to the book of Proverbs chapter 13. We won't stay here long, but we will use this as a text. I have been spending the last Sundays that I have been here, all of the Sundays that I have been here, I have been spending time addressing issues regarding conflicts, how they come, why they come, how we're supposed to respond, the sovereignty of God in the midst of the conflict, the personal responsibility that we have in the midst of the conflict. And those have been the theme or messages of what I have been taking care of or what I've been teaching here on Sunday during the Sunday school hour. And this morning, I want to continue that. I'm going to continue that, at least for a little while longer. The question is, why or how does division enter into the Lord's church? Why or how? Does the scripture give us any indication as to what is the reason? We say, why did this happen? How could this happen in this church? How could this happen in my life? We ask those questions, don't we? Everyone that's been a Christian for very long has asked that question. And the scripture gives us the answer. I think if we're to properly understand why some problems come our way, we must first come to the place where we believe whatever the scripture says. We're not going to figure it out by the use of natural means. We're not going to figure it out by the use of psychology. We're not going to figure it out by the use of science or math or any of those things. What God has to say about the issue is what is true about the issue. And as a child of God, you should believe that. And as a Baptist, particularly, you should believe that the scripture or the final authority for all that we are to believe and all that we are to do So we come back to the root of the matter by looking at what the scriptures teach. And Proverbs 13 verse 10 gives us some wisdom concerning this issue. Realize that the book of Proverbs is a book of wisdom. It would be good for us if we desired wisdom. to spend time in the book of Proverbs for years and years. We still do it to some degree. My wife and I would read five psalms, spread out, I'll tell you about that one Sunday, spread out each Sunday for a month, 30 days, times five is 150, 150 psalms. Minus Psalm 119, because that's too long to read, until the 31st, which was today. So what did my devotion this morning was Psalm 119. plus one chapter in Proverbs. Reading it every month, one chapter, five Psalms and one chapter in Proverbs every day, finishing it every month, start again every month, start again. Reading Proverbs in what, 12 times a year? Reading Psalms 12 times a year. You wanna help your heart and soul? Find time to spend in the book of Psalms and Proverbs. Proverbs is wisdom. And here's what the wisdom of God says, Proverbs 13, 10. Only by pride cometh contention. Only by pride cometh contention, but with a well-advised is wisdom. Only by pride. All the commentaries, if you're looking up and studying this word only, indicate that the Bible teaches that there are other ways in which contention arises. Greed, covetousness, ignorance. But at the root of it, be traced back to the root. Lay the axe at the root is what John the Baptist's ministry was all about. What is the root of contention? Pride. When we look at a church that has had division and contention and we ask why, the root of it is here. Pride. Pride. Those who are lost, are full of the world, are full of pride. But those who profess to be Christians and are contentious, have this as the root of things. I want to spend some time on this thought here, only by pride cometh contention. Contention and strife shows up an awful lot in the book of Proverbs. Go with me over to Psalm, I mean Proverbs 26, Proverbs 26, verse 28. Proverbs 26, 28. We know that part of contention and strife is developed through lies. The first act of division between God's creation and God was based upon a lie. All right? Foundation of all division after that, based upon lies. Either a little truth mixed with a little lie or a whole lot, whatever, right? And what does the Bible say about a lying tongue? Lying tongue hated those that are afflicted by it. The act of division and strife is not an act of love from a professing child of God. It is an act of hatred. And again, what does the scripture say? These are hard verses, but this is wisdom. It is an act of hatred. Hatred turned toward God, or hatred turned toward God's word, or hatred turned toward God's people. Somehow or another, it's turned toward the Lord's church, and lies are told. Untruth is told, truth mixed with error is told, and it creates contention and division and strife. This is the scriptures. These are hard verses for us to grasp, but unless we get settled on what is the root of these issues, we really, I don't think, can move forward. Go over to Proverbs chapter six. Some of you may already be thinking of this text, and if you are, your mind is already going through the scriptures as to some of these things, but this morning I want to exhort all of us to think through. Proverbs chapter six, and I want us to look at verses 16 through 19. These six things doth the Lord hate. Those who live in our generation that believe that God is only love, We have a conflict with the word of God. We have a God that does not exist when he's set up against the word of God. God has a holy hatred within himself. It must be so. If God is love and has a holy love, then the opposite of that must also be true. He must have a holy hatred. How many of you love to garden? and at the same time love weeds. I notice there are no hands going up. Brother Pat, I love the garden and my garden is full of weeds and I just love them. No, what? You hate weeds because it encroaches upon the fruitfulness of the garden. Right? And so God has shown us that this is an aspect of true Christianity. God hates some things and we need to find out what they are. Day seven are an abomination to him. One is a proud look, the other is a lying tongue. And hands that shed innocent blood. And then verse 18, and heart that diviseth wicked imaginations. They think through their imagining things and they think through those things in order to bring about a wicked design. Feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. In the scriptures, a hatred that God has toward those that sow discord among the brethren. There is a hatred against contention and strife that develops in the Lord's church. And we need to lay hold on that as the truth of what God has said in his word. Come with me over to Proverbs again, this time chapter 28 again, and this time in verse 25. We were traveling up here, and it was the 29th. And my wife said, I'm going to read you scriptures. I said, I didn't finish everything yesterday, so I'm going to pick up on Proverbs 28, and then we'll come into the 29th. And I said, stop. I said, write down that verse, because I'm going to use it. Proverbs 28, 25, he that is of a proud heart does what? Stirreth up strife. This is light from God's word. Proud heart stirs up strife. A lying tongue is designed for destruction. Contention and strife then comes out of pride, comes out of lies flowing out of a proud heart. And Proverbs 29 verse 22 says, an angry man stirs up strife. So if strife is being stirred up, Then it is pride, it is lies, it is anger, and it is contention brought about out of a sense of hatred toward that or those that it is designed against. That is hard for Christians to grasp. We are not generally a people. We're not ever really a people. have any hatred in our heart. In fact, sometimes Christians are called gullible because they just love people and they just receive them as they are. We meet somebody and our defenses don't automatically go up, I wonder what he's about. I wonder what lies he's gonna tell about me. That's not what happens in a Christian's life, does it? You say, brother, how are you? Right? Anyone hot in here? Probably so. That's the way Christians are. Our hearts are open. We don't think in terms of hating. And when it comes our way, we think, wow, why or how did that happen? We weren't expecting it. But here's the foundation of why or how it happened. Do not ever forget that an unrepentant, professing Christian who remains unrepentant in the lies and the contention and the strife and the hatred that has been sowed will not be found in glory. The book of Revelation chapter 21 verse 8 says all liars will be in the lake of fire. That which is a practice of life to continue in lies as opposed to continue in truth will be found in the lake of fire. Our Lord warns us about this in the New Testament. Go now over to the book of Matthew chapter seven, I'm sorry, Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12 and verse 35, I want you to read the scriptures, I want you to follow the scriptures with me as I read them. Matthew 11, I'm sorry, let me get this straight. Matthew 12, 35, a good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things. See that? Good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things. Now the opposite is also going to be true. And what is that? An evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. In every truth there is a positive and a negative. I shall not have any other gods. The positive is there's one and only God. One and one only. What does that mean? All idols are false gods. Positive, there's only one God. Negative, all idols are false gods. In every truth, there's a positive and a negative. A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, brings forth good things. But what happens on the other side of that? An evil person, an evil man, ah, brings forth evil things. Out of what? An evil treasure. Now, when Jesus Christ is speaking here, he is not talking about those who are Christians who fall and rise in repentance and go and continue on. The good man made righteous by God, a follower of the living God, and the word of God may fall. Righteous falleth seven times and rises again. The root of rising is repentance. You can write that down. The root cause of rising is repentance. On the other hand, there are those who are evil, whose hearts are not repentant. They're bringing forth evil things. And so to look for, look at contention and strive for rising in a church, we look at the root of the matter. Is it a genuine Christian? If so, they will repent and correct themselves and seek forgiveness. Is it a professing Christian? If so, they will hold tenaciously to a lie and rather believe that than the truth of God's word. Mark chapter seven. Mark chapter seven. Mark chapter seven, we're gonna begin reading in verse 21. Again, our Lord is teaching us something about the heart of man. Mark 7, 21, for from within, out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders. Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, and evil eye. Blasphemy, pride, foolishness. And Matthew in his list adds a false witness. Matthew 15, 19. A false witness, that is a witness that will lie in order to destroy the character of another person. I just want to address one thing in all of this. An evil eye, it is not a term that we use. In some cultures, an evil eye is superstitious based upon witchcraft or something like that. But that's not what Jesus Christ is dealing with here. An evil eye here is an eye that looks for a way to cause evil. is a person who is looking for a way to create a problem. That's a pattern of life. That's not an occasional fall, brother against brother here, where we correct things. This is an I whose design or purpose is, I gotta find a way to get that person in trouble. And the root of that is hatred. The root of that is hatred. I say, but that's such a loving, kind person. No. I opened up this Bible study by saying if we're going to get to the root of the matter as to why and how, we're gonna have to believe what God says and go against what our flesh might say about this person or that person. What God says is the truth. And we wait for God to reveal that truth in the individual. And so the first answer to why and how is that contention and strife flow out of the heart of an individual whose heart is rooted in a measure of pride. And then all those other things come out. Hatred, lying, all those other things come out. The next thing that I want us to look at quickly is that division and strife are related to those who profess to be saved, but who are actually lost and still in their sin. We're gonna go over to 1 John 2. 1 John 2. If you have studied the scriptures for any time and you've been a Christian very long, you know that as the New Testament progresses, from the Gospels to the Book of Acts into the Epistles, that more and more false teachers arise and more and more false doctrine arises. And more and more division arises among the churches, and more and more are leaving those churches and starting false churches. That is the testimony of the New Testament. By the time we get to the epistles of 1st, 2nd, 3rd John and Jude, we have this preponderance of scripture that says that there are those who are liars, those who are deceivers, those who have embraced a false Jesus. And then there's us. That's before the close of the first century. Of course, it continues on until this day. And so we read in 1 John 2, verse 19, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. Now there's a lot of information in this one verse here. They went out from us. John is speaking of the context of a local church. Members of the church went out. left the assembly. Behind it all is false doctrine of who Jesus is and what the scriptures teach. And they went out to start their own thing, do their own thing. They went out from us. There were some people in the Apostle John's time who had made a profession of faith. They had been baptized. They had been members of a local church. And some of them perhaps were preachers, as the other epistles that John and Jude write indicate, okay? And yet, they departed from the faith. They departed from the faith. Many years have passed since the days of Jesus Christ when John writes this, and yet, and they may have been in the local church here or the local churches for some time, some years, before they went out. And in the end, they departed from the faith. They dropped their profession of faith in the one true and living God and embraced a Jesus and a God that does not exist. Does not exist. Yet still using the word Jesus, Paul warned the Corinthian church there is another Jesus. Another gospel and another spirit. That was years before this was written. and so dropped their profession of faith and they withdrew themselves from the church to which they had belonged. It is also probable that they sought to assemble together with those who agreed with him. The doctrine of what we call heresy, the Greek word behind that, actually means a teaching with the design to gather people around you as you're teaching. In other words, it's not just an idea that somebody has that they throw out and they, oh, brother, that's not true. Oh, really? We're chapter and verse. And oh, man, I'm sorry. That's not what's going on here. But they come into the church with a particular teaching with the design to draw people to themselves and then leave with a group of people. And by doing that, destroy the church, seek to destroy the church. From that, false churches began to be established, preaching another Jesus, another God, from the same scripture that we use, but twisting the scriptures to their destruction. They went out from us, the second statement, but they were not of us. They were not of us. This is not a friendly church plant. We got enough people here, we can start a church over here. We got enough people here, we can start a church over here. Been doing that my whole ministry. It's not a friendly church plan. They went out because they were not of us. They had been in terms of their name on a list. They had professed to be Christians. They had been publicly baptized, as I said. They had joined this church. They had believed what the preacher was saying for a while. They had lived their life like others in the church did. It doesn't take long for someone coming into the assembly who has an eye to just look around, how do people do things, and then just fall in line. Do what they do, talk like they talk, and I'll be accepted. It doesn't take long, unless you're somebody like me, and it takes a little bit longer, but it doesn't take long. And then, after a while, they prove themselves to be what they are not in reality, and they end up being removing themselves, and the root of that is because they were not of them. They were not of, and he's not talking about the membership of the church here. They were not of them, that is, they were not Christians. Now, in today's Christian atmosphere, that statement is just almost anathema. That person's just not a Christian. That's judgmentally, that's not very loving. Don't talk to Brother John about it. He's the one under inspiration of the Holy Spirit that put it there. It means that they were not regenerated. They left because they were not saved. Again, this is not a friendly plant, church plant, okay? They were not in the number of God's elect. That's hard for us to grasp. Give people space. But you see, John doesn't budge on what he calls truth. You read 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, right? You have read how many times the word truth shows up, and the word love, but the word truth. John's emphasis in his ministry is truth. Is truth. And so, they were not of us for, because if they had been of us, If they had been genuine Christians, they would no doubt have continued with us. No question in John's mind that if they had been genuine Christians, they would have remained. We don't have the situation in the New Testament that we have today. Someone gets a little cross with the church and they just get out of here, go join the church down the road. And some of those churches may be genuine churches and we leave them alone. That wasn't the case. You leave this church that John's talking about, there's only one place to go, and that's error. Ain't nothing else there. Nothing else. When they left, they started something full of error, so that those who enjoyed error more than truth could come and join with them. If they had been true Christians, they would have continued in the apostles' doctrine. Now what, Acts chapter two, right? Acts chapter two, verse 41. They that had received the word were baptized, and the same day they were added unto them. And the next verse, what? And they continued, what? Steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, who got their doctrine from the Lord Jesus Christ. So we may just as easily say they continued in what the Lord had been teaching them. They continued in the word of God. If they don't continue in the word of God, and they go off contrary to the word of God, then it should raise a question in our minds and in our hearts. We should have some question there. Why are they following that false prophet? Why are they believing that false doctrine? All of us can say at some point in our Christian life we had believed things and later it was corrected, but the key is it was corrected. I wasn't, when I was born again, when I was saved in my house, two weeks later I showed up in a church. What did I know about a church? I'm one of those heathen that we sung about in Psalm 46. What do I know about Christianity? I don't know anything except that God has done something in my heart and in my life. And I show up, and sometimes I keep saying, that guy's got a Bible degree, and I don't, and he's supposed to know. But that doesn't sound like something that happened to me. That doesn't sound like what Jesus said here or Paul said there. He's got the degree. Three and a half years later, I went out, and I said, God began to teach me the truth. There was some things I believed. that were corrected. That happens to all of us. And if it's not still happening, then to some degree, then what's wrong? You settled down on a few things and you haven't moved forward recently on any new truth, any new depth or height of what God has taught you. Never settle for status quo religion, rather. Never. Pursue, pursue, pursue the living God. Settle on what truth is, but it goes deeper than you think, and much higher than you think, and much broader than you think. Search it out. But they went out, and they did not continue in the apostles' doctrine. They did not continue in fellowship with the church. We've established churches from another pastor, and we continue this day. First church we established in December of 1989, out of the one where I was pastor. We continue in fellowship to this day with that brother and another brother that came out of that church 10 years later, and others that we met in the early, late, early and late 80s and early 90s. Do they all dot every I and cross every T with Pat Horner? No. Oh, I can tell you for sure they don't. But they are genuine and their hearts are open to search the scriptures. And some of them you say, brother, how can you fellowship with that guy? He believes this and you believe that. I can fellowship because he loves the Lord and he's got a teachable heart. And I want the same kind of heart. If their hearts had been right with God, they would have remained steadfast in his gospel. They were to remain steadfast in his ordinances and faithful to the truth of God's word. They had been taught something. Now these, and they turned their back on what they had been taught. And someone turns their back on what they have been taught, if what they have been taught is true, then there's only one place to go, and that's error. You can't leave light and go to greater light. You end up in darkness. You can't leave truth and end up in greater truth. You end up in error, okay? And so this is what has been, what was going on then. And then final statement, but they went out that in order that it or that they may be made manifest, they went out to prove that they were not what they said they were. God working in all of his churches, God producing and bringing what needs to be brought into all of his churches, needs from, not needs, does from time to time show us things that we couldn't see before. Paul talks about that in the Corinthians. I won't get to it this morning, but part of the reason why there was division is that doctrine had been introduced to the church, and they went out in order to prove what is true about doctrine. That's found in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. In this case, they went out in order to be able to prove that they weren't what they said they were. that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us, they were not genuine Christians. So that the Christians that remain back in the church that belonged to the Lord Jesus Christ might know with some assurance that part of the reason they left is because they're not Christians. That's what John's teaching us here. And again, in the generation in which we live, that is an extremely difficult verse to grasp and truth to embrace. Yet it is there. Now, I'm not saying that everybody that's left go weed about a church or any of my churches are lost. I don't believe that. Nor have I ever preached it. But there are some who leave That it is made known that they are not genuine Christians. And it is made known by what they believe and how they live. By what they've come to embrace about what they believe and how they live. And based upon a person's belief, And then the resulting lifestyle, you understand, right? That what we believe will determine how we live. It will. If you believe that a Christian can live wickedly in this world, you believe something that is contrary to the scriptures. But if you believe that, you will live that way. You can count on it. What you believe will affect your lifestyle. And so John is saying here and teaching us that their defection, their removal of themselves from this local church, their apostasy, which was a removing themselves from the truth of the Lord's church and his word, was allowed by God so that those who remain back and those who remain true to God and those who remain true to his word might know that those who left actually never received the grace of God. That is, again, I can see frowns on people's faces. I'm a person who preaches and teaches by looking at people, okay? You're not gonna hide from me, unless God hides it. But again, a difficult truth. And grounded in A reception of a doctrine is not related to the Word of God, not rooted in the Word of God. You may or may not believe this, but there have been genuine Christians that hold to a universal church. Put your stones back in your parlour. Genuine, okay? I don't understand that, I'm local church man. You know where I stand on that issue. And I don't understand that, okay? I just keep going back to Luke 24 where they didn't understand the crucifixion or the resurrection and couldn't even see Jesus as he was walking with them on the road until he opened their eyes and said, this is what the scripture means. Okay? This is what the scripture means. I'm not talking about people like that. I'm talking about people who turn their backs on what is revealed truth regarding the issue of 1 John is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, who he is, who he is, and what his gospel message means in the life of a child of God. And so I'm gonna stop there. I have two other points that I may or may not get to. But to lay out the question before you, why and how, we have to go back to the scriptures, lay aside our opinions, I think this, I think that, okay? And go back to the word of God and say, okay, what does God say about this? And we learn from the scriptures and then we just, okay, Lord, if that's the truth, then I'm gonna bow before the living God and accept it. and labor in the light of what is true. Father, bless your word. Help us as a people who want to.