Scripture Introduction
Two snowflakes drop softly from a dark cloud. The wind twists and twirls these “friends,” so that appear to play “Tag, you’re it!” One bumps the other, then jumps away; the second chases and almost reaches his “opponent.” They bounce up and down, giggling as they swing around one another. Eventually they land, separated only by an inch, where they will lie until the summer thaw. But what an inch it is. In God’s providence, they lie on opposite sides of the “Continental Divide.” High in the Rockies, they are close enough to “see” one another. But the small division leads inexorably to a vast separation. One will travel to the Atlantic Ocean, the other to the Pacific.
Jesus separates all people—he is the divine Continental Divide. Where you fall may not seem far from another, but differing allegiances flow to an ocean of separation. We are reading today of responses to Jesus’ teaching. This asks us: where are we in the process? What do we really believe? Will we pay the cost of division?
[Read John 7.40-52. Pray.]
Introduction
The story is told that John Wesley, a founder of Methodism, changed his view about church division after a dream in which he was first transported to the gates of Hell. He asked, “Are there any Presbyterians here?” “Yes,” was the reply. “Any Roman Catholics?” “Yes.” “Any Congregationalists?” “Yes.” He hesitated, then said, “Not any Methodists, I hope!” To his dismay the answer was “Yes.”
Suddenly in his dream he stood at the gate of Heaven. Once again he asked, “Are there any Presbyterians here?” “No,” was the reply. “Any Roman Catholics?” “No.” “Any Congregationalists?” “No.” Then he asked the question which most interested him: “Are there any Methodists here?” He was shocked to receive the same stern reply, “No!”
“Well then,” he asked in surprise, “please tell me who IS in Heaven?” “CHRISTIANS!” was the jubilant answer. From that dream Wesley determined that unity was essential to the church’s success in her mission.
What are we to think of division? Some today agree with Wesley: division is one of our greatest sins. We must unify at any cost. Others believe any effort toward unity necessarily involves compromise; therefore we must avoid it. Jesus prayed for unity; yet he preached that we must leave even father and mother for his sake and the gospel. When shall we divide?
Whether knowingly or not, the people who heard Jesus illustrate for us Biblical principles for unity and division. God describes reactions to Jesus so that we will bring into our lives two responses: first, we must divide over Jesus; second, we must decide about Jesus.
1. We Must Divide Over Jesus (John 7.40-44)
The key word in the first paragraph is in verse 43: “So there was a division among the people over him.” Some (v. 40), think he is “the prophet.” Moses promised Israel (Deuteronomy 18.15 ff): “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen…. And the LORD said to me, ‘…I will raise up for them a prophet like you…. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.’” Earlier in his ministry, Jesus multiplied a few loaves of bread and two fish into a feast for thousands. Because this miracle looked so much like Moses’ manna, people immediately began to say, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” (John 6.14).
Others (v. 41) disagreed. They thought Jesus might be the Christ, the Messiah, the One expected to grab the throne of David and rescue and restore Israel to her former glory. Jewish expectations at the time of Jesus never imagined the prophet and the Christ being the same man.
“No way!” was the response from those who disbelieved Jesus could possibly be the Messiah: “The Christ would be born in Bethlehem of the line of David,” (and they were correct). But since Jesus grew up in Nazareth of Galilee, they assumed he did not meet either criteria.
Some, of course, agreed with the church leadership—they wanted to arrest him. Nor were these the only negative opinions. Some said he was out of his mind, and others were sure he was demon-possessed. God accurately records this diversity of opinions to get you to verse 43: “There was a division over Jesus.”
The word “division” translates the Greek word, [schisma], from which we get the English word, "schism." [schisma] is used 6 times in the New Testament.
Matthew and Mark both record Jesus’ explaining that if you sew a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, the patch will shrink and make a worse tear [schisma]. So we know a [schisma] is a ripping apart, hence a division.
John uses the word three times: here in 7.43, and in 9.16 and 10.19. All three indicate a tearing apart of people because of Jesus: “there was a [schisma] a division…over him.”
The other three uses are in 1Corinthians.
1Corinthians 1.10: I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions [schisma], among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.
1Corinthians 11.18-19: For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions [schisma], among you. And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.
1Corinthians 12.24-26: But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division [schisma], in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
There are five truths we must work into our lives.
1.1. We Must Strive for Unity
The Apostle Paul begs us to heal division. In fact, Ephesians teaches pastors to equip the saints and build up the body until we reach “the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.” Spiritual unity and brotherly love result from proper belief and practice of the faith. When we believe the Scriptures about Jesus and apply his grace in every area of life (as God enables), then we unite. Christians must take care lest their pride produce a tear which displeases the Lord.
1.2. We Must Recognize the Deeper Problems
The Corinthian church was divided, but Paul does not directly attack the lack of unity. Instead, he searches out the sin under the problem.
When our children feel sick, we take their temperature. If they have a fever, we do not simply give them Tylenol. We seek the cause of the fever in order to properly treat the disease. The same is true of division: the elevated temperature we feel from it asks us to find and treat the heart of the problem.
1.3. We Must Divide
1Corinthians 11.18-19: For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions [schisma], among you. And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.
The fabric of the fellowship in Corinth is torn. Where we expect a solid cloth of the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, woven tightly together by humility and gentleness and longsuffering and bearing with one another in love—instead we find a rip. But God says it must be so; in fact, some divisions must grow into full scale factions, so “those who are genuine may be recognized.”
John MacArthur: “The paradox is that it was necessary for there to be factions in the Corinthian church in order that those who were approved would become evident. The worldliness and fleshly disobedience of those who caused the divisions would expose and highlight the love, harmony, and spiritually of those approved.”
John Calvin: “When we see that the Church is not in full unity, there should be no question of our being disturbed or ready to give in. On the contrary, in this way not only are hypocrites brought to light, but also the sincerity of the faithful is proved.”
The preaching of Jesus always divides pretenders from the true professors.
1.4. We Must Not Expect External Rites to Heal Divisions
After acknowledging their lack of unity, note well what Paul writes next: 1Corinthians 11.20: “When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat.”
When we lived in Omaha, we drove daily past the church at the end of our street. During October their marquee sign invited us to join with them for, “World Communion Sunday.” They hoped to create unity by acting out the ceremony which demands it. But they have it backward. True unity (spiritual and gospel unity) is our communion and what makes this meal more than a mere ceremony. The Corinthians did not eat the Lord’s Supper because they were divided; it could not celebrate their unity because they had none! The Lord’s Supper makes the reality of unity better; it cannot create unity out of division.
1.5. We Must Believe the Gospel for Unity
Paul begins his letter with an appeal for unity in the name of Jesus. Then he describes the source for the change they needed. 1Corinthians 1.17: “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”
Three summary applications: First, division cannot always be avoided. Jesus came to bring a sword and to turn a man against his own family. Following Jesus separates friends. We strive for unity; but for those who will not unite with us under the true gospel, we must divide. For some, Christ is the fragrance of life, for others, of death.
Second, make sure we divide over the gospel. Much that separates Christians is insufficient.
Third, for you considering the call of Jesus to drink of his livings waters, weigh the costs. Many think to become disciples of Jesus, then turn away when following him separates them from family and friends. The cost is small when compared to the rewards, but it is real.
2. We Must Decide About Jesus
2.1. The Priority of Listening for Deciding (John 7.45-46)
Dr. Harry Ironside, a pastor for many years in Chicago, was well known to enjoy debating the Christian faith and also for his avid street preaching. He said, “I never met an infidel who has ever read one serious book of Christian experience.”
C. S. Lewis, in founding a Socratic Club to debate Christian truths, noted that the non-Christians had, “an almost bottomless ignorance of the Faith they supposed themselves to be rejecting.”
There are exceptions, of course, but most people who reject the faith do not know the faith they reject. These guards had no idea who Jesus was, until they heard him. Without their preconceptions to protect them from his words, they were arrested by the one they intended to arrest.
D. A. Carson: “They could feel themselves torn apart at the deepest level of their being by the same deeds and words of Jesus that were tearing apart the population at large.”
This is precisely why Bible studies in the Gospels are so often used by God in conversion: people hear Jesus speaking in his own words. And no one ever spoke like this man!
Listening to Jesus is essential to deciding to follow him.
2.2. The Problem of Preconceptions for Deciding (John 7.47-49, 52)
Someone once said, “Ignorance is the mother of devotion.” That is wrong. An unknown God cannot be worshipped properly or loved passionately. Christians must be committed to knowing the Scriptures. But we can know the words without knowing the God who wrote them.
J. C. Ryle: “It is quite possible to be familiar with the letter of Scripture, and to be able to quote texts appropriately, and reason about the theory of Christianity, and yet to remain dead in trespasses and sins. Like many of the generation to which our Lord preached, we may know the Bible well, and yet remain faithless and unconverted.”
Whether it be by self-study, or reading Puritan classics, or formal theological education at the finest university, you can acquire intellectual truth and miss the heart knowledge that is the one thing needful. Do you know the plague in your own flesh? Do you hate your sin? Do you sit at Jesus’ feet daily, drinking his refreshing grace? Are you humble before the Lord? This is the knowledge the Pharisees would have none of, because they already knew the “right” answers. They did not need to be taught love and grace and mercy and forgiveness, because they knew the law and their standing before God.
Friend, make sure you preconceptions do not keep you from hearing the good news of God’s living water.
2.3. The Process of Time for Deciding (John 7.50-51)
Eighteen months earlier, Nicodemus came to Christ in the middle of the night, for fear of the Jews. Now, though probably not a believer and disciple, he risks and receives an open rebuke for suggesting that the law (which the Pharisees claim to love) is being trampled in an effort to put Jesus away. And in another six months, Nicodemus will take Jesus’ body down from the cross and ensure it receives a dignified burial.
Not everyone becomes a follower of Christ through a dramatic and instantaneous conversion. Some do, hallelujah! But in others, the Spirit moves them step by step, slowly from doubter to seeker to saved, hallelujah! Let us take care of condemning others as graceless when their experience is different from your own. The tortoise beat the hare, and slow works of the Spirit may be the surest and most enduring.
In your ministry of evangelism, pray without ceasing, listening for the leading of the Spirit to know what words to share and how to press for a decision. Not everyone is ready for you to “Close the deal,” and some tender plants will be damaged by too gusty a breath of hot air. Paul planted; Apollos watered; God gives the increase. Trust the Spirit to work.
3. Conclusion
In one of my church planting efforts, we were completing our very first membership class. All of the core group (the people who had been with us from day one), were eager to join. But one of the men was a 33rd degree Freemason.
I explained, as gently and graciously as I could the denominational position of our church on freemasonry: it is incompatible with Christianity, it denies the deity of Christ, it blasphemes, and it preaches salvation by good works. In addition, I pointed out that the other major Reformed denominations uniformly denounced it as a false religion. Thousands of pastors and elders had studied Freemasonry and agreed that membership in it was incompatible with following Jesus.
In addition, I pointed out that I could not let him join, because the Session that Presbytery had appointed to supervise our work specifically stated that anyone desiring church membership must renounce their position and membership in the Freemasons. The man was furious: “How dare I try to tell him what to do and believe?” He knew all about Freemasonry, and everything about it was compatible with the church. It was as if he said: “The crowd of PCA pastors that does not know the truth about Freemasonry is deceived and accursed.”
So he left.
We divided over Jesus. We had too. Their temple is for idols, their religion is against Christ, and their faith is in their own good works. And he made his decision—he chose freemasonry over Jesus. What decision will you make?
