Rivers PFN: Those creating division and questions they should answer (4) By Dr. Lewis Akpogena The spirit of antichrist as it is used 1 John 4:3, is a spirit that works against the Spirit of Christ. Remember heresy and division are linked together, now with that in mind I ask you to stay keyed to the word made manifest that we just got from Pauls letter to the Corinthians and let us take at look now at Johns epistle, Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. ( 1 Jn 2:18-21) John first makes a point of the antichrist and then refers to what he calls many antichrists. The many antichrist operate within the church, operating against Christ. Other examples in scripture use terms like false prophet, Wolf in sheeps clothing and hireling etc.. John elevates the sin of division to the level of antichrist. Christ is for unity, the antichrist is against unity. Those within the body do not want to be for Satan and against Christ. The drug addict is not consciously for Satan and against Christ, but his action makes it so. Maybe if Lucifer would have known the consequence of his action he might not have rebelled against God. Speculation of course. I guess there is strong belief in that scenario though, what I read in scripture, what I see in life. How often have we heard it said, If I knew then what I know now, I would never have done it? Just as the Antichrist is not of us, but will try to divide us, so the many antichrist are not of us and will divide us. It is not a question of whether or not I like that verse, it is a question of whether or not it means what it says. John says but they were not of us, The question now is, who is of us? Since us is a first person plural pronoun in the objective case, it therefore includes John, the rest of the us must therefore include those true believers of like mind, purpose and position with Christ. There leaving manifest there position. They leave because they denied His word, rebelled against His authority and the call to unity. They deny the gospel: forgiveness, mercy, love, honor, loyalty, unity, etc. Revival happens when we allow God to place within each of us a loathing of our own selfish opinions, thoughts, personal likes and dislikes. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained. Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. (Philippians 3:15-18) Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. There lives are against Christ, they are enemies of the cross. With words they justify themselves, but nothing can justify what they have done….dividing Christ body. The action of the fact cannot be denied, reasoning only tries to justify the action. All who divide the church and cause splits feel that it doesnt apply to them, they are convinced that what they did is right. Division is treacherous and traitorous to the Glory of God and the establishing of His kingdom. (XI) Gods judgment; But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matt. 18:6). Perversity is in his heart, He devises evil continually, He sows discord. Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly; suddenly he shall be broken without remedy. (Prov 6:14-15, NKJV). You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD. (Jer 23:1-2). If anyone defiles the temple of God (church), God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. (1 Cor 3:17). ….He is self condemned. (Titus 3:11) . The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: …discord…. selfish ambition, dissensions, factions (divisions)… and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal 5:19-2) Francis Frangipane stated concerning the first division in heaven lead by Satan Was this division the first great pain in the heart of God? Beloved, consider also with trembling fear: Until this ancient split, to our knowledge, hell did not exist. Hell became a reality as a consequence to division. Bruce Terry, stated it this way concerning those causing a church split, they simply do not realize the seriousness of their actions: it will send them to hell! These verses should bring fear to the ones that causes division, but guaranteed, it wont. Delusion and deception has covered his heart and he cannot see. If you are a divisive brother and you are reading this article, you think it innocent to what you have done or are doing. You are comfortable in your justification… you feel you are right and it will be ok. But brother, God Himself is against you, because you are against Him, His word and His purposes. You are destroying the image of His church, the love of the saints and the unity of His Body. There is no stand or justification in division. Its fruit, its position, its method, is clearly heretical and antichrist. You destroy Gods temple, God will destroy you. Scripture makes it clear that hell awaits those who divide His body. Such men will put a curse on their lives which will never be assuaged until they repent, return and restore. Some people think, Why do we have to return? Gods church will one day be one, and without returning we are maintaining the heart of division. We can start our own group without Gods calling, and even make gestures of friendship with those whom we have caused the division, but arrogance is rooted in pride. They believe, I dont have to restore what I destroyed. Jesus made it clear, that will not happen until we made it right with our brother first…. Unity. Until we own it, we will be under the curse of rebellion toward God. We often want to meet with others in hopes of not returning; maybe we can make it easy on ourselves. Maybe we can confess unity without being united. There can never be unity until the heart that caused the division is dealt with, broken and humbled. As long as we maintain the separation we have not fully repentant for our actions. Pride, which caused the division in the first place, is the cause of the person not wanting to return and be restored. We do not want to admit we were wrong. Now I believe some separations are necessary. I believe when people our leaving the institutional church so they can be the church and function together, I believe this is a legitimate reason. If the pastor refuses to permit the people from obeying Gods word and the privilege of body ministry given to them by the word of God, it is the pastor who is wrong in trying to unjustly maintain absolute control… he then is not a true pastor. But I believe that separation should be conducted with much time and dialogue with the institutional pastor. We can never grow if we are told to listen and not participate; such actions will only inhibit a person’s growth in the Lord. God made it very clear that the five fold ministry is to initiate others to minister and not to dominate ministry. To stop the body from functioning in the manor clearly presented in the scripture is rebellion to God and is a statement against His will and purpose for His body. Such an institutional control is harlotry and not the true church. Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you. 2 Cor 6:17, NKJV. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, Rev 18:4, NKJV. We cannot participate in a place where a man is destroying the body of Christ by centering ministry on his Sunday sermons. That is heresy, not the church. But again such action must be met with great patience, discernment and honesty. How do we know that the Lord would give such pastor repentance? In the end, if the person leaves it will be the pastor’s decision to refuse to accept Gods word and plan for His church. Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them. Ezek 34:10, NKJV. Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! says the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings, says the LORD. Jer 23:1-2, NKJV. Pastors love maintaining their little division, their little control over the body of Christ by their own standards and not Gods word, in reality they are maintaining division within the body of Christ and not caring for the flock. (XII) Repentance: There is only one way to deal with division, repent. When the sons of Korah fell out with God, they only had two choices: Moses or the sons of Korah. When Absalom fell out with David, the people had only two choices, Absalom or David. Starting another church is not the answer, repentance, reconciliation and restoration is. It is easy to start another ministry from someone elses ministry and labor. But remember, every tree that the Father does not plant will be uprooted. We must see we cant have reconciliation without restoration of the once held unity. It takes humility on those who caused the division to admit they were wrong. But it will take a greater humility to return. The scripture makes it clear, unless they repent, reconcile and return they are living in division…. Satans lie. The New Testament church had power, fellowship and unity. They possessed an uncompromising attitude toward unity. We are in a falling away, can we honestly trust our soulish feelings. We would have made the rich young ruler our pastor, we would have made the bigoted lawyer our assistant pastor, but Jesus cut both to the quick and they were left dealing with their eternal souls. I am pleading for the restoration of Gods word and His integrity. I know that what I am presenting is a new approach in some cases, but it is not strange fire. My prayer is that what I have presented is from the heart of Jesus and for His Glory. As I Look back at the early church, it makes my spirit cry for that reality and truth they had in unity. I am tired of strange meetings, strange salvation messages, strange leadership. I want a new beginning with the oil and anointing of the Holy spirit. Unity, I must confess, appears to be the furthest thing from my experience at this point in my life. My spirit drools over these next verses. Acts 4:31-33 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. WOW!!! I want to go to that church. Their hearts beat together in unity with Jesus heart and they had His life in them. They were alive and unified by His power and blood flowing through them. These were believers who ate His flesh and drank His blood. Little wonder they could preach the Word with boldness, Much grace was upon them all. How sad the church and Christians today cannot say the same when it comes to unity of the body. If we dont understand everything, at least let us understand this--disunity concerning matters of Jesus is the absolute most condemning and destructive sin. All the signs of the storm and the return of the Lord are around us and we cannot see it. I am afraid that we have lost the ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. My prayer is that I have not been misleading in my interpretation. I pray that in humility I have represented His word and His purposes. I have been diligent in word and in spirit in this matter. Conclusion: True Christians will naturally be drawn to each other, these individuals have died to themselves and are perfectly content. We need to be concerned for others more than we are concerned for ourselves. This is the root of much of our trouble. If we could be just as protective of one another as we are of our children, we would find heaven on earth. Jesus said it this way: So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (Matt 7:12) That statement represents true prophets, true shepherds, true Christians and the true gospel, everything outside of that is against Christ. Would you want others to do to you what you did to them? This scripture is a foundational principle or truth, deny it and you deny everything that the law and the prophets stands. Self interest and self protection should never play a major part in our decision making process. I would like to quote a letter written by a college student that was affected by a church split in her church. A House Divided: The divorce that Im speaking of was not between my mother and father. It was a divorce that happened within my church. Most people call my church divorce a church split. My heart was torn in half. I was so disappointed in the ugliness that had occurred among people Id once respected. I began to question the very existence of the church. I knew in my heart that the church was an institution ordained by God; we were the body of Christ. I never thought my church -- my family -- would fall. I thought we were stronger than that. With time, I thought, I had buried all my feelings and hurts, dealing with them in a distant sort of way. But when I became engaged a year and a half later, all of my hurts surfaced again as everyone in my family began to give me advice on marriage. Still trying to show them respect, I could only nod as they spoke with me and shared their wisdom on commitment. Deep down inside I resented their advice because Id seen what their idea of commitment was. When things didnt go the way they wanted, they went their separate ways. Some commitment, I thought. No, I didnt need or want their advice.(A student’s testimony). The wounds suffered in the saints thrown in division is devastating, just imagine what the Chief Shepherd will do to such self-centered wolves who in arrogance divide His body. Well done thou good and faithful servant, are words they will not hear. But rather, And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness (rebellion to His word)! Matt 7:23, NKJV. But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word. Isa 66:2, NKJV. Let Gods word always be final on every decision you make. Never follow a deceived divisive person. For if you truly love Jesus, you will obey Him … Let God be true and every man a liar. You are blessed for life. Have question, you may call: 08033399821 or write: akpogena@yahoo. Stay blessed. . Dr. Lewis Akpogena, a Christian Devotional Writer/Minister, Education Management and Media Consultant write from Port Harcourt
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 13:55:18 +0000
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