Factions of the Assembly are God Ordered

“For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you” (I Cor. 11:19).

It is difficult to handle the necessity of evil in such a manner as not to stumble. There is no inconsistency in supposing that God may hate a thing in itself, and yet it is His will for it to come to pass. Consider all the consequences and the end result of the fall of Lucifer and Adam.

Is God as sovereign in the application of redemption as He is in its provision? You have only to ask that question to answer it, if you have any concept of sovereignty at all. It is against the supremacy of the Divine will that the natural man rebels. The Arminian philosophy of evangelism is very similar to brainwashing—any technique for inducing a response. Consider the question, Did God make man to damn him? Such an argument makes God all love and nothing else. There is a difference between God’s making man to damn him, and His appointing man to damnation for his wickedness. God made man upright; man made himself wicked. What is right for God to do? It is right for God to decree. It was right for sin to come into the world from imperfection which belongs to a creature, not directly from God as the efficient cause.

God ordered the obstinacy of Pharaoh (Ex. 4:21), ordered Joseph to be sold to Egypt (Gen. 45:5-10), ordered the sin and folly of the kings of the Amorites (Deut. 2:30), ordered the ravages of Nebuchadnezzar to spoil the near nations (Jer. 25:9; 43:10, 11), ordered Shimei to curse David (II Sam. 16:5-11), ordered the death of Christ (Acts 2:23; 4:27, 28), ordered the factions of the assembly to become evident (I Cor. 11:19), and ordered wicked kings of the last days (Rev. 17:17). Jonathan Edwards said, “God permits sin and at the same time so orders things in His providence, that it comes to pass in consequence of His mission.”

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing, and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev. 3:14-22). Note in this message to the church at Laodicea: Where was Christ during this time? He was outside the church—not inside (Rev. 2:20). (Also read Malachi 2:1-9.)

God dwells in an impenetrable light. Paul said, “I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen. Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed. O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called knowledge—which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you” (I Tim. 6:13-21).

There is a limit beyond which we cannot go. Does God keep to Himself the secret of germination? On the other hand, He gives us the secret of germination in the golden harvests. Therefore, while spring kept the secret of her heart, autumn fills the barns with plenty. Thus enough is kept back to prove the power, and enough is given to establish the mercy. Mystery is the seal of the Infinite, yet the benevolence is perpetually present in the providence which guides human life. Therefore, we must not look at the mystery and forget the benevolence. As the odor of the dunghill does not come from the sun, so the evil of sin does not proceed from God.

To attempt to vindicate Eternal Providence and justify the ways of God to men is no easy task. It is much easier to criticize than to construct. God alone can produce the exquisite texture and color of a rose, but any wanton child can pick it to pieces.

Truth always involves more than what appears on the surface. The child looks into the starlit heavens and sees a lot of little lights scattered across the great expanse. To the astronomer, the same heavens are depths of infinite space crowded with heavenly bodies. The untutored child would think it foolish for the astronomer to spend so much time gathering data that comes through the lens of a telescope.

The natural man looks upon the word of God in the same manner as the untutored child looks into the starlit heavens. He looks upon the statements of the Bible as a collection of isolated truths which seem confusing, conflicting, and contradicting. Here is where the patient and diligent work of theology begins. On the other hand, the fact today is that most church-going people have never had a Biblical experience of regeneration. Theology is facts plus relations. A true theology thinks over God’s thoughts and seeks to bring them into God’s order, as the builders of Solomon’s temple took the stones already hewn and put them into the places for which they had been designed. Just as the Levites were responsible for placing every vessel in its Divinely appointed place in its ordained plan, so is every man of God responsible for “accurately handling the word of truth” (II Tim. 2:15). “But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner” (I Cor. 14:40.) When the word of God is handled properly, there will not be, to the enlightened mind and heart, a distorted view of God or His ways with men.

Depraved men raise many quarrels with God, as if they hold Him subject to their accusations. It is unlawful for the creature to quarrel with the Creator. Man sins responsibly.

The word “factions” comes from the Greek word airesis, which means division, faction, or false party. Paul does not give his disapproval of one thing here, and his approval of something he condemns in another place. (See I Cor. 14:34, 35; I Tim. 2:12.) What about those who say that since the prophetic gift has passed, so should the “covering of the head” be dropped out of the list of debatable topics. They assert that if the covering is still binding, so is the gift of prophecy. Paul said, “Judge for yourselves…” (I Cor. 11:13). They had been judging Paul when they should have been judging themselves.

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The NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE—UPDATED EDITION is the source of all Scripture quotations in this message, unless otherwise noted.