3. Heart-Divisions: When We Separate from God, We Separate from His People
Chapter Three Heart-Divisions: When We Separate from God, We Separate from His People W hen people divided from God, they soon divided from His people.
They refused to join His people in the way of worship. Only those whose hearts were set to seek the Lord God of Israel went to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices (2 Chron. 11:16). It was only those whose hearts the Lord had touched. Others, motivated by carnal ends and fearing the troubles that accompanied such devotion, would not join them. And as they separated themselves from God and His people, God's judgment upon them was that they would also be divided from one another.
If you depart from truth, what can hold you together? Truth is a single, plain, and stable thing—but error is diverse and wraps itself in endless contradictions. Those who stray from the straight path of truth wander aimlessly, entangled in briars and thorns, unable to free themselves.
Consider the ten tribes that at first only separated from Judah in terms of political allegiance and temple worship. Later, they rejected all of Scripture except the five books of Moses. They became deeply involved in sorcery,
magic, and witchcraft, growing ever more notorious up until the time of Christ.
This is implied in the Jews' accusation against Jesus: "You are a Samaritan and have a demon"—charging Him with the reputation of a people known for witchcraft and familiar spirits. Otherwise, they knew well that He was not a Samaritan but a Galilean of Nazareth. These people were also greatly divided among themselves. Epiphanius names four distinct sects among them: the Offens, Sebuœans, Gorthenians, and Positheans.
Truth is the bond of unity; error is wild. Once you yield to it, you do not know where to find your footing—or yourself. Our present age will serve as a lasting witness to this: the wild and unruly divisions of our time.
I do not approach this subject lightly. I know well the difficulty, danger, and ungrateful nature of addressing divisions in such a time as this. One who engages the divisions of the age should expect to be torn apart himself
—to have his name and reputation scattered in every direction. To deal with a divided people is like reaching into a hornet's nest.
When a learned man was once asked why he didn't write on the controversies of his time, he answered, "To what purpose? It will not help the cause and will only endanger the man who speaks." I recall what someone once said to Luther when he prepared to take up the cause of reformation: "O Luther, get you back to your cell and cry, 'Lord, have mercy upon us.'"
A minister must know how to rightly divide the Word of truth. But this skill is especially tested when that Word must be divided among a divided people. I would never have chosen such a topic on my own, but since
Providence has brought it directly into my path, I will proceed, resting my
heart on that promise: "The integrity of the upright guides them" (Prov.
11:3).
Let us now consider:
1. The causes of our divisions.
2. The evils of them.
3. Cautions against misusing them.
4. Remedies for healing them.
The Causes of Our Divisions The primary external cause is the devil. He strives to keep his own kingdom free from division but works tirelessly to sow division in Christ's kingdom. The followers of false religions—Muslims, who revere a false prophet; pagans, who worship the sun, moon, and stars; or Egyptians, who venerate onions, leeks, cats, and dogs—have seen less division among themselves than the worshipers of Jesus Christ.
All these groups belong to Satan's kingdom, which he seeks to keep united. But in Christ's kingdom, he sows envy, discord, and division. That is why those who spread division among Christians are, in Scripture, referred to as "devils" (1 Tim. 3:11). The Greek word for "slanderers" can be translated "devils."
Women, being more emotionally driven, are often more vulnerable to this temptation—to adopt opinions too quickly without careful examination.
What better foments division than slander? Whoever plays a role in causing division in the Church plays the role of the devil himself.
Cajetan offers an insightful note about the demons cast out of the man who was possessed by a legion. They pleaded with Jesus not to be sent out of the region. Why? Cajetan explains: demons have regions assigned to
them, with specific tasks. These demons didn't want to be removed from their assigned territory. If that is so, then the demons responsible for division certainly favor churches, where their efforts to stir up strife can do the most damage.
Especially now, when Satan sees he cannot maintain his old superstitions, he changes tactics. Knowing that some form of reformation is inevitable, he now works to mingle a spirit of division among believers. He hopes to prevail here, since he has lost ground in other areas.
God has placed enmity between Satan and the saints—but it is the devil who plants enmity between saints and saints.
When we see frightening storms and thundering skies, some say, "Evil spirits are abroad." Certainly, these raging storms of contention among us are stirred and sustained by evil spirits.
Yet the truth is: **all the devils in hell could do us no real harm in dividing us from God or one another—**if not for the corruption of our own hearts.
As God once said to Israel: "Your destruction is from yourself" (Hos.
13:9). So we may now say to England: "Your division is from yourself."
The Internal Causes of Division The internal causes of our divisions can be placed into three categories:
1. Dividing principles — when false ideas descend from our heads to our hearts.
3. Dividing distempers — when sinful passions rise from our hearts to cloud our understanding.
3. Dividing practices — the outward behaviors that flow from both faulty thinking and corrupted affections. These fuel and multiply divisions.
Let us begin with dividing principles. Unless we address the head, working on the heart is in vain. It is foolish to cry out against the heart's disease if the real source of sickness is in the mind.
It is like applying medicine to the stomach when the real affliction is in the brain. We must identify and correct these faulty principles if we hope to restore unity.