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LftLD
  • 04/06/2025
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:5-9

#church #ChurchLeadership #faith #jesus #jesuschrist #Messiah #salvation #SignsOfTheTimes

https://lightforthelastdays.co.uk/articles/deception-in-the-church/factions-and-divisions-in-the-church/
Transcript
00:00Moving on, there are other things which happen. You have divisions within the church.
00:05In the Corinthians you had factionalism, dividing over things which man they will follow.
00:12In 1 Corinthians chapter 1 it says,
00:14It's been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you.
00:20Now I say this, that each of you who says, I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of Cephas, or I am of Christ,
00:25is Christ divided, was Paul crucified for you, or are you baptised in the name of Paul?
00:32And I've seen Christians falling out over which preacher to follow,
00:35falling out over minor points of doctrine, ending up fighting each other.
00:39We're actually called to follow Jesus, who was crucified for us,
00:43and the church which is founded on him, not to follow preachers.
00:48Another thing which can come in is immorality.
00:50Corinthians 5 says,
00:53It's actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you.
00:56Such sexual immorality is not even mentioned among the Gentiles,
01:00that a man has his father's wife.
01:03And then in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 he says,
01:11Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
01:14Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
01:17nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous,
01:21nor drunkards, nor revivals, nor extortioners,
01:24will inherit the kingdom of God.
01:26And such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified,
01:29but you were justified in the name of Jesus by the Spirit of God.
01:34Notice it says, such were some of you,
01:37but now you are sanctified by the Holy Spirit,
01:39your new creatures in Christ.
01:42In one sense it doesn't matter what you were before you became a Christian,
01:45if you turned away from that, you repented, and you confessed your sin,
01:48you asked God to forgive you, and you're a new person in Jesus Christ.
01:51I really don't want to know about your past history.
01:54If you want to tell me, you can, but I'm not concerned about that.
01:58What matters is what you are now.
02:00And if you continue in the things which are not of God,
02:03and you call yourself a Christian,
02:04then that is wrong in the eyes of the Lord.
02:08And Paul's saying here that some of you are carrying on,
02:11sinning after your conversion.
02:12Now, praise God, we haven't had any instances
02:17of that kind of sin happening in this church,
02:20which I give thanks to the Lord for.
02:22But we see that in much of the church today,
02:24particularly in the Church of England,
02:26things are being sanctioned which should not be.
02:29I quote here from the former Archbishop of Canterbury,
02:33Justin Welby.
02:35Speaking to the BBC, he said,
02:36what the Archbishop of York and I and the bishops by majority say
02:39that all sexual activity should be within a committed relationship,
02:42whether it's straight or gay.
02:45Do you get the point of that?
02:47The only thing that matters is if you're in a committed relationship.
02:51Not whether you're married, not whether it's heterosexual,
02:54can be anything.
02:55It means that sexual intimacy is no longer limited to marriage.
02:58It's okay in gay relationships.
03:02And even that the church should bless sexual relationships outside of marriage.
03:06That's going right against the teaching of the Bible.
03:10And it means a clear departure from the doctrine of the New Testament church.
03:15Even the doctrine of the Church of England itself.
03:18And it's the opposite of Paul's teaching,
03:20where he says,
03:20So these issues are there in the New Testament church.
03:45They're still here in the church today.
03:47There are numerous other issues you could speak about.
03:49Gossip, slandering one's neighbor,
03:52pride in leaders who puff themselves up as something great,
03:56and exploit and express the people they should be serving.
04:00I would add anti-Semitism and harmful behavior towards the Jewish people,
04:04from whom the Lord himself came,
04:06and the apostles came, which Paul warned against in Romans chapter 9 through to 11.
04:11So all of these things can grieve the Holy Spirit
04:13and cause him to depart from the church.
04:16Ephesians chapter 4,
04:17Paul writes,
04:19Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
04:21by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
04:24Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice.
04:29Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
04:32even as God in Christ forgave you.
04:35That's how you should behave in the church of God.
04:38Be kind to one another.
04:40Forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
04:43Be kind and forgive one another, even if someone in the church does upset you.
04:49Sometimes Christians are very easy to take offense.
04:52I've known that you say a wrong word to them,
04:54and they're off, offended, and never return.
04:58We shouldn't be like that.
04:59If we do grieve the Spirit and offend our God, our neighbor,
05:03we should apologize, put it right.
05:06But we shouldn't just fall out and separate.
05:08And that's what happens sometimes in churches.
05:11People are offended and they leave, and that's the end of it.
05:14We're called to repent and be reconciled in Jesus Christ.
05:19And if we do grieve the Spirit,
05:21if we do grieve our God and our neighbor,
05:23there's always a way back.
05:251 John chapter 1,
05:27one of the most important passages in the epistles,
05:31says in verse 6, verse 5,
05:34This is the message we've heard from him and declared to you that God is light,
05:38and in him is no darkness at all.
05:40If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness,
05:42we lie and do not practice the truth.
05:44But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light,
05:46we have fellowship with one another,
05:48and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
05:52If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
05:54and the truth is not in us.
05:56If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
05:58to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
06:01That's a wonderful passage which just tells us
06:05how to have right relationships with God
06:08and with one another in the body of the Messiah.
06:12And if we confess our sins,
06:13he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
06:16He's always going to do that,
06:17because that's why he came.
06:19And the blood of Jesus is powerful
06:20and able to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
06:25And so, a few thoughts on how we behave in the Church of God.