Sowing Separation Unraveling Unity Romans 16:17-20

So, Sowing separation and unraveling unity. This

is clue number six. This is part six of the sermon

series that we've been working through, which

as yet no one has figured out the title or the

text. So clue six of seven. So next week will

be the last clue. And then Easter Sunday. You

ain't got it. You ain't got it. All right. Romans

Romans 16:17–20

16 verses 17 to 20. Thank you. Out of this. You

will get the lightning point, I hope you'll take

it with you, that the sower and the unraveler

have no place in the community. The sower and

the unraveler have no place in the community.

Have you heard the story of the boy who cried

wolf? I mean, have you really heard it? Did you

know that some, a couple of decades ago, the

story of the boy who cried wolf was adjusted

to be somewhat politically correct? In the story

of the boy who cried wolf, there is a boy who's

up in the hills watching the sheep. He's been

assigned there as a shepherd by the town. And

he's a little nervous at first. And he says to

himself, what happens if a wolf comes? What will

I do? And the town says, if you face a wolf,

you just cry and we'll come running. But a little

while after he's watching the sheep, he begins

to wonder. He's alone and lonely and bored. And

just maybe I should test the system. And so he

cries out, wolf, wolf. And they come a running.

The town all grab their sticks and stones and

come running up to the hills to fend off the

wolf. come out in force. The boy feels pretty

good about himself. And they say, oh, you go

back to watching. There's no wolf. He said, well,

I thought there was something. And they said,

no, there was nothing. And they go back to town,

and he goes back to watching. Sometime later,

whether it be by mischievousness or whatever,

he decides to cry out, wolf, wolf, again. And

they come running to protect him and the sheep

from the wolves. Their livelihood is at stake.

But they arrive, and there is no wolf. In the

third instance, he is by himself. And now he

well knows that he's crossed the line, that he

has done more than he probably should have already.

But he did get kind of a kick out of it, seeing

them all come running. And he's feeling a rush

of power and whatever. And so he cries, wolf,

wolf. And just as he cries, wolf, wolf, he notices

a wolf's head pop up out of the bushes. And he's

like, wolf, wolf, there really is a wolf, wolf,

wolf. And he's yelling at the top of his lungs,

wolf, wolf. And the people in the town do not

come. And the original version of that story,

the wolf rips him limb for limb and destroys

that boy. And it is a story about not crying

wolf, not lying, not. saying there's a problem

when there isn't and so on. You know, you could

use it a couple of different ways. But in the

PC version of the story, the wolf simply takes

a couple sheep, drives apart the flock, and chases

the boy back down the hill. Children don't have

a problem with justice. Innocence does not have

a problem with justice. If a child does wrong,

that child is expecting to be corrected. And

if it's a severe wrong, they're expecting an

extreme correction. They want to know. In fact,

if you will not correct them severely when they

have done an... a severe wrong as a parent, for

example, then you run a very severe risk of them

wondering whether or not you love them. There

are lots of people whose parents are actively

taking care of them on a regular basis, and they're

growing up. than adults. And in the back of their

minds, subconscious, they're wondering whether

or not their parents love them because their

parents do not discipline them when they do wrong.

God, who loves us, always disciplines us when

we do wrong, so say it's scripture. And if you

want to be a parent like God, you'd have to discipline.

Children do not have a problem with justice.

Adults who have a problem with justice, because

we want to get away with whatever it is. We don't

want to face the ramifications for whatever it

is. We want to think that we're crafty enough,

tricky enough, or whatever, to be right in front

of everyone. Presenting the face that we're presenting

while over here on the side we're doing the things

that we want to do. And as long as this is who

you think I am, I can get away with that over

there. Call it secret sins, if you will. That's

called hypocrisy. And Jesus faced it often in

his public ministry. In fact, he said, beware

of hypocrisy in a couple of specific instances.

Romans 16 is not about hypocrisy, but in some

sense it is about people who are right in the

midst. of the church doing something that just

cannot be. And they're getting away with it.

In fact, they look like every other believer.

They even look like somebody who is doing the

church a favor. And Paul writes very clearly

to the Romans these verses. Romans 16, 17 to

20. He says, Now I urge you, brethren, keep your

eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances

contrary to the teaching which you heard and

turn away from them. So first of all, he's saying

this is really important. Pay attention. Do what

I'm about to say. tell you, brothers and sisters

in Christ, and he says, eye on those who cause

dissensions and hindrances. Now, I want to be

very clear about something, and that is that

as a Christian, it is not your job to keep your

eye on other Christians. It is your job to keep

your eye on the shepherd. And so the very thing

that he is telling us to do here presents a possible

contradiction, where Paul is saying, I want you

to keep your eye on these other people who are

in the church, other people in the church who

are doing this certain set of things. I want

you to keep your eye on them and deal with them

this way. have nothing to do with that. But then

he goes on to qualify it very shortly and says

that it is dissensions and hindrances contrary

to the teaching which you learn and turn away

from them. So in other words, he's saying you're

going to keep your eye on those people who are

claiming to be Christians, claiming to be the

church, but bringing about dissension and hindrances

when the dissension and hindrances are contrary

to the scripture, contrary to the doctrine, contrary

to the thing you've been taught by God. See,

we know in Matthew 18, Jesus says, when a brother

sins against you, go and show him his fault between

you and him. And if that doesn't work, and they're

still in sin, or they don't repent, or they're

still going the wrong way, then you bring one

or two others into the conversation. So in order

for that to be the case, we can't simply sweep

under the rug everything that everyone does is

wrong. Paul says, I did not say that you should

judge the world. Of course I say that you should

judge the church. But again, our job is not to

have our eyes on other Christians. So before

we are through, We will need to know how to discern

when to pay attention to what somebody is doing.

when to pay attention to the actions of that

individual. And it's pretty clear in the text.

Starting back from the top, he says, Now I urge

you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause

dissensions and hindrances. So first of all,

the action is key. It's simple. It's straightforward

as long as you understand the definitions of

the words. So a dissension is a break between

brothers or sisters in Christ. So when there's

a person who's trying to cause a problem between

other Christians, trying to get one person to

step away from the intimacy of community, in

the church that we are called to. That sounds

like, hey, come over here. I want to talk to

you for a second. Or, did you see what Bob did?

Or, I got to tell you, man, I'm really hurting.

I'm really struggling right now. I'm going through

something I'm really struggling with and I'm

praying about it. And you say, well, what is

it? Let me pray with you. And you say, well,

so -and -so did this to me and I just can't get

over it. It looks like that. Because that person

is trying to create dissension between person

A and person B by consulting, supposedly by commiserating,

supposedly by working with that person to pray

over this thing. But we already have parameters

in Matthew 18 for if a person has sinned against

you, what do you do? You go and show them. Listen,

I'm still really hurting. I went and tried to

show that to them, what they had done wrong,

and they just don't seem to care. So I'm still

really going through something here. So I need

you to commit. with me so now i want you to form

an opinion with me about what that person did

to me because they really hurt me they really

caused a problem that's still sowing dissension

because there is a second step to matthew 18

where if you went to that person at first and

showed them their fault and they still wouldn't

listen then you go again with one or two others

those one or two others then judge between you

did that first person really do something that

should be cutting you to the quick or are you

being oversensitive that's what those one or

two other people they provide a measure of safety

community is the safety for community. And so

a person who sows dissension or unravels unity

between brothers or sisters in Christ is doing

something that we must be warned of. The other

part of it then is hindrances. Hindrances are

when somebody puts something in your path. The

same word is used as a stumbling block. In fact,

it says that Jesus became a stumbling block to

the Jews, and it's the same word. It's scandalized.

It's the same word. So somebody's putting something

in your path that makes it difficult for you

to follow the Lord, that makes it difficult for

you to be a godly person. Whatever that might

be, that's a problem. If you have a believer

in the church and they're making it harder for

somebody to follow, then that's a problem. But

it might not be sin per se. They might just have

a certain preference. They're very stuck on a

certain preference. And this person over here

disagrees with that. And this person over here

is now stumbling in their faith because they

disagree. So what does scripture say? If you

have a preference and it creates a stumbling

block for somebody else, you need to be ready

to give up your preference. So at the point that

you don't give up your preference and it becomes

a stumbling block for that other person, then

it is sin. The problem is... discerning when

that is. Who can figure out when somebody is,

it's a preference or they say it's from the Lord?

The carpeting's got to be black. I'm telling

you, it's got to be black. No, it'll show stains.

No, it's got to be black. I just can't get over

the fact that he insists that the carpeting's

got to be black. God has told me, I don't know

why, God has told me the carpeting's got to be

black. He says God told him the carpet. He's

going to be like, no, we all got to listen to

him now. Because now he said God said. So what

do we know? Maybe he's telling the truth. But

I just know that God is saying the carpet shouldn't

be black. So who is going to make the decision?

Is it going to be black or not black? No. But

who makes the decision when two people are saying

their preference is the correct one? Or even

they're saying, it's not my preference, but God

says. I want it, but God says. Definitely listen

to them, right? But then somebody over here says,

well, yeah, I don't want it either, but God says.

this and it's not the same thing as person who

is going to make that decision the bottom line

is whoever's throwing up hindrances contrary

to the teaching which you have learned he says

turn away from I'll come back to the idea of

turning away and what it exactly means in the

points, but right now we're moving on to verse

18. It says, For, or because, such men are slaves.

People who sow dissension and unravel unity,

great hindrances in the body, are slaves. They're

slaves. Not of our Lord Jesus Christ, but of

their own appetites. Jesus said, For whoever

sins is slave to sin. And they become slaves,

not of Jesus as we should be, but of their own

appetites, what they want, their own desires.

And it says, Their smooth and flattering speech,

they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.

So this is now a set of, it's telling us what

they do. how they do it. Also notice it tells

us to whom they do it, which is the unsuspecting.

19. The report of your obedience has reached

to all, so everyone has heard how you're following

the Lord faithfully. Therefore, I am rejoicing

over you, but I want you to be wise in what is

good and innocent in what is evil. I'll come

back on that in the points as well. It says then

in verse 20, this is the great promise of this

passage of scripture, the God of peace will soon

crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our

Lord Jesus be with you. Okay, so there are a

few things I want you to see in this text that

are huge. Remember, this is actually six of seven,

part of a sermon series. So if you think back

over past weeks and how it links together, all

of those sermons are podcasts on our podcast.

You can listen to the audio program. You can

actually get a transcript. If you wanted to,

you could copy and paste the transcript into

one document. How to figure out what this sermon

series is about. What are we talking about that

we're not talking about? That's what we're looking

for. And we will get there at the end. But if

you can figure it out before we get there, what

a cherished moment that will be. The first thing

I want you to see is that if you, or I, if somebody

becomes a faux mentor, that means that they're

a creator or a starter of division, or a person

who causes hindrances, then a few things are

going to happen according to this passage of

scripture. If you become a person who creates

division, barriers between believers or one who

causes hindrances in people's spiritual growth

then a few things are going to happen first of

all the devout faithful christians will see you

they will know you for what you are doing. They

are not unexpecting. The scripture says that

there are those who expect these things to happen

and there are those who do not expect them to

happen. And these people will get their way in

the lives of people who are not expecting someone

to create division or someone to create hindrances.

And so if only those people are going to be buffaloed?

Then it stands to reason that those who are about

faithful Christians would see you for what you

are trying to do if you are trying to create

division or hindrances. Notice that they will

be identified then by their smooth and flattering

speech. They know how to speak the Christian

words. They know how to encourage people in just

such a human way to make them feel better about

it, to stroke their pride a little bit, comfort

them in what it is that they do. And it's pretty

clear that that flattering speech is to deceive

the hearts of the unsuspecting. Has anyone ever

told you anything good about yourself in order

to get you to feel a certain way? Did they ever

try to get you to do something after that fact

that you shouldn't have? Has that ever happened?

It has, hasn't it? It's happened to me too, many

times in my life. And this is the truth. We want

to feel good about ourselves. We want to feel

like we're on the right road. Preaching doesn't

always do that. The Word of God doesn't always

do that. When you're failing at the Word of God

and not doing what it is that God would have

you to do, and you encounter that in the Word

of God, you've got to wake up. and realize that

God is calling you out of what you're doing into

what you're supposed to be doing. So if someone

comes to you with smooth and flattering speech,

you might want to ask yourself, are they doing

that to get control of my unsuspecting heart?

Also, this is someone who makes it difficult

to follow Jesus. If you hang around with somebody

or somebody in the church, it doesn't matter

if they have a title, if they've been your friend

for a really long time, and they make it hard

for you to follow Jesus, you're going to start

to see them for what they are. And the believer,

the faithful, devout Christian will say, I can't

go that way. I can't sit around with you and

talk about her. I can't sit around with you and

accept. complaints about the way things are going.

I can't do that. I'm not asleep here. I'm following

Jesus. Jesus is clearly not leading me into this

scandalous conversation. Jesus is clearly not

leading me to walk away from this and sneak behind

my parents' back or behind my boss's back or

to take something that doesn't belong to me or

to claim that I'm sick when I'm not so people

will leave me alone. Or to act angry or frustrated

when everyone around me has to be gentle and

kind and merciful because I say something. because

I am making them be nice to me. And if they're

not handling me with kid gloves, then I'm going

to blow up. There's a million ways to do it,

but the bottom line is if someone is making it

difficult for a devout, faithful Christian to

follow Jesus, then that devout, faithful Christian

is going to identify them and know what to do.

What will they do? Well, the answer is followers

of Christ, a fomentor of division, someone who

causes hindrances, followers of Christ will turn

away from you. Where you are supposed to find

the height of community, where people are going

to be honest, failings, they are not only authorized,

but commanded by scripture to pull back the hindrances

to their growth. Find your pulling back from

you have to ask Have I become a person or a person

who creates hindrances? When I'm supposed to

be, and by the way, if you can foment division

and talk like that and act like that, you probably

could do just the opposite and create unity.

If you can create hindrances to people's spiritual

growth, you can probably identify those same

hindrances and remove them so that people can

spiritually grow. But this is a person who is

choosing to foment division or create hindrances.

They're doing it out of their own appetites,

it says. If you become a fomenter of division

or one who causes hindrances, If you make it

difficult for people to follow Jesus, they will

remain unified with the community. They will

hang out with, they will talk with, they will

work with, they will serve with, they will love

with and love on and love others through people

who are not creating dissension and hindrances.

They will turn away from you. The truth is that

fomentors promise community, but that kind of

community turns up empty. Has anybody ever said

to you, you know, I need your help. Please, let

me talk to you about this. I need your encouragement

or whatever. And then you get talking with them

and you find out. they have a problem. But the

problem is they want you to themselves. We're

going to step away from the group. They're calling

the herd. They're going to pull somebody away.

in the group. If somebody has to pull you away

from the group, I had young people, young people,

I didn't ask to use this illustration so I won't

tell who the person was, but yesterday at the

Grand Prix, there was somebody on their phone,

and there was a text that wasn't necessarily

appropriate. And I said, and they were showing

it to a friend, but they were being careful that

nobody else, I said, if it's probably like that,

it's probably nothing. You delete it and repent,

okay? You want nothing to do with that. Somebody

was trying to pull you away from where you're

supposed to be. And if you're doing that, you

have to turn away from it. They're promising

a certain kind of community. Every boy who chased

after them was looking for a kind of community,

a fulfilling of an appetite, of an unseemly kind

of love. Mentors promise community, but that

community ends up empty, and in the worst, it

goes straight to hell. Ultimately, that's where

it winds up at. When mentors have chosen the

wrong side, and they want to entice other believers

to choose that side with them, who does that

sound like? Or would -be believers to do this,

and who causes hindrances, they want you to come

and... What they're doing. Because the pastor,

well, he doesn't understand us. Or mom or dad,

they don't know. They're bad. They don't have

the right rules. Or your dad is a jerk. You don't

have to listen to what he says. And so on. So

there's an entire group of believers or would

-be believers to do the same thing that they

are, to move into it. Cheap of the shepherd,

hear the shepherd's voice and ignore all other

voices. Even when it's somebody in the church.

Even if it would be me. Voice does not align

with God. You have a responsibility as a Christian

to recognize it for what it is and to pull back

and do not allow it to manipulate you. Now, I'm

not saying to abuse or mistreat. I'm not authorizing

if you say, well, I'm a faithful Christian, but

I see this person over here struggling to suddenly

go, oh, I'm not going to have nothing to do with

them, right? I'm not authorizing abuse or mistreatment.

Just the faithful will to do what is right. not

giving into the enticement to that false community.

A dozen times, naming no names, a dozen times

I've sat in my own living room and said, okay,

we're going to change the topic of conversation

now. Nothing meant, I'm not mad, but what we're

talking about has verged onto gossip, and I've

said, we're not going to do that now. And you

have to be ready, right? What did the verses

that we read two weeks ago say, right? Do not

give in to enticement. Do not allow enticement

to be in your presence. Don't willfully allow

it to continue to persist. You're enticing me

to do what's wrong. I'm not going to do it, and

I'm not going to listen to it. You're going to

need to stop now. Stop urging me to do what's

wrong. You can say to them like Jesus said to

Peter, get these. in me satan now you know who

the tactic is the enticement right and so i'm

not saying abuse them or mistreat them jesus

didn't stop loving him because he said get them

behind me satan what he was telling was i'm not

going to be enticed and i'm not going to allow

you to sit there to entice me to not die on the

cross it's not going to happen followers of christ

will turn away which is to say they will continue

to follow jesus and they will recognize that

that dissension that tactic of dissension or

that hindrance as something that is contrary

to god's word god's effort holy spirit work in

me and they'll say no i want nothing to do with

it the next thing to see in the scripture here

as paul says is to be wise in good and innocent

and evil to be wise and good and innocent and

evil remember that avoiding the evil is about

not being enticed to the evil. It's not just

somebody comes and says, somebody says to me,

for example, hey, did you see what Bob or Sally

did? And we're going to talk about them for a

minute. And it's that kind of conspiratorial

tone. We're going to talk about them. And you're

like. That's gossip. No, I don't want to have

that conversation. It should also be, just understand,

if you go somewhere else and have that conversation,

it's still gossip, right? You're asking me to

get into gossip with you, and I'm not going to

do that. I'm just using gossip as an illustration.

You could have a family member who lies to you,

and you're like, man, that's rough. I don't like

it. He or she lies to me on a frequent basis,

right? I'm not going to let them lie to me. I'm

not going to let them pull the wool over my eyes.

I'm not going to respond to their lies anymore.

I'm going to be stern. I'm going to be solid.

I'm going to follow the Lord no matter what.

No matter what their lies are, I'm going to follow

the Lord. But if you let them just keep on going

on lying over and over and over again, just keep

stretching the lie, you're leaving the enticement

in your presence. It's still there, right? And

there's no fixing it. So when someone's stuck

in sin, they're a slave to sin. Do you believe

in slavery? Would you personally own a slave?

I hope not. I don't believe in slavery. We're

supposed to be free in Christ. And so when you

encounter a slave, you have a responsibility.

And if they're coming into your life bringing

an enticement, then that's what they are. They're

a slave. And you need to free that slave. That's

at all possible. And so you don't just get to

go, okay, I'm just not going to listen. I'm not

going to believe his or her lies. You have a

responsibility to confront gently, lovingly,

by biblical standards, that lie every time it

comes up. Like, I'm sorry, but I don't really

believe what you're saying right now. I'm not

calling you a liar, but there's no factual evidence.

There's no proof here. There's no reason for

me to believe what you're saying. And they're

going to be upset. Yes, they're going to be upset.

But if someday they stop lying, someday they

turn that part of them that needs whatever it

is that they're... getting from lying over to

Christ, they're going to experience true freedom.

And until you keep calling it out, calling out

the unfaithful, it's in a loving way, calling

out the unfaithfulness, it's just going to continue.

Remember that avoiding the evil is about, first

of all, not being enticed, not just not participating,

but not being enticed. There is no tolerance

building. Have you ever heard the word, and I

might mispronounce this actually, mithridatism?

Artem probably has. You know it? No? It's a weird

word. It's based on a guy named... Mithras something.

He was a Roman guy. And he taught his body to

process poisons. So he took some poisons that

you could do this with, and he consumed little

bits of them over a long period of time. And

ultimately, he became immune. His liver began

to produce the right enzymes. Doctors think he

became immune to the poison. And then somebody

tried to kill him with one of the poisons that

he was immune to, and he didn't die. And so now

everybody thought he was immortal, right? He

gained a great power out of not being able to

be poisoned by certain poisons. Becoming aware

of evil, it's no good for you. It's not good

for me. The best thing we can do, Paul says,

is be innocent of evil. You don't want to know.

You don't need to go further and find out. You

don't need to ask, did somebody do something

wrong? You ask, did somebody do something wrong?

You're literally promoting the gossip. You're

asking for slander. Why are you upset? Careful.

Why are you upset? Oh, because so -and -so did.

You're literally asking for, is there something

I can do for you? Is there some way I can pray

for you? Those are good questions to ask when

somebody's upset. But if you say, well, why are

you upset? you upset and somebody did something,

the first thing they're going to do is tell you

what that person did. And maybe all they're going

to do then is adjust to what happened and they'll

get over it. They'll be fine. They'll submit

it to Christ. They'll move on. Everything will

be fine. But in the meantime, you've led them

to gossip, led them to slander. So be careful

about seeking out the evil as if you are some

kind of paladin or defender, great defender of

the faith. You're going to find out all the evil

that's in the world and squash it yourself. It's

not your job. Your job is not to crush evil.

Your job is to be good. And we overcome evil

with good. Remember that avoiding evil is about

not being enticed, not just not participating.

Next, he says, be wise and good and innocent

in evil. And he's telling us to delve into God's

word, to become keepers and doers of God's word.

We have the ultimate. The Holy Spirit deciphering

this word so that we can understand it and it

can work in our daily lives. He can tell you

how to dress yourself. He can tell you how to

feed yourself. He can tell you what jobs to take

and what jobs not to take and when to switch

jobs and when not to switch jobs. And we have

to seek out his will for our lives. We pray,

Lord, your will be done, not my will. Your kingdom

come here on the earth and your will be done

here on the earth as it is in heaven. That's

our daily desire. And the only way to get there

is to daily desire, delve into. work at it effort

in but the truth is we're we're kind of distracted

you know there's a lot of good things in this

life and we don't want to miss out on the opportunity

to consume with some of those other good things

and so the word doesn't become the greatest priority

and we become not so innocent of evil and not

so wise unto good and then along comes somebody

who's throws dissension or throws up a hindrance

and because we're not so innocent of evil we

know about evil then they say well did you know

we're like oh yeah i know that yeah i hear what

you're saying yeah i bet he did do that yeah

or we're not so wise unto good and they say hey

step over here let me talk to you for a second

and instead of us going that's not really something

i want to do It's got to be a godly conversation.

Instead of us doing that, we bow our head down,

perk our ear, because we are not innocent of

evil. We're not wise unto good, because we're

not delving into the word, because we're not

keepers of the word and doers of the word. Be

wise and good and innocent of evil. Be willing

to not know more about the evils that go on.

In fact, it said this way. It said, it's shameful

even to speak of the things that go on behind

closed doors. You know what the main problem

with TV, social media, and everything is? Is

that everybody is seeing what nobody should be

seeing. Everybody has easy access. Anybody in

this room that has social media or a browser

like Google can right now type the right words

into Google on their phone and see a girl half

naked. It will not take you two minutes. But

should you ever, you can read streaming foul

language posted by a variety of... of popular

stars, your favorite comedian, your favorite

actor from a movie, you can get all of that on

your phone in less than 90 seconds. But should

anyone ever? When the FCC was at its strongest,

Leave it to Beaver was fined $50, and that was

a lot of money back then, for showing a toilet

on TV. It was not a dirty toilet. It was not

a toilet being used. It was not a toilet that

had been used. In fact, they purposely said when

they put it in the scene, they said, we installed

a brand new toilet that no one has ever sat on,

and then they showed it on TV, and they were

fined $50. Right now, Google it, you'll find

1 ,000 people sitting on the toilet, as you can

see. guaranteed 60 seconds it only takes 60 seconds

people are involved in affected by a lack of

innocence because the world wants you to have

a lack of innocence because the enemy has a tactic

to create dissension. Don't kid yourself. The

greatest enemy, the enemy that will destroy the

church is Satan and a lack of innocence. He is

going to use that tactic to pull at the hearts

of the next generation and the next and the next.

People are not walking away from the Lord because

they're stupid. They're walking in the... the

Lord because they have selected a certain version

of wisdom, and it is not the wisdom unto goodness.

It is the wisdom unto a knowledge of evil. It

goes back to the very beginning, a knowledge

of good and evil, right? Before they ate, they

had only a knowledge of good. I wouldn't call

them wise. They were still under construction.

You know what I'm saying? But they were wise

unto good, innocent of evil. And then they had

the knowledge of good and evil. Why did they

need the knowledge of evil? They didn't need

it, and you don't need it. You say, but I could

be walking down the street someday, and some

criminal would come. do something to me because

I'm not being wary or watchful or careful because

I don't understand that there are mass murderers

out there that take 35 people a year and take

them off and kill them in a closet, right? You

don't need to understand that. By the way, if

a mass murderer comes against you on the street

in broad daylight, odds are you're going down

because they're probably going to come from behind

a bush or a wall or off a roof or whatever. And

what are you going to do about it? How much time

are you going to spend? How much of your brain

power, your soul power are you going to spend

knowing the tactics of evil so you can possibly

defend FYI? If you know the tactics of evil so

that you can possibly defend, you have lost your

defense. Because your defense is not knowing

the tactics of evil and being able to defend.

Your defense is, wait for it, being wise unto

good. That's your defense. Being willing to know

more about the evils that go on, it's shameful

even to speak of the things that go on behind

the scenes. Let it go. It's enough. Let God start

blanking that stuff out of your head and get

focused on the things that you should be focused

on. The next thing in here, and this is the great

blessing, is that the God of peace will crush

the enemies of his people. Do you understand?

We're kind of in that season where we're moving

toward the crucifixion. And the crucifixion and

resurrection, they are mighty works of God, are

they not? That God the Father sent God the Son.

That God the Son lived a sinless life. That God

the Son was crucified on a cross, which is a

sinner's death, to pay for sins for all mankind.

That is a mighty work that no one else could

do. No one else. Then he comes back to life on

the third day. That is a mighty work. that no

one else could do. God alone can put life where

there was death. That is amazing. But you know

what we sometimes forget? That the crucifixion

and the resurrection not only proves God's superiority

and power, but notice he did it right in front

of Satan. He even overcame Satan so that Satan

and his agents were complicit. in making the

sacrifice to pay for all sins, that very being

that Christians have been just foolish enough

to be afraid of because he knows the word better

than we do, if you don't count the Holy Spirit,

because he's done many acts and had millennia

to scheme against us and we've only been alive

for decades, that very being that we fear when

we're not smart enough not to, God used him.

God tricked the deceiver. God made the situation.

Do you think Satan knew what he was doing when

he crucified Jesus? Not that he physically crucified

him, but his agents worked in that? Because they

did. He tempted Jesus three times after he came

out of the wilderness. He offered him the whole

world to get him to stop. And Jesus said no.

And Satan had to say, this guy is not like anybody

else. Now, did he know he was the son of God?

We don't really know that for sure. But we know

he didn't. He's got to say he's not like anybody

else. And then his solution is what? Now. Lies,

accusations, mock trial, crucifying. Let's just

get rid of this guy. Never a thought in his head

that he could just come back from the death.

Have you ever seen The Lion, the Witch, and the

Wardrobe by C .S. Lewis? And it's great movie

series, really. All the books are great. I've

not seen all the movies, but they did make BBC,

British Broadcasting, whatever that C stands

for, made all the books into movies. And in one

portion of that... One of the guys is a betrayer.

He's a liar, Edmund. And he's in the captivity

of the queen. And they go and they rescue him.

And now he's back with his friends, with Aslan.

And the queen comes and says, you can't have

him. He's a betrayer. He belongs to me. I'm going

to kill him. Worthy of death. The wages of sin

is death. She doesn't use those exact words,

but that's it. He should die. And Aslan says,

she's right. Turn him over. So they turn Edmund

over to the witch to be killed when she's ready.

Then Aslan goes into private conference with

the witch and he says, take me instead. So now

Aslan is taken by the witch. And they go up in

a midnight ceremony in a kind of scary scene.

And she sacrifices Aslan in the C .S. Lewis stories

for the son of God. After all is said and done,

they go, he comes back to life. And he says,

if the witch had only known the true meaning

of what is written in the deep end. that if one

who is innocent should give his life for one

who is a liar, then time and death and all would

be turned backwards and life comes out of death.

You see, Satan knows the word better than any

living human being without the help of the Holy

Spirit. And even so, he was tricked by God. He

was pantsed in public in front of all mankind.

He was pantsed in public. public by God and God's

still doing it today. Satan's still running around

with his pants down every time he jumps up in

a believer's life because God's got him right

where he wants him. To crush an enemy is more

than to defeat an enemy. It does not say to defeat

an enemy. There's a word for that. It doesn't

say that. It says the God of peace will crush

Satan beneath their feet, whose feet the church's

feet our feet the church's feet a worthy opponent

might be spared like you're in combat and you

win the fight and they surrender throw up their

drop their arms throw up their arm you might

spare them right in the olden day they'd be taken

into slavery in your country or whatever and

sold for money or to somebody not because they

were Bad, but they lost in combat, so their life

is forfeit. A worthy opponent might be spared.

But what happens when they are beyond redemption?

When you're fighting somebody that is not worth

saving? That's a really scary thought, isn't

it? What happens when your enemy cannot be saved?

Who would you trust with the decision to decide

when somebody can be saved and when they can't?

Only God. Only God. I don't want that decision.

That is a scary thought alone, and we're not

supposed to. That's what it says in Judge Not

Lest You Be Judged. God alone should have such

authority, but this is what he says of those

who stay the course. Do not side with the fomenter

of dissension and the ones causing hindrances.

And if you do not side with the fomenter of dissension

and the one causing hindrances, God will crush

Satan beneath your feet. That brings us to our

conclusion. There are provisions for dealing

with disagreement. There had better be, because

as long as there are humans, there will be disagreement.

There are provisions for dealing with disagreement.

There are methods of demonstrating love, even

though we are each unique and different. In this

room, as many people as are in this room are

that many different types of personalities. Don't

let sociologists or psychologists or philosophers

tell you that you can lump people into small

groups and that there are five or six groups

that covers everybody, because it's just not

true. There are as many types of personalities,

psychologies, etc., as there are people. people

in this room, and yet we're able to work together,

and yet we're able to serve and love one another.

People who would never have known each other

and in general would not tolerate each other,

say, very well in the workforce if it were not

for Christ or in the community, right? But here

we are, called by Christ to be the church, and

there is a way of demonstrating love even though

we are each unique and different, even though

we offend or have failings in our efforts at

biblical community. There's Matthew 18 accountability,

which I already talked about. There's reconciliation.

Two believers come together and work it out,

come to peace, commit the whole thing to Christ,

repent, and move on. There is a biblical definition

of love, which we have studied ad nauseum. We

have been over it for months, what it means to

love, what it means to be loved, what's not included

in love. And yet, even though all of that...

Do some find occasion to argue persuasively that

someone else in the church is an error? Hear

me. This is not the way. Understand? Arguing

persuasively that someone else did something

wrong is not the way. It's not included. Just

in the steps of Matthew 18, show me in Matthew

18, one goes, one takes one to two, they call

him before, show me in there where is the person

who was sinned against going to rally a crowd,

to talk to somebody, to get advice first. Your

advice is done. it's done if somebody sins against

you go them and show them their sin between you

and them black and white you don't get advice

you don't talk to somebody you don't ask for

comfort you don't ask for somebody to hold your

hand just do what you are told to do conveying

persuasively that someone else in the church

is in error is not the way. There are provisions

for bringing people who are slaves to sin, he

who sins is a slave to sin, into biblical community.

These involve a great amount application of the

gospel truth and Jesus' grace, as well as repentance

and trust by the individual previously not at

peace with God. And yet, some so -called Christians

are satisfied with their own self -righteous

indignation, looking down their noses at a lost

and dying world, doing ignorant and desperate

things. My dad used to say, even though he was

a backslidden Christian the whole time I was

growing up, he didn't get saved until I was 30.

I was about 30, 32, something like that. My dad

used to say, poor people do. What poor people

do. Poor people act like poor people. So you

see, we'd be driving down the road and somebody's

driving down the road with their bumper duct

taped on their car. And you say, yeah, poor people

do what they got to do. Poor people act like

poor people. And they shouldn't be judged for

it. It's just what they do. Listen to me. Lost

people act like lost people. People who do not

know Jesus act like they don't know Jesus. They

may even say that they do know Jesus. But if

they act like they don't know Jesus, then you

assume they don't know Jesus and share the gospel.

You tell them the truth about Jesus and the availability,

again, of grace from Jesus. To sit there and

look at the way the world is going and condemn.

the world. That's not us. Jesus loved the world.

He did not come to condemn the world, John 3,

but rather they are condemned already by what

they do with the Son of God. And if we go around

condemning them, if we say bad things about them

or whatever, are they going to be somehow more

condemned? If you're mad at them because they

did something you stole from you, hurt you, persecuted

you, whatever, are they going to somehow be more?

Do you think a person is going to more go to

hell because they persecuted you? Because they

did something you don't like? No, you can only

go to hell once for eternity. That's it. That's

all it is. There's no worse punishment. So if

you go around condemning them, how bad they are

and the bad things they do, that's not going

to make it any worse. Indeed, we should do just

the opposite. You should go around and every

time someone sins against you, wait for it, you

should forgive them. Pronounce them verbally.

I forgive you. In the name of Jesus Christ, I

forgive you for what you've done to me. The hurt

that you've caused me, I forgive you. I declare

you forgiven by the Lord. Now, if their heart

doesn't change, they're not going to be saved.

You can't make a person be saved. But if their

heart changes at some point in time, then that

sin could be eternally forgiven. We are a pronouncer

of forgiveness. That's what the church is. We

are the body of Christ. Christ came not to condemn,

nor do we. So stop looking at the world and going,

oh my gosh, I can't believe what they're doing

and condemning them. and start delivering the

gospel so that instead of acting out of their

desperation and ignorance, they can act out of

a relationship with Jesus. I could go on, but

what I'm getting at is this. If you aren't armed

to detect someone who foments division in the

community or brings about hindrances, then you

risk becoming one yourself. Either because they

are inviting you to go and talk, or they are

inviting you to go and do, inviting you into

another kind of community, or... Because you're

just not armed and somebody hurts you. And so

then you, out of your own appetites, do what

makes logical sense, what makes reasonable sense.

You get mad. You say things. You do things. And

those things then become traps. And you are enslaved

by your sin. And beware. If you do, real Christians

will cling to community. They will recognize

your efforts as fruitless. You will go that road

alone. Be fair warned. You don't want to do it.

You're not creative. You're created to be in

relationship with God, relationship with other

believers, and to be the church. You will lose

the great promise of this passage, which is that

the God of peace will soon place Satan under

the feet of those who watch out and proceed by

God's way. Do you want to be plagued by Satan

and his schemes and his efforts and evil spirits

and your own flesh for your whole life? Do you

honestly want to keep going through the trials

and temptations and enticements? Do you want

to keep doing that for your whole life? Some

of you are young. Being Satan, like, do you want

to follow Jesus your whole life? You could live

for another 100 years. Haley, you could live

for 100 years. It's possible. And you said you're

going to follow Jesus. Are you sure you want

to do that? You really want to follow Jesus for

100 years? That's a long time. Big investment

for such a young person to know and be so sure.

But the same is true on the other side of the

fence. Do you want to be trapped, struggling

with evil spirits and flesh and Satan's stupid

schemes? trying to win you over, create dissension,

pull you away from the church, mess with your

community and your unity, and put hindrances

in your path of spirit? Do you want to mess with

that for your whole life? Or do you want to get

in line, follow God, stay in community, and let

God do the work under your feet? Well, B sounds

like the right plan to me. A few illustrations

and then I'll be closed. First one is this. A

woman called me on the phone. She's a member

of the church. She called me about another woman

in the church who she had heard had gossiped

about her. An alarm went off. I was like, wait

a minute. Let me make sure I get this straight.

You're calling me. That's what I said. You're

calling me to gossip about her because she gossiped

about you. No, I'm telling you. I'm like tattling.

I'm a tattletale. Okay, fine. But I'm not a gossip.

So what am I going to do about it? It's not my

job. Matthew 18 says you are supposed to be going

to talk to her. She had to talk to the woman

first because, quote, she didn't want to cause

trouble. Oh, that's very sober. That's very nice.

I'm so glad she didn't want to cause trouble.

I submit to you what we really know what happened.

She called me to cause trouble, but not trouble

for her. Trouble for that other person. So we're

going to have a new community. So we're going

to have a church now with Pastor Dan and Church

Member A. But Church Member B, we've got to get

rid of that one. Clearly bad. See? A woman called

me. No, I'm sorry. This was done in person. Insisted

that she would never return to worship at our

church as long as another woman, both are married

women, mature adults, as long as another woman

who had offended her was attending our church.

Years later, the woman that she complained about

had left the church. And the first woman still

never came back. In the meantime, I talked to

the first woman. The woman was complaining about

the other one about three times. She said, well,

if she leaves, I'll be back. If she leaves, I'll

be back. If she leaves, I'll be back. What was

she doing? She was sowing dissension. She was

unraveling units. She was trying to get me or

the church or whoever to respond to that person.

But what happened to them happened on a job across

town. It wasn't here. It wasn't in the church

building. It wasn't at an event. It wasn't all

family fellowship, whatever. It wasn't even over

between them on a job across town. If that has

nothing to do with me, there's nothing more under

the sun that has nothing to do with that. And

yet, I get the report that she won't be back

unless that other person is gone. That's a person

sowing dissension. A man in his anger says mean

things about the foolish ways that the world

acts and seems to find some peace in it. Like

every time he complains, gets upset about the

dumb things that people are doing, he seems to

have some peace. But at the same time, that same

man would openly admit that he's not sharing

the gospel with lost people. Hear me now when

I say, the last time an idiot cut you off on

purpose in traffic or flipped you off out his

window or posted a half -nude picture, Because

if we were sharing the gospel, people would be

getting saved and they would know, they would

at least have a choice. We are culpable if we

don't share the gospel. And every time you snort,

and that's what the word disgusted in the Greek

means, to snort out your nose like this. Every

time you do that, you're disgusted at what the

world is doing. You need to realize they're doing

it because nobody told them how to be saved or

because God didn't call them to be saved. In

other ways, is it their fault then? If nobody

told them how to be saved or God didn't yet call

them to be saved, then they're just doing what

lost people do and lost people do what lost people

do and you need to get on doing what saved people

do. Church member, me to understand claiming

they have no problem with me i haven't done anything

wrong but they just can't get over how so and

so another church member did something wrong

the church member is professing to be deeply

hurt and states that they are unable to do anything

about their hurt there's nothing they can do

to get over it asked about the offense the offense

seems relatively minor though in a certain manner

if you look at it just a certain way Now you

see it, don't you? It's pretty obvious, isn't

it? Good people responding to the world's way

of doing things, responding to appetites in themselves

to feel better about themselves or better about

the situation, bringing dissension, bringing

hindrances. A church member says that they would

just rather walk away than be involved in any

more drama or stress through relationship. According

to their account, they did not do anything to

cause the dissension and they don't want to be

involved in it at all. But at the same time,

they are prepared to walk away from the unity

with the church. They have responded to someone

who was sowing dissension, and now what? Become

themselves someone who was sowing dissension.

That's how it works. I propose an alternative

solution, and I think it's Paul's solution. Do

not be enticed into dissension, nor fall into

creating dissension. Do not remain in the presence

of those who are causing hindrances, but also

never give up community for the sake of the offense.

or to achieve a simulation of peace. Simulation

of peace? Peace is not not fighting. That's what

the world thinks peace is. Peace is not not fighting.

Peace is no turbulence in here, no matter what

you face. That's peace. Making a peace treaty

between two countries that hate each other is

not worth the paper it's written on, because

they'll fight again. Stay in. Go to battle for

community and await the promised victory. God

promised victory. Stand together. as the church

and love one another in a God -given, God -led,

and God -recognizing way. And the next time someone

comes to you as a fomentor of some kind of lack

of community, unraveling unity, sowing dissension,

you say, I'll have nothing to do with that. I

don't want to know what so -and -so did wrong.

The wrong is that I would know. Have you followed

Matthew 18 accountability? When the one or two

go with, they don't even have to know why they're

going. I need to do Matthew 18 accountability

with Brother Tim, and I have to do about it myself.

So Arden and Ron, can you meet with me and Brother

Tim on Saturday? What are we talking about? We

don't need to know what we're talking about.

It's a Matthew 18 accountability conversation.

Can you go or not? Well, I can go. Well, I can't

go. Okay, well, Tommy, can you go? That's my

dad. I don't want to go. Natalie, can you go?

Yeah, I guess. It's really outside my wheelhouse,

but I'll do whatever you need me to do. Then

we go and we talk it out. Brother Tim says he

doesn't think it's sin. I say, I think it is

sin. And Arden and Natalie have to decide between

the two of us. And they will say, you know what,

I'm sorry, this is sin. It needs to stop. Brother

Tim, you've got to stop. Brother Tim says, okay,

well, I didn't realize. I see that now, looking

at Scripture, hearing from other believers. I'm

repentant of this sin. I will not do it again.

And it stops. That, my friends, is love. Arden,

I've got to talk to Brother Tim on Saturday.

I'm really hurting over this, man. I already

tried talking to him. He's doing this, and is

there anything you think I could do to get through?

Let me tell you what he did. You give me some

advice. That is sowing dissension. It's not godly,

and it does not have God's power, and it makes

us a church without the promise of God to crush

Satan under our feet. And I want it. I want that.

promise. I want to be free in Christ the way

Christ said I can be. Don't you want it? Arm

yourself to know the tactics of someone who is

sowing dissension or causing hindrances and say,

not me, not me. I'll not have any part of it.

Prepare yourself to need to do Matthew 18 accountability

with somebody who has done something wrong, a

sin that you've become aware of, and go to them,

just you, and say, hey, this is what I feel.

This is what I think. What do you got to say

about that? They'll probably say, holy cow, I

did not realize. I'm so sorry. I do want to follow

Jesus. And then the two of you can be in the

church.