Necessary Divisions — Carter Conlon

This message is one of the Times Square Church pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge, P .O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas, 75771 or calling 903 -963 -8626.

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The Purpose of Necessary Divisions

For those who have not yet fully understood the purpose of division that happens from time to time when we come to Christ, there are some people here tonight that you have been hurt by division. I'm going to talk about various forms of division.

We're going to open the Word of God. We're going to look at why division occurs, how to understand division. And in that understanding, I'm believing with all my heart that the Holy Spirit is going to pour the healing oil of Christ in hearts that are able to hear and to respond.

Precious and holy Jesus, I love you tonight. I thank you for the anointing of your Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, I acknowledge you tonight. Acknowledge your presence. Acknowledge the desire of your heart to heal those in the body that you know have been wounded, the hurting and bruised people in this assembly tonight.

And God, you're going to touch lives tonight. You're going to restore. You're going to heal. Lord, I thank you that you are indeed the balm of Gilead. Lord, you are that high tower. You have a tender hand.

And even the leper, when he came to you and said, Lord, if thou wilt, thou can make me clean. We see your compassion. You reached out, you touched him and took his uncleanness upon yourself. And you said, I will be thou clean.

And tonight, Lord, I bring before you every wounded heart in this house who has ever been bruised, who have been caught in any kind of division whatsoever, who have not understood your purposes and your plans.

They've not fully comprehended your kingdom. I ask, O God, by the revelation of truth, that tonight that you would set them free, absolutely free, and make them strong for the days that are coming ahead.

I thank you for this in Jesus' name. Amen. Luke chapter 12, please. My message tonight is entitled, Necessary Divisions. Necessary Divisions. Luke chapter 12, beginning at verse 51. An incredible statement of Jesus.

So contrary to perhaps what some people think that his purpose in coming was, Luke chapter 12, verse 51. Jesus says, Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth, I tell you, nay, but rather division.

For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. Now, Jesus is speaking an incredible thing to his disciples. They are under the opinion that he's come to bring glorious restoration to the kingdom of Israel.

And indeed he had. To take all of the people that are scattered and dispersed, to bring them together that they all may be one. And indeed he had come to do that. Inasmuch as he's come to do that in our day.

But until that day is fulfilled, when we are called home to be with him for all of eternity, and that day is coming, my brethren. That day is not too far away. There are some necessary divisions that have to happen in our lives.

There are necessary divisions that have to happen even in the house of God. We're going to open the word tonight. We're going to look at them and I'm trusting God with all of my heart that it will bring some understanding and strength into your lives.

To understand some things that may have happened to you in the past. And to understand how you can be prepared for things that may happen in the future. Now, first of all, we talk about divisions. And when we come to Christ, the preaching of Christ, the grasping of Christ, the understanding of Christ is automatic division.

Division From the World After Conversion

It divides light from darkness. Right in the book of Genesis, the Lord spoke and said, Let there be light. And the light was divided right at that moment from the darkness. And the moment we come to Christ, we find ourselves divided from the world.

We find ourselves divided from the people that we used to associate with. Old friends, all of a sudden. And many of you here tonight, you've known the pain. And it's not always easy. You come to Christ, we're excited about what we have found.

And then all of a sudden we find that we are placed in a division. We're no longer, we don't have the same heart as we used to have. Christ comes into our life and begins to give us newness of life. And so we go to our old friends and sometimes we're excited about what we found.

And we share it with them. And we find out that they're not as excited about what we found as we are about what we found. Go to the book of 1 Peter, please, chapter 4. 1 Peter, chapter 4. Now we're going to just take a look at one of the divisions that happens.

One of the very first divisions that happens when we come to Christ. 1 Peter, chapter 4, beginning at verse 1. For as much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind.

For he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles.

When we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries. Wherein they think it strange that you run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you.

How many in this sanctuary tonight have come to the place of living out this scripture? They think it strange. That means old friends. They think it strange that no longer do you want to run in lasciviousness, and lusts, and banquetings, and idolatries, and revelings, and wines, and all of the rest of the things that people without God do.

Then you come to the Lord and they think it strange. What strange thing has happened to you? And then they begin to speak evil of you. To walk with Christ is an instantaneous division between light and darkness.

There's a separation that comes. You cannot avoid it if you're going to walk with God. I remember when I first got saved and went to work. I was a policeman at that time and I remember going to work and all of a sudden there were people that wouldn't work with me anymore.

All of a sudden there were people that I thought were my friends that all of a sudden weren't my friends. And all that had changed in me, at least at that point, is I didn't want to drink anymore. I didn't want to lie.

I didn't want to do things that other people did around me. I thought it was making me a better person. I was excited about what I had found. And I found out they weren't quite as excited about it as I was.

And then they begin to speak evil. And there's some pain that comes into your heart. But we make the choice. And tonight, if that's where you are, I hope that you're making the choice to move on. Light has no fellowship with darkness anymore.

And you may try to stay there, but you can't stay there any longer. You may try to stay with the old friends and somehow think that they're going to accept you, but they're not going to accept you. The spirit of the world will never accept the spirit of Christ.

If their hearts are such that there's a hunger for God and they're going to turn to God, then yes, maybe there's a chance that they will still cherish your friendship. But if their hearts are against God, you're going to find yourself cast out of their midst.

And if you try to stay, you're going to find that they speak evil of you. They're going to look for every little thing that you do that's wrong. I remember one time I was playing badminton. I used to love to play badminton.

I was playing badminton in the gym. And I was really, really attempting to walk with God. I wanted to stand up for Christ. And I was trying to do everything right. And I remember I was playing badminton one day with my partner.

And at lunch hour, there were a whole bunch of guys in the gym and the police station working out. And it was a really easy shot. I was running to the net, I took a swing at it, and I missed it. And before I could stop myself from saying it, I said a word that I shouldn't have said when I missed the bird.

And everybody in the gym turned around and said, Aha! All of a sudden at one, they said, You're just like the rest of us. And I said, No, I'm not like the rest of you. Hallelujah. And so there's a difficult transition when we first come to the Lord and we're stepping out.

But it is a necessary division. It is a division. But it's a necessary division. It has to happen. If you don't make a break from your old way of life, if you don't make a break from your old friends, you will find that they will draw you back into doing the things you used to do.

That you will lose your strength. We have to make that break. And there is a necessary... Yes, we love them. We minister to them. We tell them about the Lord. We be there to do good whenever they need help.

But we need to come away, come apart from the things that they do. And we need to live for God. And sometimes it's hard. We're not overly familiar with the church and the ways of the church. And the transition can be difficult.

And sometimes it can be painful. And then we go home to our family. Sometimes it's to our mothers and fathers, our brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles. And we find that there's a secondary division now that comes in.

Division Within the Family

And it's a division right in our own home. Right in our own family. Go to the book of Matthew chapter 10. This is another division that Jesus spoke about. Matthew chapter 10 beginning at verse 32. Now this can be one of the most painful divisions that we have to encounter when we come to the Lord.

Matthew chapter 10 verse 32. Jesus said, Whoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I come not to send peace but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father and the daughter against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Now here's a division that causes a lot of pain.

I remember when I first came home after receiving Christ as my Savior. I thought maybe my family would be happy that I finally turned from some of the things that I used to do. But I found that that wasn't the case after all.

There was a bitter division between some of my family members and myself. And I remember the pain of that division. I mean, this is the family I grew up with, the family that I loved. And I come home, I've given my life to Christ, I want to walk with God, and they look at you simply like you've just landed off of another planet or something.

And it's a very, very painful time. I remember there were some very difficult moments between my father and myself. But I challenge every one of you here that's going through that kind of division right now, stay true to God and believe His Word.

I remember one day I was praying and the Lord spoke to my heart and said, if the Apostle Paul can tell a dirty old Philippian tailor that if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll be saved in your house, then that promise also applies to you as well.

Believe on the Lord Jesus. Enter into that covenant relationship with Him. And begin to intercede and pray, trusting Him and believing Him. And I have watched God work miracles over the years. I have watched Him touch the hearts of my family.

I have watched the tenderness come into their hearts. I have watched them open with open-eyed surprises. They have seen the blessing of God that's come upon my life and upon my home. I have seen all of the religious arguments fall into the dust.

I have seen the tenderness of Christ. I have heard the testimony of my mother just a few weeks ago when she called up and was listening to the recording made here at Times Square Church and began to dance in the house that I was raised in as a teenager.

Began to dance all throughout the house as the Spirit of the Lord came upon her. I tell you, God is faithful. God is faithful. God is faithful. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Some of you are going home tonight.

You're leaving this service. You're going home to a hard place. Some of you are going home. Maybe it's not so hard at home, but it's hard in the sense that you tried. You tried to send letters to your family and you get back scornful responses.

You tried to go to family gatherings and they cast you out as if some evil thing had come upon you because you came to the Lord. But understand that it's a necessary division. If you don't come apart, they will never come to God.

That's why God said to the prophet, you be a wall unto them and make them come to you. You don't go back to them again. But love them. Stand firm in the things of God and love them. Don't let bitterness ever get into your heart, no matter what anybody says to you.

Remember, we're not fighting flesh and blood. We're fighting powers and principalities that want to take your moms and dads and brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles right straight to hell. That's who we're fighting against.

We're not fighting flesh and blood. Don't get in a battle with flesh and blood. Hallelujah. But stand in the gap and say, Lord, I believe. God, do whatever you have to do. Send the Holy Ghost miserables into my home if you have to, Lord.

Oh, Lord. But God, I'm standing in the gap and trusting that Your Holy Spirit is here with me. And God, You're going to touch my family. You're going to save my relatives, those that are closest to me.

Hallelujah. I'm not going to let the devil come and sow bitterness in my heart. There are wives here tonight that you need to understand. There is a purpose the devil is starting to try to tell you. Go back.

Go back and just compromise in your faith. Compromise in the things of God and everything will go smooth in your home. It won't go smooth. It's just a lie. You don't have to go back to him. He's got to come to Christ.

That's what the difference is going to be. And the same for husbands that are here who your wives, or whatever the case is, don't want to walk with the Lord. Hallelujah. Stay true and believe in God. There are people who get saved and you come out of the world and the world rejects you once you come to Christ.

It was hard to understand in the beginning for me that the world, the people that I knew and worked with, even risked my life for, would cast you off and just push you out of their presence. They didn't want anything to do with you because now you belong to Christ.

It was hard to understand that there are family difficulties that arise sometimes because you come to the Lord and you think that you're going to be received with open arms, but you're not. Rejection comes into your life and the pain of it sometimes is very intense, especially when you're young in the Lord.

Division Within the Church

And then you come to church. And church is the refuge. You come into the house of God. Now listen carefully to me tonight. And you say, Oh, finally, I'm among fellow believers. Finally, I'm among people who have been rejected by the world like me.

Finally, I am among people who have been rejected by their families perhaps just like me. Finally, I'm in a place of like-minded fellowship. A place of peace, love, joy, harmony. No more divisions, right?

No. No. Some people are sad that the divisions that arise in the church, they say, I've come out of the world where I was rejected by friends because of Christ. I suffered division in my family because of Christ.

And now I see division in the church. This hurts so much. And some draw back at this point and even begin to doubt the reality of God. Sad to say, it's simply because they fail to understand that the truth, where it is preached, under the unction of the Holy Spirit, causes division.

The truth causes division. You cannot get away from it. There's a division going on in your life right now. The truth is causing division. That's where it first starts. When we sit in a church that is preaching the Word of God, under the unction of the Holy Ghost, there is a division going on in our lives continuously.

It's going on in your life. It's going on in my life. As I prepare this Word, as I deliver the Word, the division is going on in my life. Hebrews chapter 4. If you'll look there very quickly with me. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12, talks about the Word of God and the purpose of the Word of God.

For the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the what? The dividing, a sunder of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

When we sit in a church where the Word of God is being preached under the unction of the Holy Ghost, God is sending His Word right into our lives and a division is going on between the things of the flesh and the things of the spirit.

Between our thoughts and the thoughts of God. Between our ways and God's ways. There's a constant division. And if truly we are children of God, in our hearts, we desire to put off the old nature, put off the old ways, and put on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness after Jesus Christ.

We don't want to live unto ourselves anymore. That's what marks a child of God. There's a constant division. Every time you sit in a church, like Times Square Church, where the Word of God is going forth, the sharp sword is coming, even when it's a tender word and it's still dividing.

It's still cutting. It's still discerning. It's still exposing thoughts that are not of God. And those who belong to the Lord love that kind of a word. Those who belong to the Lord keep saying to the Lord, just like in the days of Moses and Joshua, Lord, draw a line in the sand continuously that I may step over and prove my love for You.

That I may walk with You. That I may always be on the side of righteousness and truth. I want to know the truth. Because Your Word says, I shall know the truth and the truth shall set me free. Lord, I want the truth.

I don't want anything that's of myself. I don't want to lie. I want the truth. I want to be in a place of truth. I want to hear the truth. Oh God, thank You, Lord, that You are dividing. Thank You, Lord, that every time I come into Your house, You are speaking something that is showing me areas of my heart that are unlike You.

That I can lay them down and walk and draw water out of the wells of salvation. That I can be strengthened. That I can live to see the image of Christ formed in my life by the power of the Holy Spirit within me.

Hallelujah! Lord, that I can go forth and bear fruit unto Your name. That I can be part of Your church. Lord, that I can truly be a light that shines in the darkness. That is the cry of a true child of God.

Oh Lord, divide. God, divide me. Split me asunder, oh Lord. Put me in pieces, Lord, that I can know the favor of being picked up once again by Your hand and healed. Hallelujah! But also, when we're in a house of the Lord where the Word is being preached, there will be a division among brethren.

Division has to come. I'll show you the principle of this. Go to Matthew chapter 13, please. We need to see this. This is the house of God now. Matthew chapter 13. Another parable of Jesus. It's the parable of the sower.

Now, as a pastor, I've seen all of this over the years. I see it in this house too as well. I see this parable enacted continuously because where the Word of the Lord is preached, there are necessary dividings going on.

The Parable of the Sower and Four Responses

Now, Jesus Himself bears witness with this parable that when the Word is preached, it is received in different ways by different people. In other words, there's a division in how it's received. And verse 3 says, He spake many things unto them in parables.

That's Matthew chapter 13. Saying to them, Behold, a sower went forth to sow. And when he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up. Some fell on stony places where they had not much earth, and forthwith they sprung up because they had no deepness of earth.

And when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and choked them. But others fell into good ground and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

Who has ears to hear, let him hear. Now we go to verse 18 where He explains this now, a parable to His disciples. He says, Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and understands it not, then comes the wicked one and catches away that which was sown in his heart.

This is he which received seed by the wayside. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same as he that hears the word and in honor, immediately with joy, receives it. Yet he has no root in himself, but jurors for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arise because of the word by and by, he is offended.

That means he turns away. He also that receives seed among the thorns is he that hears the word and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches chokes the word and he becomes unfruitful. But he that receives seed into the good ground is he that hears the word and understands it, which also bears fruit and brings forth some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.

Now Jesus is talking about four different people receiving the same word with four different responses. Essentially speaking, in other words, He says the word is going forth and there's a division that happens.

I see that division happen all the time in the house of God. You see the stranger come in, sit in the house of the Lord, sometimes arms folded, sometimes with a very inquisitive look, other times with a frown.

The word of God comes forth with power. The heart maybe is touched a little wee bit. He comes into the house of the Lord, he experiences the things of God, sees God's people worship, hears the word of God, but for whatever reason he just simply turns away.

The scripture says the devil comes and just steals it right out of his heart and he walks out of the door. He says, he hears the word of the kingdom, understands it not. The wicked one comes and catches away that which was sown in his heart.

This is he which receives seed by the wayside. I'm sad to say there are people who come into Times Square Church and sit in a service. Maybe you're one of those tonight. I hope you can hear me. If you're one who's sitting here with an inquisitive heart at least or a desire to hear the things of God, they hear and say, ah, this is not true or this is not for me or maybe don't even understand and turn around and walk out the door.

Many of them walking out of the kingdom of God for absolutely all of eternity. And then you have the second person who hears and receives with a burst of joy almost instantaneously. The word sounds so good.

It sounds like life. It's what I've been looking for all my life. I remember I was able to lead one time a police officer to the Lord and such a sad situation it was. Sitting in my car one day and I remember it was raining.

We were driving and it was one of those days where I really didn't feel like witnessing. You ever had a day like that? I didn't feel like talking to anybody about anything. And it's raining. It's a dismal day.

And we're driving and I'm not talking to him. He's driving. I'm not talking to him. I'm just sitting there. And finally he said to me, he said, Carter, he said, what is this Christian thing that you're involved in?

What's it all about? And I'm sitting there and I'm thinking, oh, you know, I've been witnessing my heart out for weeks and sometimes with not too much results. And so this day I just didn't feel like talking.

So out of obligation, I just shared with him the plan of salvation. I don't even know how I said it. I just shared it quickly. This is what I found. This is how you get saved. This is it. You know, just a plan of salvation type thing.

I didn't even look at him. I had no enthusiasm in my life at all. That particular day, it's almost like I wasn't even sure I wanted it myself and yet he was asking me. And we're driving down the street and he bangs his fist on the dash in the police car and he says, I want that.

And I looked at him and he said, I've been searching for that all my life. He said, that's what I've been looking for. That's been the missing part in my life. And that man so received Christ, I took him to a meeting that night or the next night.

I took him to a meeting. He was baptized in the Holy Ghost. I mean, I never... He went to a meeting. We were in uniform. We dropped into a place that was having a meeting. He was baptized in the Holy Ghost.

He fell on the floor. He'd get up, he'd fall down again like it was really not becoming for somebody that was a police officer. But he was speaking in tongues so fast that you couldn't... I never heard anything quite like it.

He got in the car with another policeman that had come with us and he was heading for home. He was driving down the street. He saw a poor man on the street. He jumped out of the car before he even stopped at the light and ran across the road and gave him everything that was in his pocket so he could buy some food.

Like there was a transformation. This man received the Lord with great joy. Absolute joy. He went to work. He was sharing with everybody. He was giving tract out. He was just doing everything. He was just alive in God.

He was going to every meeting he could go until he went home. And his wife said, If you persist in this I'm going to leave you. And Jesus said these words. He received the seed into stony places. He hears the word and with joy he receives it yet he has no root in himself.

He endures for a while but when tribulation or persecution arise because of the word by and by he is offended. And I watched as this man turned away from God. I watched as he made a choice. His wife over his Savior.

Now that's a hard choice and I don't... I've never had to go through that. And I don't... I don't say anything lightly about that but I watched him make the choice to stop reading his Bible and to stop going to church.

I watched him choose between his career another case not only this man but another man that came to the Lord with almost equal zeal. I watched him choose between his career and his Savior and he chose his career and I watched both of their lives go downhill.

I watched them lose the joy of the Lord. I watched them lose their discernment. I watched them lose their understanding. I watched them walk away from God. Here's the Word with great joy. There are many that come into Times Square Church and with great joy they hear the Word and they receive it.

But there's no firmness of commitment. And when trouble comes that's really what this talks about. When trouble comes they're offended and they walk away. There's a division another division in the body of Christ.

And then there's a third one. This is the most dangerous man of all. Or woman. He that receives seed among the thorns is he that hears the Word and the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches chokes the Word and he becomes unfruitful.

I call this type of person the unfruitful rejecter of complete surrender to Christ. The most dangerous person you will ever find in the body of Christ. An unfruitful rejecter of complete surrender to Jesus Christ.

These first two usually walk out the door they don't take anybody with them they don't cast the church down they know that they're making a choice and they turn and they walk away. And these first two rarely if ever cause any trouble in the body of Christ.

Rejecting Complete Surrender and Creating Division

This is the end of side one. You may now turn the tape over to side two. This is a person who's rejecting the claim of Christ upon their life. A person who comes and hears in this church you are challenged I am challenged to lay our lives down in complete surrender to the will of God.

That if Christ calls us to the mission field we go to the mission field. If Christ calls for our bank account we give him our bank account. It's not that the church puts any kind of imposition on anybody but it's the Holy Spirit we're called to be obedient to Christ.

And to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. But this man becomes ensnared by the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches. He has heard the word but he's made a choice. It's the person who builds their own altar in the house of God.

And they say to the Lord I will go this far and this is where I worship but Lord I will not go any farther. And the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches chokes out the word. The word comes but the word has no place in his heart anymore.

And he becomes unfruitful. He has two choices. He can either acknowledge that he's unfruitful in the things of God or he can set his hand to destroy the standard in God's house and to establish his own standard of righteousness.

Romans chapter 10. Look there please with me quickly. Romans chapter 10. The apostle Paul speaks about this type of person. He's talking about his brethren the Israelites but we could equally apply it to this type of person in the house of God.

Romans chapter 10 verse 2. I'm explaining to you now why church splits happen. Paul says For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

They will come and they will make every attempt then to cast down the righteousness of God. They will generally do this by attempting to cast down the existing leadership in the church. Not only the pastoral leadership but leadership of different ministries.

They don't want to submit to the word of God and they are unfruitful rejecters of total surrender to Christ. And instead of looking at their condition they have to cast the church down in order so that their condition will not appear to be so serious.

They have to cast down existing leaders and authorities in the church because this authority is the channel through which God is challenging the refusal to come to complete surrender in certain areas of the heart.

We go ahead to the book of Jude please just before Revelation. Just before the last book in the New Testament the book of Jude verse 16 Jude says. These are murmurers, complainers walking after their own lusts.

Their mouth speaks great swelling words having men's persons in admiration because of advantage. But beloved remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ how that they told you that there should be mockers in the last time who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

These be they who separate themselves sensual having not the spirit. They separate themselves from the working of God. They separate themselves from the true body of Jesus Christ. Did you know that in this church the word of God is causing division continuously.