Conflict Within the Church part 1

But we are continuing in our study good works flow from good faith we are learning just how practical the book of James Really is we finished up chapter 3 and we looked at heavenly wisdom and earthly wisdom We contrasted the two James did and now we're moving on in the book of James to chapter 4 chapter 4 we're going to be in verses 1 through 2 Now those of us who have been around the church for any length of time We know that there are some churches who have struggled with conflicts and with fights Really some of us might even call them knockdown dragouts. Isn't that right?

I Know that I have seen a few in my time I've listened to some of you as you have shared with me where you've come from Some of us have seen some conflict and strife and struggle in the life of the church As a matter of fact, some of you been hurt by this some of you've been hurt directly Some of you've been hurt indirectly, but you've experienced or watched or seen or been a part of Church fights and struggles that have been very difficult For some of us, but we're not alone What I mean by that is an example that we can look at in church history goes like this in the year of 150 the very famous as a matter of fact world famous American pastor and preacher Jonathan Edwards was dismissed from his pastorate of 21 years at the famous Northampton first church and the question is why?

There's nothing more than church conflict Nothing more than a church fight now Jonathan Edwards started at Northampton in 2026 as an assistant minister to his very famous grandfather his grandfather pastored that church for many many years his name was Solomon stoddard and then Edwards was very Successful and he was very famous not only in his local church Because he was a man who was greatly used of God in what's called the first great awakening church historians note the first great of work awakening secular historians make mention of what's called the great awakening it took place in the early 1740s so we have a man Jonathan Edwards world-famous Followed in the footsteps of his famous grandfather had a very successful Pastoral ministry he was used greatly of God in what's called the great awakening but yet controversy and fighting and conflict It came about in Edwards Church there at Northampton and it brought led to his dismissal Now what was the issue in that church conflict? convictions on the Lord's Supper For years there had been an understanding that those who were Family members of church members who proclaimed to be redeemed could partake in the Lord's Supper But after studying the scripture Jonathan Edwards came to the conclusion that no man no woman no young person should partake in the supper unless they could profess a biblical time of conversion and they were walking with the Lord in other words He preached and taught that only redeemed born-again people should partake in the supper But yet that broke with tradition that broke with what they had always done in the life of the church so what happened? they might as well have been Baptist in there right a fight a Conflict as a matter of fact, it was so great that Jonathan Edwards was dismissed Fired I guess you can say it sent packing down the road And if you study his life, he never pastored again Now why do I tell this story about Jonathan Edwards?

Even though this took place in 1750 and his life was free so long ago Really and truly when you study the story it could have happened right down the road It could have happened in a church that you have come from or I have come from well that leads us to where we are Right here in the book of James that leads us and gets us started with what I want us to see this morning and the time of the message is conflict within the church Conflict within the church. This is a part one.

We're gonna have two messages It'll be a part one in part two dealing with conflict in the church We see the main truths that are on the screen that we're gonna look at but let's let's look at the verses Let's look at the text together and let's get started in this subject of conflict within the church James says what is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?

It's a question you lust and you do not have so you commit murder and you are envious and you cannot obtain So you fight and you quarrel we're gonna stop there this morning We're gonna cover these verses But he goes on to say you do not have because you do not ask you do not ask because you do not believe And he goes on to deal with their wrong motives. He goes on to deal with what goes on with Conflicts in the life of the church.

It's not just two verses dealing with this issue, but it's several verses and What we see is James is dealing with conflict now the truths that we're gonna look at therefore right out of these short verses Number one our Roman numeral one the reality of conflicts number two the source of conflicts number three the results of conflicts and then number four the description of conflicts Just a few verses but yet packed with so much truth so if you're taking notes and I trust that you are truth number one or Roman numeral one the reality of Conflicts, let's look at the first portion of verse one again. What does James say?

What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you now? This is obvious. This is a question But like I said earlier many of you have dealt with conflicts. I'll say it like this There are two types of people this morning those who know all about church conflict and those who will know in the future Because it is inevitable Some of you face conflicts some of you've seen it but yet some of you you will in the future and James is showing right here the reality of Church conflict now, let's look at a few things out of this verse First I want you to notice that conflicts are obvious Conflicts are obvious now. Why do I say conflicts are obvious?

It is the language that tells me and Makes me and causes us to see how obvious the conflicts are Let me show you what I mean go back to the verse this question. He says what is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Now in the original the text is a simple question But it is a rhetorical question in the original it reads like this Wentz wars and wentz fighting's question mark in our language You can be read like this are there quarrels in conflicts among you and he's not asking for an answer what I mean is the Construction of the language James does not ask to see if there are conflicts But he asked the question to state that there obviously are conflicts I guess if we could say it in our language He would say what is the source and the quarrels of the conflicts that are so obviously among you The construction of the language tells us this James is stating a question.

He's not necessarily asking for an answer because he's going to give the answer But he is stating the obvious Second I want you to see the conflicts are truly fights The conflicts they are truly fights again go back to the verse What is the source of quarrels if you write in your Bible? Underline or circle that word quarrels and conflicts Underline or circle that word conflicts. It's almost like he's using Stacking up words here, but what is he doing?

He is showing that conflicts what they truly are Now, you know, I'm using the new American Standard the English Standard version it reads quarrels and fights The King James uses the words wars and fighting's so look at these words. We have quarrels We have conflicts we have quarrels or fights. We have wars or fights All of these words are that these English translators are trying to communicate the meaning of these words now Let's break these two words down.

What about this word? quarrels The word quarrels simply means ongoing now listen Serious disputing the King James really gets it good because he uses the word war which is more serious What is James saying? These are serious? ongoing disputes which can turn and will turn into outright war What about the word conflict? The English Standard uses fights The word conflict simply means fighting and it refers to battle This seriousness of these actions can be understood if we go on down to verse 2 because James starts using words like murder If this was just a petty little one-time verbal argument, it wouldn't fit what James is saying is they're ongoing Serious disputes among you.

These are serious. These conflicts are serious and James can say that they can lead to some horrendous behavior So we see that conflicts are obvious Conflicts, they are truly serious fights and then third conflicts. They are inside the church go back to the verse What is the source of the quarrels and conflicts among you? Among you what is he saying? This is within the church.

The context is the church now We know the context these are Jewish Christians who have scattered so this letter would have been circulated around Many different fellowships there would have been many churches many believers many people who would have read this but the Conflicts are within the church and it is important for us to see One Bible commentator that I read said it like this Instead of attacking faulty thinking Certain doctrines and truths about God's relationship to his people are about the nature and the content of faith James presupposed their mutual knowledge of particular problems in their congregations.

What does that Bible commentator say? There's a lot of things James would have liked to have said but he's dealing with these presupposed problems That are in the congregations the the Bible commentator goes on to say they were full of mutual oppositions and attacks. I Guess you can say it like this. They they just ran thick in the fellowships James skipped over certain things Maybe he would have liked to have said and he deals with these obvious the reality of these conflicts I'll give you an example that communicates this I Don't know if you know it, but there was a conflict in Antioch You don't have to turn there, but we see this taught in the book of Galatians in Galatians chapter 2 starting in verse 11 Paul tells of how he goes to Antioch Paul has been a an apostle to the Gentiles for 14 years and he goes to see the church fathers Peter James and John And he goes to submit himself Humbly to submit to them what he has been doing to submit himself to their authority Well when he gets to Antioch he has a humble heart He comes with one purpose to show them what he has been doing among the Gentile nations But when he gets there he finds conflict within the life of the church at Antioch Peter who was a Jew had begun to act like a Jew around the Gentiles He had began to keep the Judea the laws of Judaism Realism rules that were empty and as a matter of fact he had brought that in the life of the church and even Barnabas was led astray and what was going on was they were Alienating the Gentiles by acting like Jews things that they did not need to do laws and rules and legal definitions that pointed to Christ and what Paul does is he comes humbly to submit himself and he notices this conflict in the church and what does he do he attacks it He comes to town with one thing on his mind and there is what an Obvious conflict in the church the reality of conflict.

I Guess Paul had just taken his shoes off outside the door had come in and boom there it is I Was reminded of this years ago the reality of conflict There was a particular man that I used to go to church with and we were involved in a church that was full of conflict I Ended up leaving and I went to another church that seemed to be pretty peaceful and this other gentleman followed And I'll never forget we went into business meeting one night and I watched that man I'm telling you he grabbed everything he had he grabbed his kids his wife He was making I mean he was trying to get to that door just as fast as he could why? I mean it was fear.

It was trepidation. He was like oh my goodness business meeting I know what's gonna happen bullets are gonna fly words are gonna be swung around. This is fixing to get bad quick. I Looked at him. I said hold on man. You're a guest you don't have to go. It's not gonna be like that. I Almost grabbed him by the arm. He sat back down the business meeting was quick It was sweet just business was taken care of boom. It was over and he looked at me.

He took a deep breath He said I didn't know a business meeting could be like that He was been he had been living the reality of conflict and you know as I was studying this passage I just began to think of of my journey through different churches through the years and the conflicts that I had seen and you know there Were some times there were some moments in the lives of those churches where there was obvious Conflict it was real as a matter of fact there were some churches to it five minutes after you walked in the door The reality of conflicts.

I mean he just hit you right in the face So what James is dealing with is the reality of church conflict? Now my question for you is how do we handle this type of situation? How do we handle the reality of conflict? Well, I'll answer that question at the end of the message Let's move on. Let's look at truth number two or Roman numeral to the source of conflicts The source of conflicts this comes from the second portion of verse one. Let's read the verse again What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you is not the source your pleasures?

Is not the source your? pleasures Now just like a river has a source conflicts within the church conflict among people it has a source as well James is about to identify the source and he is helping his readers these people within these Congregations to see the source of the conflicts that were right in their laps. Let's break this first down first I want you to see the sources man What does he say is not the source? Your pleasures he's identifying the source as man Man or men are always the source of conflicts Fightings and even wars that break out within the church. Of course, it's sin.

It's flesh It's the devil that are behind all these things But man is at the center in that what James says is not the source your I Guess if he was speaking with his hands, he would appoint it So the source is man also second. I want you to see the source is man's pleasures. It's obvious He says that it's not the source your pleasures Now the English standard it renders the word passions the King James Uses the word lusts the new international uses the word desires Now this word simply means now listen close to gratify natural fleshly desires In the original that's what this word pleasures means.

Let me repeat that it means to gratify natural fleshly desires but notice this in the New Testament this word is always used in an ungodly setting in a negative setting and what James is saying is the source of These conflicts are with you and with your selfish fleshly evil negative desires that are within you See, it's not enough for him to point the finger at man He goes on to point his finger at what is inside the man these conflicts begin within oneself, but it ultimately Manifest itself in outward conflict the English standard says within you It must be understood that the source is man, but it is those lusts It is those desires it is those cravings which burn within that man's heart They are negative they are fleshly they are worldly and it is obvious that these conflicts in These churches have moved outward This must be understood it starts within and then it moves without and see James is identifying that it starts with you It's come from you because they're the ones manifesting this behavior But then he goes on to identify what's in them and he shows that it is out of their heart this natural desire to gratify this selfish these selfish desires I Could not help but think of a minister that I used to have in what used to be in contact with I Hate that I'm out of contact with him, but his behavior dictates that But see over time now listen close and because of certain circumstances What was inside came outside?

What was in his heart came out? What was in the secret came out for everyone to see let me give you an example what I mean Inside of his heart were jealousies. He was paranoid He was full of pride. He was unteachable and he held on to an unforgiving and bitter spirit Now many of those things are not seen maybe if you're close to an individual like that we can see those things But yet the people as a whole did not see those things. They didn't know that he wrestled with jealousies They didn't know that he was very paranoid.

They didn't know that he was very prideful They did not know that he was very unteachable and very unforgiving and also would be very bitter but because of certain circumstances that came along and Squeezed him what happened was it went from inward to outward and this is what happened those issues That came about in his life brought about lies brought about gossips brought about slander Brought about insightful behavior even inciting riotous behavior within the life of the church brought about great division And arguments and outbursts of anger and threat and destructive behavior So it went from being inside That's those pleasures you see to coming out these obvious conflicts And what did it do listen it brought about world war three right down the aisle of the church?

We see this in Scripture did we not see this in first Corinthians 3 What does Paul say he uses a word that's inward But he says there's conflicts There's fights some of you say you follow a polis some you say you follow me some of you say there you follow Jesus Those are the outward conflicts, but he talks about early in the chapter that you have jealousy see Paul refers to that Which is not seen and he also refers to that which is obvious We see this in the scriptures, but yet we got we must see this is imperative that we understand James shows us the source of the conflicts He shows us that it comes from the inside and then it manifests itself in man's behavior Nonetheless man is responsible now a question How do we handle these issues?

How do we handle these internal issues that can lead to outward conflict? Again, I'll answer in the conclusion of the message Truth number three are Roman numeral three. I want us to see the results of conflict the results Again, this is found in verse 1 this will wrap up verse 1 he says what is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures notice that wage war in your members? This is the results of the conflicts see when conflicts come quarrels conflicts Fightings wars when they are let loose in the congregation.

They are always consequences there always ramifications What goes up must come down and James is showing the readers James is showing these people The results of their fighting that they have allowed to come into their lives and also in the life of the church now First I want you to notice there is war go back to the verse Is not the source of your pleasures that wage war?

Now the English Standard in the King James it uses the word war as well This word war right here in the last portion of verse 1 It is not just fighting it is much more it is much more intense as a matter of fact Vincent's word study says this is all that is included in military service So it's not just conflict it moves on to something far more serious The the proper word is war because what is he saying? He is saying that the result is you have let war loose in the church Second I want you to see that there is war within them This is within them as individuals and as a body. What does he say?

The wage it is not the source of your pleasures that wage war in your members Now the language deals with two things it deals with Individuals, but it also deals with them corporately as a body it deals with them Individuals, but yet when individuals bring that in it affects everyone it affects everyone within the church membership There were certain individuals who were guilty, but yet war Has done what it is ravaged it is ravaged It is ravaged the membership I Give you an example that we've studied we've looked at remember the story we touched on last week We talked about third John we talked about Diatrophies in the church, and I'm going to read the text you don't have to go there But notice what the scripture says and third John beginning in verse 9 John says I wrote wrote something to the church But diatrophies who love to be first among them does not accept what we say for this reason if I come I will call attention to his deeds which he does unjustly accusing us with wicked words and Not satisfied with this neither does he himself receive the brethren and he forbids those who do so putting them outside the church That's an example we learned last week of earthly wisdom But it is example of one man waging war in the life of the church.

What does it say? He does not receive John he rejects those who receive John he kicks people out of the church That's nothing more than war It's more than petty words I Was reminded of this When I used to talk to my grandfather about the old days My grandfather was a little old when World War two broke out He worked in civil service.

In other words, he worked at a army facility And he did his fair share But when you would talk to him about the quote-unquote honor and glory of war he never saw it that way Because he would tell you the names of all the friends he had that didn't come back He would tell you the names of people who came back wounded and maimed and Destroyed he would tell you all of the what? ramifications and Just like war it kills individuals physical war wars against nations But yet when war comes in the life of the church when people let that stuff loose There are results and that's just what doctor fees was doing. He was waging war.

He was stiff arming John He was kicking out those who were with John. He was turning out other people in the life of the church He was grabbing authority grabbing places of influence and he was waging war and I can say it like this in that church There was blood flowing down the aisles That's the results Now the question what do we do I'm gonna answer that when we get to the end of the message. Let's continue. Let's look at truth number four Roman numeral four Let's look at the description of conflicts The description of conflicts. We're gonna look at the first portion of verse two What does James say you lust you do not have?

So you commit murder and are envious and cannot obtain so you fight and you quarrel James describes their actions James describes their behavior James describes what he sees and he's almost showing a progression Some is internal some of this behavior, but eventually we see that it becomes external So let's just break this verse down and let's notice some truths out of this verse first I want you to see that there is lust There is lust go back to the verse You lust now most of the time when we hear the word lust we think of things of a sexual nature But that's not exactly what James is communicating the word lust here It means to have a desire now notice of any kind of any kind Someone can lust for food Someone could lust for money But yet in this set of circumstances They're not lusting for something like immorality or food or money what they are lusting for are things like this power and position and authority a Man or a woman can can lust for these things They can lust for the authority and the power of a deacon position They can lust to be on a particular committee why to have a position of authority they can lust for these positions Second I want you to see that there is murder He says you lust and you do not have so you commit murder now the King James uses the word kill Now in this context John MacArthur says this word it means murderous hatred extremely destructive behavior even suicide So it's not just taking One's life it means murderous hatred destructive behavior It means to assault someone I Great.

I guess a great example is the story of Absalom Do you know the story of Absalom King David had a son named Absalom and what did Absalom do? Absalom lusted for the position and the power and the authority of King over of Israel Even though it was his father David who had that position and as a matter of fact He went so far as to try to kill his own father That is exactly what this word means and that's exactly what doctor fees did he had murderous behavior? It was hateful.

It was extremely destructive Also third there is envy You lust you do not have You commit murder and you are envious now the English standard uses the word covet Now this means a strong strong desire for something to be jealous for something again That's what Absalom did Absalom was jealous. He was envious of his father's position Doctor fees was envious.

He was jealous and he was envious and he coveted what he coveted power He coveted authority and he coveted position Fourth I want you to see that there is discontentment There is discontentment go down to the verse you lust and you do not have So you commit murder and you are envious and you cannot obtain See they don't have and they cannot obtain what they want this communicates that they were discontent with the position that they had This communicates a serious level of discontentment.

They could not be satisfied I guess I can say it like this with the lot that they had been given in life They were discontent Fifth I want you to see there is fleshly action see this all internal and now He describes what happens with this eternal behavior. And what does it do? There is fleshly action go back to the verse you lust and you do not have and so you commit murder and you are envious And you cannot obtain so what does he say you fight and you quarrel? This is a result of their behavior, which is unchecked. It is unbridled It is allowed to run loose in their hearts and therefore sooner or later.

It is allowed to run loose in the fellowship I Hate to say it again. I was reminded of another man that I knew separate from the first individual I'm not in contact with this individual either because of some of their positions and actions in life But looking back see it's easier to learn in retrospect. Is it not? That old saying hindsight's 2020 boy. It sure is 2020 when the Word of God shines on it But as I look back on this particular man's life as he was in particular places in the life of the church I noticed that he always lusted for position He always wanted a position.

He always wanted a place of authority He always wanted a place of power and because he could not get those positions. What did he do? He attacked those who were in his way. He was envious of ministry that he could not have You remember the story of David? Remember before he could ever kill Goliath He had to be faithful to kill the lion and the bear remember that story when he stood before Goliath He looked at Saul and all those fighting men and he said this is an irk Uncircumcised Philistine he is no different than a lion and a bear He was now listen content to serve his father to be a shepherd boy and to kill the lion and the bear that I noticed when no one was looking and Because he could kill the lion and the bear then he could stand before Goliath But see this individual was never content to kill the lion and the bear They always attacked those and they were envious of those who had positions that he could not have He was never content with service with nothing in return He was never content to serve people even if he never got a thank you and look This was allowed to run around in his heart and in his behavior and therefore It was allowed to run around in the life of the church and it produced fighting and quarreling around this person Do y'all know who the character is in peanuts called pig pen You know the little boy that was always dirty and a little dust cloud following him That's exactly the way this person was It wasn't a dust cloud that followed him.

It was always crawling in fights And I never forget an individual that I know in love when this particular man left the life of the church He told me Deacon's meetings Places when leadership would meet all of a sudden he got smooth Because a lot of the fighting a lot of the quarreling a lot of the jump that was stirred up. He was gone That's exactly what James is describing that's exactly what we see with men like Diatrophes and Absalom. What do we do?

We see that they lusted they had this desire and it brought about murderous behavior Destructive behavior they were envious They were jealous of things that they did not have and they wanted they were Discontent with the position that God had given them and because it was left unchecked what happened it came out in fights and quarrels And I want you to see the progression Starts inward it starts inside the heart of a man and then it comes out it works this way out Into behavior and we must be able to identify this kind of behavior.

We must be able to see it James gives us a great description and progressive behavior Now question, how do we handle this? We're a transition into the conclusion of the message we're not going to look at the verses, but I'm going to give you some things I really want you to see Because what have we seen is we've looked at this message What have we what have we just grabbed a halt of We've seen number one the realities of conflict number two the source of conflict number three the results of conflict and the description of conflict I'm gonna ask you to write down some words I'm gonna talk around these words a little that'll help us know how to deal with these issues First the word prepare The word prepare You must be prepared to know how to deal with conflict Now you might not be in a position of authority where you must engage But if you're in the life of the church you must be prepared to know what to do know how to react when it Explodes in the life of the church now.

How do we how do we prepare? How do we prepare? No matter where you are first now listen It's understanding the teaching of the Word of God and if you digest what we've looked at this morning You will scratch your head and say according to what I've learned in James. It's not win, but if It's not if excuse me, but when it's gonna come It's gonna happen It's inevitable it happened to James it happened to Peter it happened to Paul it happened in the Old Testament in the New Testament When is it coming? to understand the reality of conflict and it is Inevitable and it will be obvious that is step number one to being prepared But the other thing in being prepared is to just be prayed up Walk in the spirit you can't deal with this stuff in the flesh The flesh if you deal with it in the flesh you will lose every time you will be run over you will be destroyed You will get hurt and you will find yourself going through the proverbial meat grinder, and you won't make it But if you walk in the spirit, and if you understand what's being taught you keep your eyes on Jesus And then when it happens in the life of the church you just smile and say Lord I Knew it was coming But I'm walking with you I've been praying about this thing.

I'm just gonna trust you and I'm gonna learn and I'm gonna grow and I'm gonna find you in the midst of this thing you got to be prepared We must be prepared The second word I want you to write down is the word attack attack I'm gonna apply this word attack in two ways First if you were in the life of the church and you find jealousy and envy and pride Things like paranoia If you find those things welling up in your heart now listen close you better attack it You do not let that stuff lay in your heart you do not ponder over those kind of thoughts You don't let them roll over in your mind two times or even one time you better attack those thoughts You better repent of those thoughts you better take them to the foot of the cross You better repent and ask for a double dose of grace and mercy to be able to crucify those things I heard a man say it like this He was talking to me and he was preaching to men and teenagers And he said listen guys if you ever get in touch with your feminine side.

He said crucified and I'll say it like this if you're walking with God and you find Jealousy if you find a lustful desire for things that you don't have position and authority that God's not giving you if you Find these murderous thoughts these envies and jealousies come up this disconsentment Listen you better crucify it because it will destroy you attack it Crucify it take it to the cross Repent repent every day five times a day counsel will you pastor get it under the blood attack it? And then also this word attack It comes down to me and brother Keith it comes down to the leadership of the church What did John say about doctor feet?

He said when I get there, I'll deal with it. What did Paul do? He came to Antioch humble he was going to get on his knees before Peter and those who were reputed to be pillars of the church And say have I been running by race in vain think about the grant about the great humility Have I been wrong in this? apostleship to the Gentiles tremendous neatness But what he did was he walked into the door of the church and he saw obvious conflict and he changed gears I mean lickety-split and he attacked it.

He said you can't be That means if a doctor fees or a debaucher fee spirit if this kind of stuff comes into the life of the church We've got to attack it not with a big stick with love grace and mercy And if there's repentance brought about we pat him on the back say I love you and move on So we've looked at the word prepare We've looked at the word attack and then I want you to write down another word really it's two to go together fallout Fall out When conflict comes there will be fallout It's inevitable people When conflict comes and it depends on the level of conflict It depends on how deep it goes and how far it goes But listen when fighting and wars and conflict break out now, we shouldn't let it, you know Just run around the block in the church.

No, we should attack it and deal with it But yet when it comes there will be fallout people will get hurt feelings can be hurt Truth and circumstances can be revealed but there will be fallout look the idea That we can have a perfect. I mean no problem church this utopian idea it is wrong because we are sinners we are fallen creatures Although we walk with God and love God and we get into scriptures.

We are still flesh It's kind of like that old saying if you find a perfect church don't join it There's no such thing When I study these epistles when I study the seven churches at Revelation it blesses me because they had great problems And I'm thankful because it shows me that there's hope There be fallout So we looked at the word of prepare and attack and fall out But I want you to write down another word and write down the word good You might think it's strange but conflict and even war can be good Now let me explain what I mean Satan always means things for bad But sometimes God now listen Allows things that are bad to happen in the life of the church for his good There might be big conflict there might be quarrel There might be a big fat war and the devil will be behind it, but if God is sovereign and he is and we love God And serve God and we're doing this thing according to the word of God the devil might be behind it But God will always be right behind the devil No tragedy no fight no quarrel will come about unless God now listen allows it We don't understand that but God will allow these things to happen sometimes and look Sometimes now here's the word it is for his good I'm gonna give you an example us example that I heard Every now and then I'll mention Jeff knoblet who's a pastor at Grace Life Church in Muscle Shoals, Alabama I listen to him sometimes I've been to his conference Sometimes I'm not one who listens to one person all of the time But I respect him I respect him because of his doctrine and his views on the church and but he's been at this church for well Over 20 years and he's been able to implement Great reform and change in the life of the church, but listen I heard him preaching and talking about splits now Listen literal splits that they've had in the life of the church.

I Heard him get very honest and revealed pain great hurt and great tragedy and he was talking about a particular split where a great number of people left and he said that there Were a group of people in the life of the church that he loved and that he respected they began to take some convictions and they Twisted them and they warped them and they took some personal convictions and they made them more black and white that they need to be And it brought about a great conflict in the life of the church. He said it was very painful It was very hard.

It hurt a lot of people He said it was terrible and people that he loved and respected Left the church and it just left him reeling and left him scratching his head and left him saying Lord. Why Lord? Why? Lord why? And he said he finally got to the part where God taught him the good He said an older pastor that he loved and respected who was in the life of the church Knew of the things going on in the church came to him Put his arm around him.

He said Jeff God's done you a favor He said if you think back All of those families that have left they have serious leadership problems He went on to say now listen close all of those families who have left the men don't lead those families He said the ladies the wives lead those families and he said that's detrimental to the life of the church It's unbiblical. It's unscriptural and he said son. God did you a favor?

What is he showing The devil sometimes means thing devil always means things for bad But God allows to sometimes things that we don't understand for the good see for me There was a particular place There was a particular church that I was in when I saw conflict come about it Calls me to see certain individuals for who they were see for me the good was I was like yeah I know what kind of guy you are. Yeah, I know what kind of man he is. Yeah, I know about him I've seen it in Deacons meetings. I know about him.

I know about them I know about their family God just showed me for who people really were and it just caused me to back up and stay away From them God although it was painful what God did for me was he protected me? Because he showed me what kind of men they were So what I want you to see is we are to be prepared We are to attack it there is fallout, but let me tell you when it comes When it comes God always has a purpose for the good The thought of the message is conflict within the church Let's pray Lord I thank you that you give us what we need Lord I thank you that you will give us truth teaching We need