Will you please turn to 1 Corinthians 1? The first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 1. We will read from verses 9 through 18.
God is faithful, through whom ye were called into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
For it hath been signified unto me concerning you, my brethren, by them that are of the household of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
Now this I mean, that each one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized into the name of Paul?
I thank God that I baptized none of you, save Crispus and Gaius; lest any man should say that ye were baptized into my name.
And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel; not in wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made void.
For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God.
May we look to the Lord.
Our heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee. By the grace of our Lord Jesus, we have this ready access to Thy very presence: to hear Thy voice, to behold Thy beauty, and to be transformed into the image of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit.
Oh, how we praise and thank Thee that Thou hast made all this possible. It is because Thou art our God and our Father. This morning, as we are before Thy Word, we ask that Thy Holy Spirit would breathe upon Thy Word and make it living and operative in each of our lives.
We ask Thee, O Lord, that Thy Word may not be just written word, but that it may be life and spirit. Oh, speak to us, Holy Spirit. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
The subject that we have before us for these morning sessions is this matter of Christian unity.
It is the will of God that all who believe in the Lord Jesus should be one. It is the prayer of our Lord Jesus that we may be one as He and the Father are one. It is the work of the Holy Spirit throughout the centuries to bring God’s people into that oneness which is according to the will of God and the desire of our Lord Jesus.
This oneness is not something external, even though it does have an outward testimony. But this oneness is based upon inness. The Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father. So we are in Christ, and Christ is in us; and because of this, there is a oneness in God’s people.
We are exhorted to walk worthy of our calling. We are encouraged to keep diligently the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. This oneness among God’s people is not something that we can create or manufacture. It is something that has been given to us.
We already have the unity of the Spirit: one body, one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, Who is over all, through all, and in all.
This unity of the Spirit has already been given to all who believe in the Lord Jesus. It is not something that you have to strive to attain. It is something that is already yours. It is given to you.
It is such a precious gift that we are exhorted to diligently keep it, lest we lose it. How tragic it is that, as you look into church history, you find how God’s people have failed to keep diligently the unity of the Spirit.
How easy it is for God’s people to be enticed, deceived, and moved away from that unity of the Spirit. The result is division, schisms, rifts, and all these things. How it must hurt our Lord. We are hurt, but our Lord Jesus is hurt much more.
This unity of the Spirit is given to us as the foundation. Upon that foundation of the unity of the Spirit, we are to be built up into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
There are not two unities, but this unity has to end in the unity of the faith. Brothers and sisters, we have to begin with the unity of the Spirit. If we do not begin with the unity of the Spirit, we will never be able to arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
We shall never begin with the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, because if we do, you will find that we are divided already. There will be no chance for us to be really one.
So, dear brothers and sisters, remember that we have to begin with the unity of the Spirit. This is the ground on which we must stand. This is the ground on which we fellowship with our brothers and sisters.
We do not fellowship with our brothers and sisters on the ground of the unity of the faith. In other words, you have to believe exactly the same truth as I believe, in the same way, by the same interpretation; and if it is not so, then we have nothing to do with each other.
Brothers and sisters, this is wrong ground. The ground on which we stand and fellowship is the ground of God, of Christ, of the Holy Spirit—the unity of the Spirit.
In spite of many differences in understanding and interpretation of the Word and of the truth, and in spite of many varieties in degrees of experience of our Lord Jesus, yes, we can fellowship. We can minister to one another. We can love one another. Why? Because we stand on the ground of the unity of the Spirit.
This is where we begin. On this foundation, we move on until we attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
Yesterday morning, we did not have time to mention how we progress from the unity of the Spirit into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. We will not be able to do this fully this morning, but I will mention it briefly.
God has given us the unity of the Spirit, and yet you find immediately after that, in Ephesians 4, that to each one of us has been given grace according to the measure of Christ.
Wherefore He saith,
When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts unto men.
And in verse 11:
And He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints.
And in verse 16:
From whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each several part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love.
In other words, immediately after we see the unity of the Spirit, we see diversity. Unity is not uniformity. Unity is diversity. It is through diversity that the unity of the Spirit is made into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
This is marvelous in our eyes. Dear brothers and sisters, in the world the only so-called unity that people can see is through uniformity. There is no other way. But the unity that God is working out among His people is worked out through diversity.
Many of God’s people do not allow differences, as if differences will break the unity. But, as a matter of fact, you find God uses differences to bring unity into the fullness of unity.
To move from the unity of the Spirit to attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, you find God works through two channels.
One channel is that He gave to the church some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers. In other words, He gives to the church the gift of certain men who are apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers.
These are men who minister the Word of God to the Body for the perfecting of the saints. Thank God that He gives to the church throughout the centuries these men: apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers.
God raises up these people and gives them to the church. They minister the Word of God to the Body to perfect the saints. Perfecting means to mature the saints, to make the saints grow spiritually in spiritual stature.
As the saints are being helped, built up, and strengthened by the Word ministered to them through these men of God, then the saints—the Body—begin to function and fulfill what is called the body ministry.
The body ministry is not these people. These people work upon the Body to mature the saints, the members of the Body. As the members of the Body are growing in spiritual life and grace, all the members begin to function according to the grace and gift that God gave to each one.
Through fellowship, mutual supply, and ministering one to another, all the members in the Body build themselves up in love.
So, brothers and sisters, the way that God has ordained for us to reach that unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God is through these two channels. One channel is through what we will call the ministry. Paul said, “Having this ministry.” The other is through the body ministry, which is really fellowship and sharing.
On the basis of the unity of the Spirit, we are open to the ministries that God gives to the church. On the basis of the unity of the Spirit, we are open to the fellowship of all the saints.
You will find that, in the beginning, there are many differences. Not only will the fellowship of the saints be of such variety, but even the ministries will be of such variety. Yet, through the ministry and the fellowship, we are open; and if nobody insists, the result will be that we arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
So much for that. We return to what we will consider before the Lord this morning: Is Christ divided?
We know that the first letter to the Corinthians is a corrective letter. That is to say, Paul wrote this letter to correct certain things that had gone wrong in the church in Corinth.
But before he began to correct what was wrong in their midst, he made a wonderful statement in 1 Corinthians 1:9:
God is faithful, through whom ye were called into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
First, he puts before us that we are called. We are called into the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
There is a fellowship, a partnership, a participation, which is called the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, what is that fellowship?
That fellowship is the most exclusive fellowship in the whole universe. It is the fellowship of the Son and the Father in the Spirit. It is that fellowship among the Godhead. You have only three members in that club: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
This is the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. It begins in eternity, and it will go on through time into eternity to come. It never ceases.
It is a fellowship without any cloud, without any shadow, without any night. It is a fellowship in the light, in the full light. It is a fellowship of love.
It is harmony and agreement without the need of compromise or negotiation. It is the fellowship of oneness—a unity, a perfect, complete unity; sharing without any reservation and without any doubt; a commonness, a participation, a joint participation of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
It is the most exclusive fellowship in the whole universe. It is such sweet fellowship. It is such a glorious fellowship. But it is limited just within the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
And yet it pleased the Father to enlarge that fellowship, to include many in the fellowship of Theirs. It is through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus that this fellowship is open to all who believe in Him. It is the very work of the Holy Spirit to bring us into that fellowship.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we are called. It is a calling. We are all called; we do not volunteer. You cannot volunteer to get into that fellowship. You are not qualified.
But thank God, He has called us into the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. We are now in the fellowship. There is only one fellowship.
Sometimes we talk about this fellowship and that fellowship as if there are many fellowships. No. There is only one fellowship: the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, into which we have been called.
We are all members there. You do not need to join; you are born into it. You are adopted by God into that fellowship.
This is the fellowship of the apostles. You remember in Acts 2:42, those three thousand people who believed in the Lord on the day of Pentecost, with the one hundred and twenty, persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
What is the teaching of the apostles? The teaching of the apostles is none other than the teaching of our Lord Jesus, because God has revealed that mystery to the apostles and to the prophets by the Holy Spirit. The apostles do not have their own teaching. The apostles teach Christ.
So, the teaching of the apostles is the teaching of Christ. And what is the fellowship of the apostles? The apostles do not form another fellowship called the apostolic fellowship. The apostles’ fellowship is the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
In 1 John 1:3, John says:
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you also, that ye also may have fellowship with us: yea, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
The fellowship of the apostles is with Jesus Christ the Son and with God the Father. So the apostles’ fellowship is the Son’s fellowship.
When the apostles declare and communicate to us that which they have seen, heard, and known, and as we receive the report and believe what they have communicated to us through their Word, we believe in the Lord Jesus. We are joined to the same fellowship that the apostles have.
So, dear brothers and sisters, remember that we who believe in the Lord Jesus have been called into the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Oh, what a privilege!
Think of that. We are now in that club. We are now members of that most exclusive club in the whole universe. We have the privilege of fellowshipping with the apostles. We have the privilege of fellowshipping with the Father and with the Son in the Holy Spirit. What a privilege that is. This is our calling.
We are called into that fellowship. Oh, if this is the case—and this is the case—then how much we need to be careful how we behave.
God is faithful. In spite of the fact that, with the church in Corinth, there were contentions and strife, there were divisions among them, breaking up that fellowship and violating the sacredness of that fellowship, that oneness.
Yet, in spite of these things, one thing never changes: God is faithful. We may not be faithful to the fellowship that we belong to.
We may do things, say things, act, or assume an attitude that is contradictory to the very nature of that fellowship. We may do damage to that fellowship. We may even try to break up that fellowship. But God is faithful.
He Who calls us is faithful, and He will perform it. This is our confidence. Our confidence is not in man.
If we know man, if we know ourselves, we know that even though we are called into such a fellowship and should maintain sweet communion with the Father and with the Son, and sweet fellowship with our brothers and sisters, we are undependable. We know how easily we can be enticed into schisms and divisions. We may even fight against each other and literally devour each other.
But thank God, He is faithful. He will perform it.
Then in verse 10:
Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Before Paul even touched upon their problem, he further strengthened it with something positive. He said, “I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Oh, we are called by that name. No matter who you are, what you are, or where you are, we are all called by that name—the name that is above every name. At that name every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.
Paul said, “I beseech you by that name.” Dear brothers and sisters, if you hear that name, if you know that name, will not that name melt you?
How can we be so hard and stubborn? How can we be so set in our ways? How can we be so harsh to our brothers and sisters, demanding our rights, as if we are the only ones who are right and everybody else is wrong? How can we maintain such an attitude when we hear that name, the name of Jesus? He should melt us down.
“That ye all speak the same thing.” Now, what does that mean?
Does it mean that we will all be saying the same thing in the sense that we are so brainwashed that everyone will hold the party line? That we will all say exactly the same words, use the same phraseology, and even have the same tone and accent?
Does it mean that you all speak the same thing? That is uniformity. That is not unity; it is uniformity. We find this happening all over the world.
They think that, by “all saying the same thing,” you have to speak the same words, use the exact expression, and pronounce it in the exact tone and accent, whether you are English, American, or Chinese. Why? Because we are exhorted to say the same thing.
Not at all. Not at all. If you read the context, you can see what it means by saying the same thing. It is in contrast with what follows.
He said, “Some say, ‘I am of Paul’; others say, ‘I am of Apollos’; some say, ‘I am of Cephas’; and others say, ‘I am of Christ.’” Now, that is saying different things.
So, saying the same thing simply means that instead of saying, “I am of Paul,” or, “I am of Apollos,” or, “I am of Cephas,” or, “I am of Christ” in a special way, we will say the same thing. In other words, we are all of Christ. That is saying the same thing.
You may say it with an English accent, or when I speak American it is always with a Chinese tongue, but that is all right. We are saying the same thing.
We may not use the same expression, but the substance is the same. It is Christ.
How can we say the same thing unless we have the same mind and are of the same judgment? Oh, brothers and sisters, if our minds are different, then it is impossible to say the same thing.
Now, it does not mean that we should wash people’s minds so that all minds will be put into one mould. No. You simply need to have the mind of Christ.
You have the mind of Christ, I have the mind of Christ, and if we all have the mind of Christ, then we will say the same thing. No one will be high-minded, low-minded, or double-minded, but we will have the mind of Christ.
We will all think the same thing: Christ. We will all say the same thing: Christ. If that is the case, how can there be divisions?
“It hath been signified unto me concerning you, my brethren, by them that are of the household of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.”
Paul was in Ephesus. Then the news came to him that there were strife, quarrellings, contentions, wranglings, bitter contentions among the believers in the church in Corinth.
Paul never acted on rumours. He had firsthand information. The information came from the household of Chloe.
Most likely, Chloe was a sister. Some people say she was a resident of Corinth, but most likely she was a resident in Ephesus. Some of her household—perhaps some slaves or people who belonged to her household—went to Corinth. Evidently, her household was well known in Corinth.
They came to Corinth and returned to Ephesus. When they returned, they brought the news to Paul that the believers in Corinth were not one; they were against one another.
Paul mentioned the source of this information so that there might be no guesswork. You know, sometimes guessing causes more problems than the problem itself.
So Paul said, in effect, “I had definite information,” and he revealed the source of that information: there were contentions in their midst among the believers in Corinth.
They contended with each other. Some said, “I am of Paul.” Why? Because it is Paul who came to preach the gospel to us, to bring us to Christ. Our very being in Christ is because of Paul. Therefore, I am of Paul. I belong to Paul. I stand with Paul. Paul is whom I follow.
Then others said, “I am of Apollos.” After Paul came to Corinth and, by the grace of God, the church in Corinth was raised up, Paul left, and then Apollos came.
Apollos was reared in Alexandria. He was well versed in the Old Testament. He was a man full of eloquence. He could use the Old Testament to prove Christ to the people.
Many who were saved through the instrumentality of Paul were really edified and built up by the teaching of Apollos. So these people who received help from Apollos said, “No, we are of Apollos. We stand for Apollos. We follow Apollos.”
Then others said, “We are of Cephas.” Probably these people were originally Jews who came to the Lord. Naturally, they tried to find their roots, and they tried to extend those roots back to Jerusalem.
Among the twelve apostles, of course, Peter—Cephas—was the most prominent one. So they said, “We are of Cephas.” We do not know whether Cephas had ever been to Corinth. He might have been, or he might not have been, but that did not matter.
You find some people who will say, “Well, who are Paul and Apollos? They just came in the middle of the way. We will go back to the original twelve. We are of Cephas. We belong to him. We follow him and whatever he teaches us.”
Then came a very small group, probably of highly or super-spiritual people. They said, “Well, you say you are of Paul. You say you are of Apollos. You say you are of Cephas. We go back to the very source. We go back to Christ. We are superior to all of you.”
It sounds childish. But they strove, quarrelled, and argued against each other, and no one would give ground.
It was in such bitterness that, if something was not done, the whole church would be split into four: a Pauline church, an Apollonian church, a Petrine church, and a Christ church. The unity of the Body of Christ was at stake.
Brothers and sisters, let us enlarge this. What are the causes of all the divisions among God’s people through the centuries and in our days?
Number one: man-centredness instead of Christ-centredness. That is what you find in the church in Corinth.
They centred upon men—great men, names that they admired, names from whom they received spiritual help. Their eyes were upon men, not upon Christ.
As a matter of fact, probably this was because of their different temperaments. You know, our temperaments play a very big role in our lives.
Some people’s temperament probably was closer to Paul, so naturally they felt close to Paul. Other people’s temperament may have been closer to Apollos, and some may have been closer to Cephas. Because of their different temperaments, there was a natural kind of affinity to that person.
Naturally, we like to attach ourselves to people who have the same temperament, the same taste, and the same flavour, because we feel comfortable, easy, and at home.
It is a natural thing. We have to have something tangible to attach ourselves to. It seems to us—that is, to the natural man—that anything intangible is something vague. We need to have something that we can see and hold on to.
Probably that is the reason why, when Paul came to preach Christ, even though they received Christ from Paul, they attached themselves to Paul instead of attaching themselves to Christ. Paul was tangible. The same thing was true of Apollos and Cephas.
Or it may be just a projection of your own self, of your own ambition. You want to be someone, but you know you cannot be. Here is a man who has fulfilled your ideal, the dream that you dreamed of becoming, and he happens to be Paul. Therefore, naturally, you are fulfilled in him—actually, you are for yourself.
These are the reasons why you find it is so easy for us to lose sight of Christ and attach ourselves to a person other than Christ.
Fortunately, Paul, Apollos, and Cephas had nothing to do with their contentions. They were being used by these brothers and sisters, but they would have nothing to do with their strife.
Paul completely disclaimed it and said, “Did Paul baptize you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? Did Paul die for you?” Paul disclaimed the whole thing. “I will have nothing to do with what you claim me to be.”
Fortunately, these servants of God would have nothing to do with their strife and schisms. They were merely the occasion of their contentions. But, dear brothers and sisters, this is not so today.
Today, you find among God’s servants those who are ambitious. There are those who create these contentions. There are those who are trying to build their own kingdoms.
They are only too happy to have people attach themselves to them. They use their dynamic personalities. They even use all kinds of tricks to draw people to themselves, away from Christ. They become the very reason for divisions. How sad it is.
How does Paul deal with the situation? Number one, Paul says, “Is Christ divided?”
Paul tries to draw their eyes back to Christ. Is Christ divided? You who say, “I am of Paul,” believe in Christ. You who say, “I am of Apollos,” believe in Christ. You who say, “I am of Cephas,” believe in Christ. You who say, “I am of Christ,” have only Christ too. The Christ that we have is the same Christ.
Now, it is true that when Paul preached Christ, he said, “This is my gospel.” In other words, when Paul preached Christ, he preached the Christ that he knew.
When Apollos preached Christ, he preached the Christ that he knew. When Cephas preached Christ, he preached the Christ that he knew. You find that nobody knows Christ in all His fullness.
There is only one gospel of Jesus Christ, but this gospel is so full and rich that no servant of God preaches the complete gospel.
Every servant of the Lord can present Christ to you to a certain degree and in a certain aspect. That is the reason why you need all the servants of the Lord.
Paul’s Christ is not big enough. Cephas’s Christ is not big enough. Apollos’s Christ is not big enough. You need Christ all and in all.
You need the Christ that Paul preaches. You need the same Christ that Cephas preaches. You need the same Christ that Apollos preaches. They preach the one Christ, not two or three or more Christs. It is the one Christ, but the unsearchable riches of Christ.
Why do you accept only what Paul preaches and reject what Apollos preaches? Why do you receive only what Apollos preaches and reject what Cephas preaches? Is Christ divided?
Did Paul die for you? Did Apollos die for you? Did Cephas die for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul, or Cephas, or Apollos? No. You were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. That is to say, you belong to Christ.
All of you belong to Christ. If all of you belong to Christ, then you must receive Christ in His totality. Do not receive a limited Christ.
When you begin to receive a Christ that is limited by one ministry or one servant of the Lord, it creates division. It will end up being a sect, and it can even grow into a cult.
Oh, brothers and sisters, let us be Christ-centred and not man-centred.
Secondly, the way Paul deals with the situation is in 1 Corinthians 3:4-7:
For when one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not men?
What then is Apollos? and what is Paul? Ministers through whom ye believed; and each as the Lord gave to him.
I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
Here you find Paul trying to place before them the right perspective of the servants of the Lord.
Who is Paul? You say you belong to Paul. You say you owe your allegiance to Paul. You say you defend Paul. You say you are of Paul. Now, who is Paul?
You say you are of Apollos. You defend Apollos more than Christ. Now, who is Apollos? Who are the servants of the Lord? These are ministering servants. They are not lords; they are servants.
God raises them up and gives them to the church to minister and to serve, not to lord it over God’s people.
It is true that every servant of the Lord has his or her specific part of work. “I planted; Apollos watered.” Paul is a planter. He comes and plants the seed, and then Apollos comes and waters it.
Their ministries are different, but their ministries do not conflict with each other. Their ministries complement each other. Why? What would it be if Paul planted and nobody watered? What is the sense of watering when nothing has been planted?
There is no conflict between the ministry of Paul and Apollos. As a matter of fact, God is sovereign. He raises up all these ministries—some apostles, some evangelists, some shepherds and teachers—and by all the ministries that God has raised up, some plant, some water, and the result is that God gives the increase.
Let the servants of the Lord remember: you are not lords; you are servants.
Let the servants of the Lord remember: no matter what ministry God has given to you, it is just a small part, not the whole.
Let the servants of the Lord remember: God raises up all ministries for the church, and all these ministries complement one another.
Independent ministry is not of the Scripture. All the ministries are related to one another.
Even with their ministries, it is God Who gives the increase. Paul can plant; this is his mission, and he must be faithful in planting. But he cannot give the increase. God gives the increase.
Apollos waters. He has to be faithful in watering. But in spite of his watering, it is God Who gives the increase. These are just servants—nothing but servants.
They will receive their reward if they are faithful. If they are not faithful, they will be disciplined. But it is God Who gives the increase.
So, brothers and sisters, do not try to follow a man. No matter how spiritual or how great he is, no matter how much he has helped you, remember: he is but a ministering servant.
In spite of all that he has done, it is God Who gives the increase. He does not really do anything. It is God Who blesses you, not the servant. A servant is just the channel. That is all.
That is the reason why, after the work is done, the servant of the Lord has to go back to the Master and say, “I am but an unprofitable servant, because there is nothing I can do. You have to give the increase.”
Thirdly, Paul says at the end of chapter 3, verse 21:
Wherefore let no one glory in men. For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.
You see, these Corinthian believers’ hearts were so narrow. When they had Paul, that was all they could contain. They had no more room for Apollos.
When they had Apollos, they had no more room for Cephas. If they had Cephas, they had no more room for Paul and Apollos. They were still so restricted in themselves.
It is not the will of God. The will of God is: Paul is yours, Apollos is yours, Cephas is yours. All are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
Brothers and sisters, if there is any division, it is because of our smallness, our narrowness. God has much more to give to you, but you are content with just a little.
Remember: Paul is yours, Apollos is yours, Cephas is yours. Oh, the ministering servants of the Lord are yours. Why? Because you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. Everything goes back to the source.
If we see this, can we follow men? Can we lift up men? We must be Christ-centred. If we are Christ-centred, we are not divided. Is Christ divided?
Number two: we may be doctrine-centred, or teaching-centred, instead of Christ-centred. I do not have time to go into details, but I will just mention this.
Of course, heresies and false teachings, when they come in among God’s people, divide. There is no doubt about that, because false teachings draw people to false teachers and false prophets. False teaching is the result of trying to take advantage for oneself. So if there are false teachings, the result is divisions and sects.
But even with true teaching, even with the truth of the Bible, if we are doctrine-centred instead of Christ-centred, that divides us.
Some people hold on to one doctrine, and it is the doctrine of the Word of God. Other people hold on to another doctrine, which is also truth in the Word of God. But if we centre upon a truth instead of centring upon Christ, Who is the Truth, the result is doctrinal division.
You have all the sects and denominations in the world as a result of being doctrine-centred instead of Christ-centred. And you know what? If you are doctrine-centred, the result is that it becomes a dead organisation.
Whatever doctrine it may be, it may be a very precious doctrine. For instance, the church. If you make the church a doctrine and centre upon it, even above Christ, you divide God’s people.
Number three: form-centredness instead of Christ-centredness. When God’s people come together, we want to adopt a certain form, a certain way of worship.
The result is that you find some form a congregation, some a bishop system, and some an elder system. You find different forms. When you become form-centred and say, “This is the way that we worship,” then you divide instead of unite.
You can be experience-centred instead of Christ-centred. You can come together on the common ground of an experience. Because we all have this experience, naturally we are drawn to one another. If we are experience-centred instead of Christ-centred, we divide.
Or we can be tradition-centred instead of Christ-centred. We say, “This is our tradition. Our forefathers did not do it that way and did not teach us that way.” If we are tradition-centred instead of Christ-centred, we are divided.
You can multiply these causes by tens, hundreds, and perhaps thousands. There are thousands of reasons why God’s people are divided. But when you sum up all these reasons, you come to the root of divisions, and the root is self.
Paul uses four chapters to deal with this matter of disunity. When this matter of disunity happened among God’s people, what was the remedy that he prescribed?
He gets into the very root of their division. He said, “The reason why you are divided and act like men is because you are carnal.” Even though you are saved and are God’s servants, yet you live in the flesh. Self is still your life, and flesh is your way. That is the problem.
To deal with this problem, there is only one way: the cross. So Paul said, “I came among you determined to know nothing among you, except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”
Dear brothers and sisters, the root cause of all the divisions that happen among God’s people is because this self-life has not been dealt with.
We are self-centred, self-willed, self-ambitious, and self-opinionated. Because this self-life in us has not been crucified, the works of the flesh are manifested.
If you turn to Galatians 5:19-21, you will find it very illuminating and eye-opening. Paul says:
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like.
Here you find a list—not an exhaustive list, but an illustrative one. Yet among that illustrative list, you find how many are related to disunity: strife, jealousies, anger, contentions, disputes, parties, heresies, envyings, even murders.
All these are the works of the flesh. The works of the flesh can be found in the church, among God’s people, especially in this area of unity. Why? Because self is not crucified.
Dear brothers and sisters, how we need to go before the Lord and ask the Holy Spirit to expose the self in us.
It can be a righteous self. It can be a religious self. But it is self. Self divides.
As long as self is not dealt with, there will be no end of divisions. It begins with just an opinion. Then it comes to contention and quarrelling. Then there begins to be a schism, a rift. Then you have parties and sects.
You can even come to hatred and even murder. How many of God’s people have been killed by God’s people in the name of Christ.
The cross is where self is crucified. Oh, may we deliver our flesh, with its passions and lusts, to the cross. That is the only solution to disunity.
Wherever and whenever there is disunity, may God’s people not look at others. Go to the Lord yourself. Ask the Lord to show you how big, how strong, how stubborn, how hard, and how righteous your self is.
Oh, that God’s people may be a broken people. It is only in that brokenness that we are one. We can be joined into one.
Our heavenly Father, Thou hast called us into this wonderful, sweet, uninhibited, fragrant, loving, glorious fellowship with the Father and with the Son, with the apostles and with all the saints.
Oh, how we praise and thank Thee for this privilege. Yet often we abuse it, damage it, and destroy it. Oh, forgive us.
Show us, O Lord, where we are. Oh, that ugly self, that righteous self, may be on the cross, that we may be delivered from the works of the flesh.
Oh, that there might be that uninhibited, sweet fellowship, not only with Thee, O Lord, but with one another. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.