, because he said, where two or three are
met in my name, I'll be in their midst. They met to fight. They met to do battle. They met divided into two camps. almost evenly matched. They met to quarrel and devote the pastor out of
office. That's why they came together
on the Lord's Day. This thing had been going on
for months. Friends and other preachers were
hopeful that They may be led to resolve their differences. Accusations were hurled at one
another. Cruel, heartless words were spoken. Threats of bodily harm were even
entertained by some. Members who rarely or never attend
the church were brought in for the business meeting. Folks who didn't come on the
Lord's day to hear the gospel, to hear the pastor, now came
to vote to fire him. Most of them didn't even know
his middle name. I know they couldn't name his children. Families were divided, husbands
and fathers and Friends of many years
became enemies. The pastor was dismissed, and
half the church remained with the old building, and half of them left to start
another church. And this morning, about this
time, there's a group meeting over at the church building. The church is not a building,
we know that, don't we? church's people. Somebody's meeting
in that building. And the other group is meeting
off somewhere else. And a year ago, they were all
together singing, Oh, How I Love Jesus. I hardly believe it. A year ago, I was down there
a year ago, had one of the highest, I suppose, weeks that I've had
in a long time, one of the most blessed weeks People were united,
seemed to be singing, praying, preaching, fellowshipping. Like
we are here this morning. Less than a year later, they
hate one another. I told a pastor friend about
this on the phone yesterday, and he didn't know about it. He paused a long time. He didn't
answer. I just stated it. The pastor
had been fired, the church had split, and they were meeting
in two different camps now. There was a long pause, and he
said, that makes me sick at my stomach. And it ought to. You know, I can understand something
like this occurring. I can understand church division
and church splits. where the gospel of free grace
is the issue. Now, I can understand that. Say
I'm pastoring this church. Well, it wouldn't happen over
the gospel here, because 35 years we've been together preaching
the gospel of grace. But suppose I went to another
church, another congregation, and preached this message of
God's sovereign grace, man's total fall, and election, of
which we're not ashamed. God elected a people. If he'd
not chosen us, we wouldn't have chosen him. And Christ redeemed
a people. He didn't try to save us. He
saved us by his blood. And the Holy Spirit calls me,
and we're not out trying to change goats into sheep. He's calling
the sheep, and his people will persevere. And I suppose I went
to a place and preached that, and And half the congregation
said, we don't believe that. We hate that message. We despise
that sovereign grace, that gospel of God's glory. We won't have
it. We just won't have it. Well, I'm not going to stand
before that group and say, well, now, some of us love it, and
some of us don't, and some of us will have it, and some of
us won't. And I'll preach one way Sunday morning and another
way Sunday night, and we'll all get along. No, we won't get along.
Because the issue is the person and work of Christ. And that
church has to split. Because they're worshipping two
different gods. Isn't that right? You see what
I'm saying? I can understand. I've been there.
We went through this one time. They were worshipping two different
gods. A sovereign god and a failing god. A god who elects people
and a god who doesn't. A Christ who redeems his people,
and a Christ who tries to redeem his people. That's two different
Christs. You're praying to two different gods. So you see, that
type of division is understandable. And it has to occur. It will
occur. It must. Because you can't have
two gods worship on the same roof. You can't have two messages
preaching the same bullpen. We're not going to sing one thing
and preach another. There's not a teacher back here
in the Sunday school going to teach one thing and me preach
another in this pulpit, and one of us got to go. That's understandable. But what I don't understand is
that in this church I'm talking about, that wasn't the issue. Not at all. Not in the slightest. The people of this church, to
which I refer this morning, believe the gospel of God's grace. There wasn't one person in that
building, in that congregation, who did not believe in salvation
by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by the sovereign
will of God. And they had a sign out in front
of the church on the highway that said, We preach the doctrines
of sovereign grace. That sign's been there for as
long as I can remember. They believed the gospel of grace. So that wasn't the issue at all.
That wasn't what divided them. Something else did. And my purpose this morning is
not to try to find the reasons for the division. That's not
my purpose at all. It's not my business. I'm not
the pastor. That's a local church affair. That's their business.
Not my business at all. Secondly, my purpose this morning
is not to condemn or to justify anyone. I'm not here to condemn or justify
anyone involved in this division. Those things will be decided
in a higher court. I can promise you that. You see,
this is a division in a church which is the witness of the gospel
of Christ in that area. To attack the pastor, if he is
God's man, is serious business. It's serious business. You know,
to come to a, to affiliate, to identify with a church, to say,
I'm casting my lot with these people. I believe that this man
is preaching the gospel. I believe these people are preaching
the word of God. I believe that Christ is glorified
in this place, and I feel led of the Holy Spirit to cast my
lot with these people. That's serious business. That's
eternal business. You're either led of God or you
weren't now. Think about it. You're either doing God's will
or you're not doing God's will. If you're not doing God's will,
you're in trouble. And when you align yourself with God's people,
when you're identified with a people of God somewhere, when you come
together, it's like two people getting married. Two young people
come down and stand in front of me. They're saying, before
God, we're forming a home. Before God, we feel led of God
to establish a home and to bring children into this world. And
under God, we join together and we vow to be faithful to one
another and to remain together. And to build this home for the
glory of God, that's pretty serious business. That's God business. That's not
to be trifled with. We promise till death do us part
to stay together. Isn't that what we say? Before
God. That's pretty serious business.
And to break that up is pretty serious business. Better be in God's will. Because
these things are decided in the higher court. And the judge knows
everything. Mama ain't on the jury. I know
she said you were right, honey, but she ain't serving on that
jury. And I know you had friends, you sat and talked to them, they
all said she was right, but they don't serve on that jury either.
It's just God. And to align yourself with a
church, It's serious business. And to leave it. And to leave it. Just to walk
off. Just to lay down your responsibility
and say, I quit. You may quit, but he hadn't quit.
You see what I'm saying? That's serious business. For
a pastor to walk off. I hear preachers say, well, I
feel like my work's finished. Well, now start God's work. Now
that yours is old enough, you've played church long enough, now
let's start God's work. I hear people get upset. They
get upset with the music or the preacher or something, and they
leave. That's serious business. That's walking off from home.
That's leaving home. Oh, I tell you, and so my purpose
is, in the Scripture, you know, anything... Say people decide,
well, they don't want that pastor anymore, they'll vote him out
and get a new one. God says, touch not mine anointed, do my
prophets no harm. In fact, David, the king, he
was anointed to be king, but Saul was still king. And Saul
was out chasing David. He was out seeking to do bodily
harm to David. And David came down and found
him. You know, he was asleep, and all of his men, and David
stood there, and one of his men said, There lies Saul the king. Kill him. Get rid of him. You'll
be king. And you know what David said?
God said, touch not mine anointed. As long as he lives, he's God's
anointed. And do my prophets no harm. And
he walked off and left him alone. And this, like I say, if you
say, well, all preachers aren't God's preachers. Yes, that's
true. And you better determine who is and who isn't. So my purpose, like I say, my
purpose is not to condemn or to justify anyone. I don't have
the facts, but God does. And all these matters are decided
in His eternal court, and He'll deal with us. And my purpose,
believe me, is not to keep the pot boiling, not at all, or deepen
the division. That's not my purpose. What's
done is done. And here's the regrettable part. If I know human
nature, it won't be undone. That's what's sad. It's done. The division is there, the strength
is there, and if I know human nature now, there'll be no reconciliation,
there'll be no bringing them together. Because I tell you
this, I was wrong is not something human nature finds easy to say.
even religious human nature. I was wrong. My purpose in speaking
on these things today is to help all of us. And who is to say what will take
place in the next year or two? But to help all of us, all of
the Lord's people, to see our great responsibility to the greater
glory of God. That's our great responsibility.
Turn to Ephesians 4. Let me read a text here, Ephesians
chapter 4. You know, David said in Psalm
133 how blessed it is when brethren dwell together in unity. I was sitting here thinking there
in my chair while you were singing, while John was praying, waiting
to come and preach. And I sat there with him and
thanked God for what the Lord's given us. Just thanked God for
it. And I looked out over this congregation
and I said, you know this, I don't see any discord. I don't feel
any. I don't feel any division. If it's there, I don't know anything
about it. I feel a happy unity and peace
among all the people of this congregation. I don't see any
place I can look unhappily. We have our problems, all of
us do. But I mean there's nothing. I'm
talking about the greater glory of Christ. I don't know a face,
I cannot look into a hand, I can't shake in this whole place. Do
you? Better get straightened out if
you do. Isn't that right? Don't know a hand, I can't shake.
A person, I don't wish the best. Prosperity and happiness and
love and all things. Don't you feel that way? But
who knows what a year will bring? We're flesh, did you know that?
Satan's not asleep. And I'll tell you, Christ is
his enemy. You and I are not. This church is not Satan's enemy.
Don't ever get puffed up and proud and think that it is. Christ
is his enemy. He wasn't after Peter. Peter
wasn't anything. He's after Christ. Christ said,
Satan hath desired thee. that he might sift thee as wheat,
or use thee against me." That's what Satan does. He could care
less about you and me. You're not his enemy. Christ
is his enemy. Now, I believe that. In fact, I know that so.
But he indiscriminately will use whom he will. Yes, he will. That's the reason Christ taught
us to pray, keep us from the evil one. You know, in the Lord's,
what's called the Lord's Prayer, the disciples' prayer, he said,
keep us from evil. That's the evil one. Don't let
him get his grip on me. Don't let him use me. Use me
to divide. And you know, Paul said over
in 1 Corinthians 3, he talked about that church at Corinth
being divided. One said, I'm a Paul. One said,
I'm a Cephas. One said, I'm a Paulus. And he
said, you're acting like carnal men. You're acting like worldly
people. You're not acting like spiritual
people. You're not acting like believers. You're acting like
fools. And sometimes we do. Do you know that? You know, in
a small scale, you have it at home. Here's a husband and wife
jawing at one another, you know, going, yack, yack, yack, and
fly back and forth. You're acting like fools. You're
not acting like Christians. Here's a daughter sassing her
mother, you know, and the mother gets beside herself and And she
said, I'll just break your neck or something. That's not the
way believers talk. That's the way folks out yonder
in the gutter talk. Here, people in the church, you
know, and hurling accusations at one another, and one saying,
well, I'll invite you outside to fight. What in the world's
going on here? That's what Paul's saying. We
don't have a spiritual and carnal Christian there in 1 Corinthians
3. We have him telling the church, you're not acting like God's
people, you're acting like the devil's people. You're not acting
like spiritual people, you're acting like carnal people. You're
not acting like believers, you're acting like unbelievers is what
you're acting like. And that ought not to be. And
here in Ephesians 4, Paul says this, brethren, verse 1, Ephesians
4, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord." He was in prison when
he wrote this, but he didn't say, I'm prisoner of Rome or
prisoner of Nero. He said, I'm God's prisoner.
Sovereign Lord put me here. And I beseech you, I urge you,
I urge you, I implore you to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith
you are called. Act like God's children. That's
what I beseech you to do. You know, in the first three
chapters of the book of Ephesians, Paul deals with the great doctrines
of grace. I think we've been faithful in
preaching those. The great doctrines of election
and predestination and effectual redemption and divine call and
the Holy Spirit's invincible power and work. He deals with
those in the first three chapters of Ephesians, and then in these
last three chapters, he deals mainly with duties. Duties! responsibilities of the believer
with regard to the life of faith. We say that God gave us faith,
God beget faith, God brought us faith, Christ redeemed us,
let's act like it. We say that we are partakers
of a holy calling, of a divine calling, of a divine spiritual
regeneration, and He says act like it. I beseech you, I urge you, I
implore you, make your attitude. and your conduct and your conversation
a credit to your position. A credit to your call. You know,
we got all different, we got different kind of ways of showing
our disapproval. Most of the time it's written
all over us, you know. But we won't speak to someone,
that's, we'll ignore them. We just won't speak. We're in
this little circle. We're thinking only of ourselves.
We're not reaching out. We're not thinking of others.
We're not living as a person whom God has blessed and favored
with his presence, with his grace, with his power, with the knowledge
of his Son. We're acting like babies. We all revert back to
babies a lot of times, you know. Pouting babies. We get our lips
out and we won't speak to someone. our conduct is just deplorable,
just deplorable. And our conversation is brittle
and harsh and critical, so critical of God and critical of His people
and critical of His church and critical of His providence and
just critical. We've got another thing, too,
about living in anxiety, you know, just finding fault with
who we are and where we are and what we have all these things. And Paul tells us here, he said,
I implore you, I urge you, I beseech you, act like you're saved. That's what he said. Let your
attitude and your conversation and your conduct, I'm speaking
to me now, well it's to you, let it be a credit to your divine
call. Walk worthy of the Lord whose
name you bear. walk worthy of the Lord, whose
name you bear." That's what he says. Walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith you're called. Hold that place right there and
turn over to Colossians 1. He says this frequently, Colossians
chapter 1, verse 10. Colossians 1, 10. Listen, that
you walk worthy of the Lord. Worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing
being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge
of God. Walk worthy. That's not just in the church.
That's out where we work, in a restaurant, you know. We sit
down in a restaurant, and we order a meal, and the waitress
brings. She didn't cook it. She just served it. And we get
all over her. Just act ugly. Well, I'm not in favor of you
taking what you didn't order, but there are different ways
of doing it. There are different ways of doing it. You can say
now, you know, I appreciate the work, and I realize you didn't
cook it the cook did, but it's not like I want it, and I would
like to, if you don't mind, take it back. You know, and in the
airlines, you know, here are planes late, and we come up to
the desk, and we've got to be somewhere. I've got a ticket
on this plane. Well, she didn't run the plane.
She didn't make it have a power of failure. She got nothing to
do with the weather. God did that. But we're standing
there acting like a heathen. We're not acting, we're not walking
worthy of the vocation wherewith we're called. That's just it.
I'm talking truth, am I not? We're just not. And this is what
Paul says, I implore you. Look at 1 Thessalonians 2. 1
Thessalonians chapter 2. 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 12. He says in verse 12 that you
walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and
glory. You know, there's all the areas
of life, and this is, there's so many areas of life where This old flesh is shown, it just
reaches out, it just crops up, and it's not a credit to our
Master. In verse 2, look at verse 2 of
chapter 4 of Ephesians. He says that you walk worthy
of the vocation wherewith you are called, with all humility. You know, my friends, quarreling
in arguing and debating and divisions. These things do not adorn the
doctrine of God our Savior. They're not in agreement with
what we believe. He says, for you to walk in loneliness,
in humility, watch this, and meekness, meekness. What is this? Well, this is what I believe
it is. It's to entertain the best thoughts of others. and
the lowest thoughts of ourselves, the best thoughts of others.
Paul says, look not on your own things, but on the things of
others. Here are two men in the church that disagree over a matter
of business, or a matter of how to do a certain thing. There's
no need of them becoming enemies. And actually, if we demonstrate
humility and meekness, we'll say to the other man, well, perhaps
you're right. I haven't been able to see it
this way, but perhaps you're right. I've been wrong a lot
of times. I want to adopt that kind of attitude, because that's
worthy of my call, a humility and meekness. And look at the
next word, long-suffering. That's patience, patience with
one another, patiently bearing the faults of one another. Give
people time to grow up. Patiently bearing the infirmities
of others. Now, as it said over there in
1 Corinthians, not easily provoked, not easily offended. The Lord's
so patient with us, He's been so patient with me all these
years, almost 60 years now of my life. He's been so long-suffering
and patient with me. I need to be patient with others.
And He says, forbearing one another in love. Making whatever allowances
are necessary. Why? Because you love each other.
Whatever allowances are necessary. Why all this? For the greater
glory of Christ. It's not going to serve the glory
of Christ for us to divide. This church down here that divided,
one meeting one place, one meeting the other, and they're mad, and
the families are tore up and all that, that's not going to serve
the glory of Christ. It's going to make the enemies
of Christ laugh. It's going to make the enemies
of Christ mighty happy. It will not serve the greater
glory of Christ. That's the reason we do very
little voting around here. Do you know that, and I know
this is true, anytime you have a vote, you have a split. Did
you know that? Suppose this morning I brought up a business matter,
and I said, now everybody in favor, raise your hand. Now everybody
opposed. You've got a split. You've got
people that are in favor, strongly in favor. You've got people that
are opposed, strongly opposed. And neither one of them is going
to change. So you've got a division. There's one thing that I can
get a full unanimous vote on, and that is, is Jesus Christ
Lord, Amen. Everybody, we're all agreed.
Then let's stay on that subject. Let's stay where you're at on
that subject. Verse 3, look at this. Endeavoring. Endeavoring. be eager, strive
earnestly to do what? To keep the unity of the Spirit.
That means Mike, you, Kathy. That means you, Susan, Chuck.
That means you, Trish, Mindy, Carrie, Kathy, Doug, David Atkins,
Gary. Every person in here, that every
person in here where this church, where the gospel, I'm not talking
about this pastor, I'm talking about the gospel of Christ. This
church unity, this church spirit togetherness in preaching the
gospel of the glory of Christ. Ever blessed one of you is responsible
to keep that unity. That's right, I'm talking about
Lisa, I'm talking about Charlie, I'm talking about Nina, right
on up the road. Talk about every person in here.
You say, well, brother man, you keep us together. Can't do it. It takes everybody concerned. We're one body. And that's what
he goes on to say. Now look at verse 3. Endeavoring. He said, brethren, I beseech
you. I implore you. I urge you. Walk like you ought
to walk. Act like you ought to act. Talk
like you ought to talk. Live a life in attitude and spirit
and conduct that's worthy of the vocation or the holy calling
of which you partake and in which you participate. Endeavoring,
but do it with humility and do it with patience and do it with
love. Do it in love, forbearing one another. What's forbearing?
Putting up with one another. That's what it is. It's just
loving each other no matter how we are. forbearing one another
in love. Endeavoring. I'm going to endeavor, whatever it costs me, to keep
the unity of the spirit of this church. I'm going to endeavor
to keep the harmony. Regardless of what it costs,
I'm going to endeavor to keep the... Why? All right, verse
4. Because there's one body. There's just one church. I know
there are many congregations and many places where people
are meeting this morning. There has to be. We all can't meet
in the same place. I tell you, we all meet at Jesus' feet, I
know that. You say, where does this universal
church meet? At the feet of Christ all the
time. Jew and Gentile, old and young,
saved, people in heaven or on earth. There's one body, one
body. And there's one Spirit, one Holy
Spirit. who regenerated us and called
us and brought us together in Christ, one Holy Spirit, even
as you're called in one hope with your colleagues to be like
Christ. You see, we all have a common faith and a common objective
and a common goal. Why are we divided? Why should
we be divided? There's one body, one spirit,
one hope. Look here, first of all, we worship
one Lord. We have one faith, one faith. That's in Christ. We have one
baptism. I believe that's a confession
of faith in Christ, but maybe one baptism into the body of
Christ for the Spirit of God. That's all right either way,
but there's just one, no matter. One baptism is one God. And one
Father of all believers, and He's above all and through all
and in you all. We have all things common. We
have no cause for division. You say, well, I just don't think
that we ought to change the color of the auditorium. It'll be changed
four or five times before God comes. It'll be burned up after
He comes. So what does it matter? Well, you know, I just think
services ought to start at 7.30 instead of 7. Well, I'm just
going to get mad and quit. Well, what's time? Daylight saving
time will make it 6.30. So these are insignificant things. These are the great things. One
body, one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one spirit, one hope of your calling. These are the things
on which we're united. These are the things that make
us one. The grand and glorious gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what makes us one. All these other things are just
foolish, insignificant fashions of the world that fade away.
Personalities, people, and all these different things. In verse
7, but unto every one of us is given grace according to the
measure of the gift of Christ. To each one, grace and gifts
are given according to the will and purpose of God, and there's
no room for pride or contempt or envy on the part of anyone. You know, Mike stands up here
and sings so beautifully, has the gift to play these instruments.
But God gave him that gift. Brother John and Tom and Cecil
and Charlie and others have the gift to stand up here and read
and the gift to reach God in prayer, but God gave him those
gifts. Who maketh these a difference? Bridget can sing, Martha and
Carolee play the instruments, I do a little preaching, others
preach, some of you have Some are prosperous, some have top
jobs, and some don't have an executive position. But God gave
it to you. Some are tall and short, some
of us are older, some of us are younger, some of us talented
in different areas. Some are strong and some are
weak. But God gives the gifts according
to his will. That's right. I am what I am
by the grace of God. And I need to be happy with that.
And I need to be happy with what you are. And I try to change
you to meet my mold. And if I can't change you, I
won't like you. That's not right, is it? I'm going to like you
like you are. Love you like you are. That's what he's saying
here. I really believe that's what
he's saying. I'm going to love you like you are. For Christ's sake. And what we're
doing, here's the thing, what we reflect, that's just what
is reflection. He is the light, and the life,
and the love, and the truth, and we're just reflectors. That's
all. It's not my love, it's His love.
So I can't take any pride in that. This old nature is a wicked
thing. You feel like you've got a little
humility, and you finally say you've got none, because you
thought you had some. So whatever, and you say, well,
we're all together, that church is divided, that means we're
more spiritual. No, it doesn't. It means God's more gracious.
That's what I'm trying to say. And while we endeavor to keep
the unity of spirit, while we endeavor to show love for one
another, while we endeavor to forgive and to give and to show
mercy, let's remember, it's by His grace. Take no credit, oh,
no, no, no, no. None whatsoever. It's all by
His grace. I am what I am by the grace of
God. But Lord, give me more grace. Show me more grace. Let me tell
you a story, and I'll quit. I want you to sing a song. But
that, I hope that's helpful. Endeavoring to keep the unity
of the Spirit. Endeavoring. I'm going to endeavor
to. All the time. We'll endeavor. But there was
a pastor of a of a church in England, this was back in 1790,
1795, that's been 200 years ago, 200 years ago. His name was John
Fawcett, pastor of a church in England, a country church, simple
people, farming people, people of the saw, poor people. He pastored there a long time.
John Fawcett was a brilliant man, a good preacher, an able
minister of the gospel. And he pastored this little church
and lived in this little village. And he and his wife didn't have
much. Their people didn't have much. They didn't have much to
give them. And they just lived on the necessities, trying to
raise a family. And John Fawcett was called to
a church in London, one of the city churches, to find out of
the country into the city, better salary, better clothes, better
facilities, better schools, better everything. So he told the church
he was leaving, and they came down on a certain day to help
him load his furniture on the wagon. You know what a truck
or anything like that had a wagon, a couple of horses and a wagon.
They brought out the chairs and the tables and the children's
beds and him and his wife's bed, and stuff like that, loading
on the wagon, and there wasn't a sound being made. Everybody
was just going in loading stuff, tears streaming down everybody's
cheeks. Just everybody was crying. Nobody
was saying anything. And John Fawcett got everything
loaded, and he and his wife got up on the seat there with the
reins, and the children got in the wagon, and these people all
just standing around, you know, crying, looking at him. He's leaving them. And he turned to his wife, and
she was crying about as much as they were her. Ah, he said,
uh, unload the wagon. He said, we can't go. God put
us here, and we'll just manage to here. And he sat down and
wrote this hymn on page 187. I think as a result of that experience,
blessed be the time. that binds our hearts in Christian
love. The fellowship of kindred minds
is like to that above, is it? Before our Father's throne we
pour our ardent prayers. Our fears, our hopes, our aims
are one. Are they? Our comfort and our
cares. We share our mutual woes, our
mutual burdens bear. And often for each other flows
a sympathizing tear. And when we asunder part, when
we have to part, it gives us inward pain. But we'll still
be joined in heart and hope to meet again. Maybe we can sing
that with a little more enthusiasm this morning, a little more heart. Mike, you come lead us. Let's
stand while we sing, 187.