Sowing discord among brethren

1) The Bible says man is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14).

2) Have we ever stopped to consider how accurate this statement really is?

3) The human body is not only like a machine, it is a machine unlike anything created by man.

a) Evolutionists would like us to believe that the human body was formed over time.

b) There was a lot of time and chance and we now have what we have.

c) The Bible says this was not how things happened.

d) In 1 Cor. 12:18 Paul said God “set” things in the body.

e) The tense of the verb set describes a specific point in time.

f) Stated another way, 1 Cor. 12:18 is consistent with the information in the early chapters of Genesis.

g) God was the one who created man and God carefully designed the bodies we have.

h) Rather than let man evolve, God created man in his present form.

i) Our eyes, ears, lips, hips, feet, etc. are in their respective places because this is where God put them.

4) When we study the human body, we must say it is truly marvelous.

5) An adult human body has an estimated 60 billion cells.

6) Imagine trying to count sixty billion one dollar bills – 60 billion cells in one body is a lot of cells.

7) We have a skin system, a skeletal system, and a muscular system.

8) We have a digestive system, a circulatory system, a nervous system and a brain.

9) There is a respiratory system in the body as well as an endocrine system.

10) There is a reproductive system as well as a system to remove waste.

11) When our body works and works correctly, things are great.

12) We can go, do, think, feel, and life is good.

13) What happens when some part of the body is not operating smoothly?

a) What if we develop a problem with our respiratory system?

b) What if the circulatory system begins to malfunction?

c) We go to the doctor and tell the physician we need some help.

d) If we cannot see well, we go to a doctor.

e) If we cannot hear well, we go to a doctor.

f) Failure of a body function compels us to seek competent medical help.

IN THE BIBLE WE ARE TOLD THAT THE CHURCH IS A BODY.

a) Paul made this point in Eph. 1:22-23 – “the church which is his body.”

b) Jesus is the “head of the body, the church” (Col. 1:18).

c) In the church (the body), God says there are various parts.

d) Listen to 1 Cor. 12:12 – READ

2) The physical body has many parts and there is a great need for everything to function smoothly.

3) What about the spiritual body known as the church?

4) Does not the church (in the local and universal sense of the word) also have many parts?

5) Does not the spiritual body known as the church also need to operate smoothly?

a) The answer to both questions is “yes.”

b) Most congregations have young people, and the younger ages are part of God’s spiritual body.

c) When there are problems with the youth in a local congregation, the body we call the church has problems.

d) Most congregations have older members.

e) If those older members are causing problems, guess what?

f) The spiritual body of Christ will not be operating as it should. It will be malfunctioning.

6) Single people can be found within most congregations.

7) Many congregations have divorced people. There are one parent homes.

a) Some are Bible class teachers; there are often deacons and elders.

b) Most congregations have at least one preacher. Some congregations have church secretaries.

c) Some mow the lawn; some clean the building; some buy supplies; some help with funerals and weddings.

a) A local congregation is like a living organism – it is a busy place and has many parts.

b) Some parts in a local congregation may not seem that prominent.

c) Each part is important and each part needs to function properly or else there will be disruptions.

8) Whether we are looking at the human body or a local congregation, disruptions create havoc.

9) We know and admit this point in the secular realm because we all experience it at one time or another.

10) I am not so convinced that people believe this is also true in the spiritual realm (the church).

a) Whether we believe this or not, God says it is true.

b) For our scripture reading we heard the final thing that God is said to “hate.”

c) God “hates” those who “sow discord among brethren.”

d) Some create strife, contention, and a lack of harmony in the place where they worship.

e) This has been done for a long, long time and it is still a prevalent sin in today’s world.

11) We may not know all the reasons why God hates sowing discord among brethren.

12) At least part of the answer is found in what we have looked at thus far in this lesson.

a) How serious is it when the normal operation of our physical bodies is impaired?

b) How would we feel if someone begins to interfere with our ability to breathe?

c) What if someone does something to us that restricts our muscles?

d) What if we had a skin disease that inflicted pain or our skin was being eaten away by a disease?

e) Damage to the physical body gets our attention.

f) Sowing discord in a congregation is very much akin to damaging a physical body.

13) God says He hates this type of activity.

14) This fact was true under the Old Testament system and it is also true under the new covenant.

15) The Corinthians were Christians – they had become part of God’s people.

16) This church at Corinth had people doing a wide variety of things.

17) Since they lived in the first century, they lacked a completed New Testament but had spiritual gifts.

a) Some spoke in tongues, others prophesied. Some interpreted tongues.

b) Others had the gifts of healing, special faith, etc.

c) The Corinthians were also guilty of division in the place where they worshipped.

d) Some of the division was based on or around the Lord’s Supper.

e) Christians were not “waiting” for one another as we see 1 Cor. 11.

f) Division existed over spiritual gifts. There was a division over what food to eat.

g) Division abounded in this church and it was tearing it apart.

18) Fairly early in the letter we call First Corinthians Paul said this (3:17):

19) “If a man destroy the temple of God, him shall God destroy.”

a) Paul knew that God “does not dwell in temples made with hands” (Acts 17:24).

b) In 1 Cor. 3 Paul used the word “temple” to describe the church.

c) He meant that if Christians sowed discord among brethren—promoted division—they would pay.

d) God would judge them and God would punish them.

e) If Christians tried to tear down the spiritual body of Christ, God would tear them down.

20) There are probably some things in life we would not like to experience or face.

21) Some things may frighten us.

a) Some are absolutely terrified about the possibility of their ever getting cancer.

b) To some, cancer is the worst thing that could ever happen to them.

c) There are others who have a great deal of concern about AIDS.

d) This is the one syndrome they never want to get.

e) Some fear facing someone they know. There are all types of fears and terrors in life.

f) Imaging facing God and facing Him in His most vengeful state.

g) This is essentially the promise in 1 Cor. 3.

h) If Christians created strife in the blood bought church by Christ, they would pay and pay severely.

22) This is still true.

23) We can try to build up the place where we worship or we can try to tear it down.

24) We can be a church promoter or a church wrecker.

25) God says if we want to sign on with a wrecking crew, we will be His enemy.

26) Promoting strife in a local congregation puts on the side of Satan and God says He will destroy us.

27) Strife (discord/a lack of contentment) can be “sown” in a wide variety of ways in a local congregation.

28) For one more week or perhaps two we want to carefully think about this sin.

29) Today we want to focus on how closely this sin parallels our human body.

30) A lack of harmony in our physical body is parallel to a lack of harmony in the church.

31) Just as we can do many things to incur poor physical harmony in the human body, such is also true of the church.

a) False information can inflict damage on the human body.

b) People may be told that something is good for them when it is really bad.

c) Or, they can be told that something is bad for them when it is really, really good.

d) Such is also true in the church.

e) Today much of the discord sown among brethren comes by false doctrine.

f) People can say something is really good for a congregation when something is really bad.

g) Or, something can be said to be downright awful when it is really, really good.

h) Incorrect information – especially what is taught – sows discord among Christians.

32) Someone has noted how “true unites” and “error unties.”

33) Unites and unties use exactly the same letters; the “t” just occurs in a different place.

34) False information has divided and destroyed many congregations.

a) While at Freed Hardeman I heard of some congregations that allowed error to be sown.

b) An eldership announced that instrumental music was going to be used.

c) When that announcement was made several members of the congregation got up and left.

d) A decision to embrace something the New Testament does not authorize let to immediate discord.

35) Jesus once said that truth frees (Jn. 8:32).

36) The truth also unifies. If the truth is taught, believed and practiced, it will help keep out discord.

37) Jesus said (Jn. 17:20-21) that people could and would believe on Him through His “word.”

38) He was speaking of unity based on the scriptures.

39) If discord is not sown by false doctrine, it may be sown by what people say.

a) Someone may not like a decision or something else so they begin to complain.

b) That complaint may start as a small comment but it turns into a congregational fuss.

c) Based on Prov. 6, God says He “hates” this type of thing.

d) It is important to watch what we saw because our words can sow the seeds of discord.

e) We should consider our words to see if they promote harmony or help generate strife.

40) Earlier we noted how a congregation has “many parts.”

41) One of those parts is like a “customer service department.”

42) God set up the church with its own “complaint department” if you will in local congregations.

43) If we have a problem with something in the place where we worship, God has a solution for us.

44) Do not take that complaint and spread it around to anyone who will listen.

45) That is the way of the world and what the devil wants people to do.

46) If we are unhappy, broadcasting a complaint typically leads to discord.

a) God says His people are to take issues they have to His complaint department.

b) That department is headed by some men the Bible refers to as elders.

c) Other names for elders includes “pastors” and “overseers,” “bishops,” “presbyters,”

d) Elders “oversee” complaints in a local congregation among other things.

e) In many cases elders can work to resolve complaints.

f) In some cases they may not give the answer we were hoping to receive.

g) If they have listened, considered, and sought to give the best possible solution, we should be satisfied.

h) No one gets their way all the time.

47) We want to further investigate sowing discord among brethren need week.

48) Today we want to be clear that God says this is something we do not want to do.

49) We want to avoid this in the home, in the workplace, and even in the church.

50) God really looks down on this type of activity.

51) If it is done, there is still the possibility of forgiveness. God is a gracious and forgiving God if we repent.

52) Each person can find forgiveness through the cleansing blood of Christ; today we ask if we have found it.