Kingdom, Judgment, and Victory

Can We All Just Get Along? - Part 1 of 4

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Eschatology

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2018-04-03

Synopsis: In this first part of a four-part series, Pastor John Weaver addresses divisions among Christians, asking why believers often fail to get along. He distinguishes between necessary divisions (righteous vs. wicked, orthodox vs. heretical) and the troubling strife among genuine Christians. The message focuses on the divine side of the issue: God's absolute sovereignty in salvation and illumination. Weaver argues that just as God sovereignly saves whom He wills, He also sovereignly opens understanding to His revealed truth, not giving the same truth or amount of truth to everyone at the same time. This should produce patience, humility, and thankfulness rather than bitterness when Christians disagree, since only God can open eyes.

[John Weaver] Luke 24. And we're just going to start out by reading verses 15 and 16. Luke 24. This is the first part of a four-part message. The title of the message all four parts, is can we all just get along? If you'll look in Luke 24, verses 15 and 16, talking about the two men on the Emmaus road, and it came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near with them and went with them, and their eyes were holden that they should not know him. Note, if you would, their eyes were holden that they should not know him. Many will recognize the source of the title of this message. Can we all just get along?

[John Weaver] The words were spoken by Rodney King, the black motorist that was arrested and beaten by four white officers from the Los Angeles Police Department in 1991. Riots broke out after the four officers were acquitted in the spring of 1992. The five days of rioting left 50 dead, over 2,000 wounded, and the riots cost the city of Los Angeles over $2 billion. So, in appealing for common peace, On May 1, 1992, Rodney Keene asked, can we all just get along?

[John Weaver] I was talking to a Christian friend recently, and he was dismayed at the friction and division that exists between Christians. He expressed dismay particularly at the fact that a lot of Christians just simply cannot get along with each other. Understandably, we cannot get along with the wicked. We cannot get along with anyone who is going to deny the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ or the inspiration and authority of the Bible. We're not going to get along with anyone who's going to deny the fundamentals of faith. And the truth of the matter is, this division was caused by Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] He is indeed the great divider. If you look back in Luke chapter 12, and let's begin reading there with verse 49, you will see what our Lord Himself said concerning this. Luke chapter 12 and verse 49, we'll read through verse 53. Luke 12, verse 49, our Lord says, I have come to send fire on the earth, and what will I if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with, And how am I straightened till it is accomplished? Suppose you that I come to give peace on earth, I tell you nay, but rather division.

[John Weaver] For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, the son against the father, and the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. So notice if you would, Our Lord is talking about the fact that He is indeed the great divider.

[John Weaver] When you get to John 7 and verse 43, the Bible says, So there was a division among the people because of Him. When you get to the book of John chapter 9 and verse 16, Therefore said the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day. Others said, How can a sinner do such miracles? So there was a division among them. Every time you read in the Scripture, you will find a division based upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. In John 10 and verse 19 again, there was a division among them, among the Jews, for this saying. So Jesus Christ is indeed the great divider.

[John Weaver] He divides the sheep from the goats. He divides the wheat from the tares. He divides the righteous from the wicked. And you're going to find we will either be separated unto Him or separated from Him. So obviously, He's indeed the great divider. We understand that there is a division between the righteous and the wicked. There is also a division between what you and I would call the seed of the godly and the seed of the wicked one.

[John Weaver] In the Protei Evangelium, which is found in Genesis 3.15, it is when God was cursing the serpent that he said this, and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. So here was a warfare that was started between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. And that warfare not only began then, but it has continued, and consequently, when you get to Genesis chapter 4, you see where Cain murders Abel. And so there is indeed a warfare that exists between the righteous and the wicked. So it is a war that exists between the progeny of the seed of the woman, which, of course, refers to Jesus Christ, because he was born of the virgin, and the seed of the serpent. we grasp that reality. We can also grasp the reality that there is a division, not just between the righteous and the wicked, but between the righteous and those whom we would deem absolutely heretical.

[John Weaver] For instance, in Titus chapter 3, verses 10 and 11, the Bible says a man that is a heretic, after the second and third admonition, reject, or after the first and second admonition, reject, knowing that such in one is subverted and sinneth and condemneth himself. So God says a man who refuses to listen, who refuses to heed, who will not obey the word of God after the first and second admonition, just reject him because he is condemned.

[John Weaver] Now we have no problem grasping the division between the righteous and the wicked, and we have no problem grasping the division between the righteous and the heretics. But that which concerns many people, and it should rightly concern us, is the divisions and the lack of compassion that occurs between Christians. So you have to ask, why is it that seemingly those who belong to Jesus Christ at many times are at variance with each other. They are divided. They cannot get along. They show absolutely no compassion. And there is strife and division and sometimes what you and I would call just outright hatred. So why is that?

[John Weaver] It is true that our Lord prayed that we might be one. If you would look in your Bibles very quickly to John 17. This is our Lord's high priestly prayer. Or at least part of it I'm going to read in verses 21 through 24. John 17. Listen to what He prayed and what He asked for in this prayer. And of course we know that this prayer is going to be answered.

[John Weaver] So I want you to watch it. John 17 verse 21. Our Lord is, well, let's go to verse 20. He says, Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also that shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that Thou hast sent me and hast loved them as Thou hast loved me. Father, I will also, whom Thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which Thou hast given me, for Thou lovest me before the foundation of the world." Now, when you look at this prayer, You ask, well, why in the world cannot we be one since Jesus Christ prayed for this?

[John Weaver] And the truth of the matter is we are going to be one ultimately. There is certainly no perfection in this life. But let me give you a quote from John Gill. John Gill was a great Baptist expositor. And here's what he said on this passage. This may regard their unity in the faith and in the knowledge of Christ, for there is but one faith which all truly experienced souls agree in, and they are converted by the same Spirit, and have the same work of grace wrought in them, and though they have not the same degree of light and measure of spiritual knowledge, yet they agree in the main point of the gospel, salvation alone by the Lord Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] And such an agreement in the doctrine of faith and the grand articles of it respecting the person and offices of Christ is absolutely necessary to their comfortably walking together in church fellowship and the more honorable carrying on the worship of God together and which will be more made manifest in the latter days when saints shall see eye to eye. Likewise, a unity in affection may be here designed. of being knit together in love to each other, which is the bond of perfectness, the evidence of regeneration, the badge of the Christian profession, the beauty of church communion, and the barrier and security from the common enemy, and without which social worship and mutual service will either be neglected or coldly performed. Moreover, this petition may have respect to the gathering together of all the saints at the last day, as one body united together in faith and love, as one General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, as one fold of Christ, who is the Head, the Savior, and the Shepherd."

[John Weaver] So Gil is saying that yes, this could refer to a oneness in doctrine, it is that. But he said it's probably referring more to the last day, when everybody's going to see eye to eye, then everybody's going to understand everything. So, I don't think anyone believes that there is going to be perfection in this life, in any shape, form, or fashion. We may have a glimmer of what you and I would call the perfection in our mutual love for each other, in our worship of each other, in our coming together in Jesus Christ, but yet in spite of the mutual love, in spite of worshiping together a church, there are divisions. There are differences. Some of these differences are major.

[John Weaver] Some of them are minor. And some of these divisions even occur outside of the church. One of the things that has troubled me for many years, and has bothered me, is that there are many pastors that cannot even get along with each other. You know, they disagree on some minor issue. It might be eschatology. It may be baptism. It may be something else. They may believe together and they believe all the other basic fundamental principles, yet they'll differ on this. And the next thing you know, they're at each other's throat and they're just basically creating strife and division.

[John Weaver] So you have to ask this question. Why, then, will one Christian attack another Christian? Why are there variances of faith? when variances in the same faith and sometimes in the same faith and practice.

[John Weaver] Now, there are answers to these questions and I'm going to attempt to give you some of these answers. And as I give you some of these answers, I want you to make sure that you examine your life so that you can see and make sure that you are not a source of any division or strife. I will tell you my perspective. And I will tell you what I've told people all through the years. I've often said to brethren who disagree with me, or if I disagree with them, that if there's ever a division, if there's ever strife, if there is ever animosity or resentment, it's going to be on their part and not mine. Because I'm just not going to be angry with them. I can agree to disagree. I'm just not going to fuss. I'm not going to fight with them. I'm more than willing to teach them. I'm more than willing to help them. But I'm not going to fight with them. Now, you're going to ask me, well, have you ever been wrong?

[John Weaver] And the answer is yes. I've been wronged by preachers, by pastors, by men that I count my friends. Have I ever been hurt? And the answer is yes. But I am not going to hold bitterness and resentment and anger and ill will. When I stop and think of the wrongs that have been done to me, I have to think of the wrongs that I did to Jesus Christ. And my wrongs to Christ are far greater than any wrongs that anyone has ever done to me. And if Jesus Christ forgave me, and does not hold bitterness and ill will and resentment against me for sinning against him. Well, why should I hold bitterness and resentment and ill will against someone who sins against me? It's just that simple. So I'm just saying my position is I'm not going to argue. I'm not going to bicker. I'm not going to fuss. I'm not going to fight.

[John Weaver] I can agree to disagree. I can still work with you. I can still help you. But you have to understand that when we begin to answer these questions, Why are there so many divisions? Why so much strife going on? There is a divine side and there is a human side. I'm going to give you the divine side today. In the next three messages, I'm going to develop what you and I would call the human side or Christian responsibility. So today I'm going to show you God's sovereignty. And you're going to see that God's sovereignty and man's responsibility, Christian responsibility, are intertwined and they go together. So a few of the scriptures I'm going to show you today I'm going to be actually building upon just a little bit later just to demonstrate what I'm trying to say. So let's begin by looking at the divine side today. You're going to understand as you read the scripture that God's sovereignty runs through everything. Sovereignty is absolute.

[John Weaver] Every Christian, if he believes the Bible, has to acknowledge that God is absolutely sovereign. Not only does the Bible teach that, but when you stop and think about this, God has to be absolutely sovereign. He has to control absolutely everything. Because if there's anything outside of and beyond God's sovereign control, then God's not God. Whatever God can't control or doesn't control would be God. So we have to confess and we have to acknowledge that God is sovereign. There's no two ways around it. Now, we also acknowledge that God is sovereign in salvation. Salvation is the work of God alone.

[John Weaver] Man cannot save himself, and man cannot help save himself. Salvation is the work of God. In fact, the Bible teaches us that in one sense of the word, that salvation is a sovereign revelation. I'll explain what I mean by that. In Matthew 11, verse 27, here's what our Lord said. Matthew 11, verse 27. All things are delivered unto me of my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, but the Father, and He to whomsoever He revealed Him. Neither knoweth any man the Son, or neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and He to whomsoever He revealed Him. So here's what Matthew 11 verse 27 is saying. No one can know God the Father unless Jesus Christ reveals Him. No one can know God the Son unless God the Father reveals Him. Now the Greek word for reveal there is apokalupto.

[John Weaver] It literally means to uncover, to lay open that which has been veiled or covered up. It means to disclose. It means to make known, to make manifest or to reveal. So he is saying that no man can know the Son except the Father disclose Him. or uncovers or unveils him so that they can see. And our Lord says, no man can know the Father unless he unveils the Father to him. So if the only way that a man can savingly know the Father is the Son reveals him, and the only way anyone can savingly know the Son is the Father reveals him, then salvation absolutely has to be a work of God alone. because only God can do the unveiling or the uncovering of Himself. Now, our Lord illustrates this point in John 5. I want you to turn there, John 5.

[John Weaver] I'm going to show you this just momentarily. But in John 5, you have the healing of the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda. And you have to remember, that the Bible says that around this pool and in the porches here lay a great multitude of impotent folk, sick, lame, halt, waiting for the moving of the water. And our Lord walks through this great multitude and singles out one man and heals him. The man had been lame, for 38 years.

[John Weaver] Everyone knows that Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ is omnipotent. Jesus Christ could have healed absolutely everyone around that pool and in those porches at one time as easily as he could have healed the one man. But he did not. He only healed the one man. And by the way, The one man certainly did not deserve healing. Not only did he not deserve healing, he never asked for healing. He didn't even know who Jesus Christ was. Because Jesus Christ said, Will thou be made whole? Well, he said, I have no man to help me. Well, the water's troubled.

[John Weaver] While I'm coming, someone else steps in ahead of me. I have no one. He never asked to be healed. He didn't even know who Jesus Christ was. Jesus Christ said, take up thy bed and walk. And he did. So here's my question. Why did Jesus Christ single out one man and heal him out of the entire multitude when he could have healed all just as easily? Here's the answer.

[John Weaver] Look in John 5 and verse 21. John 5 verse 21. Our Lord says, as the father raises up the dead, and quickeneth them. Even so the Son quickeneth, here it is, whom He will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. Why? Why does the Son quicken whom He will? And why has the Father committed all judgment to the Son? Here's why, verse 23. That all men should honor the Son even as, that is equally, as they honor the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which has sent me."

[John Weaver] So Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. What is the one attribute that singles God out as God? That is His sovereignty. He does as He pleases, only as He pleases, always as He pleases. So as the Father quickeneth whom He will, even so the Son quickens whom He will. So our Lord, in a demonstration of His absolute sovereignty, walks through the multitude heals one man. And he demonstrates that he is God.

[John Weaver] Now, the Apostle Paul goes farther and asks three questions concerning salvation, and those three questions again demonstrate that salvation is of the Lord. For instance, In 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 7, Paul asks this. Number one, who make it thee to differ from another? Why is it you're saved and others are not saved? Why do you know truth and others do not know truth? Why have you been made righteous when others have not been made righteous? Who make it thee to differ from another?

[John Weaver] And the second question is this. What hast thou that thou didst not receive? Everything you have God gave you. And the third question is this. If thou didst receive it, what is thou glory or boasts if thou hast not received it? In other words, he's putting you on the spot. Who makes you different? What do you have that you have not been given? And if God gave you everything, why would you boast as if you had not received it from God? So you have to understand that everything that we have faith, repentance, grace, mercy, love, goodness, compassion, kindness, and every other virtue of grace is nothing more than a gift from God and comes from God alone. So the answer is, it is God who makes us to differ because God is the one who's given us all of his gifts.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to listen to me carefully. If you understand that God is sovereign in salvation, you must also understand that God is sovereign in everything else. Which brings me to this point. The same God that is sovereign in salvation is equally sovereign in illumination. You know what illumination is? Illumination is the act or the work or the ministry of God, the Holy Spirit, whereby he opens our eyes. He opens our understanding that we may comprehend, that we may grasp the truth that has been revealed in the word.

[John Weaver] Now, let me make a distinction for you, and what I'm about to tell you is very important. And it will make a difference if you understand it. There is no more revelation. God is not revealing truth today. Many times Christians use the word wrong, wrongly. They will say, well, let me tell you what God revealed to me. No, God did not reveal anything to you. He may have opened your eyes to understand His divine revelation, but He did not reveal anything to you. And why am I saying that revelation is ceased? Because we have the full, final, and complete revelation of God in the living Word, Jesus Christ, and in the written Word, His Bible.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to stop and think about this. Here's what revelation is. Revelation is the act of God whereby God has revealed truth never known before to the human mind. Here's a wonderful example. Who wrote the first five books of the Bible? Moses. Well, let's look at Genesis 1 through 4. or even Genesis 1-12. How did Moses know what happened at creation? He wasn't there. How did Moses know what happened between Adam and Eve? He wasn't there. How did Moses know what happened when Cain killed Abel? How did Moses know the call of God to Abraham and what happened there? And the answer is, God revealed it to Moses. Revelation is the act of God whereby God reveals truth never known before to the human mind.

[John Weaver] Inspiration now comes along and superintends that revelation and makes sure that it's written down accurately and truthfully. So revelation, then, is the act of God whereby God reveals truth never known before to the human mind. Now, how can I say that revelation is sensed? And the answer is because that's what the Bible teaches. I want you to look in John chapter one and verses 17 and 18. Here's a verse or two verses that are very simple. Look in John one, 17 and 18. The Bible says, For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man had seen God at any time.

[John Weaver] The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him, or he hath revealed Him. Now, for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Do you mean to tell me there was no grace in the Old Testament? Well, of course there was. The Bible says Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Anyone saved in the Old Testament was saved by grace. Is the Old Testament truth? Well, of course it's truth. Everything that God revealed is truth. How then can we say in John 117, for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ? Because Jesus Christ is the fullness, the completeness, the apex, the highest part of grace and truth. There is nothing above or beyond Jesus Christ. He is the fullness. He is the completeness. He is God in the flesh. There is no further revelation beyond Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] If you will turn in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews 1. And look, if you would please, at verse 1. Hebrews 1. And beginning there with verse 1. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1. Look what the Bible says. God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets. How did God speak to the prophets? Sometimes in dreams, sometimes in trances. So God spoke in different ways in the Old Testament. Watch in verse 2.

[John Weaver] But God have in these last days spoken us by His Son, who is the appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds, who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high." So God, in the Old Testament and in the writing of the New Testament, spoke many different ways.

[John Weaver] When Jesus Christ came, Jesus Christ is the fullness and the completeness of divine revelation. Now listen to me. When someone contends for a continuing revelation, when someone says, well God is revealing truth today, what they are saying is that there is something truth, there is something over and above and beyond Jesus Christ. They're saying He's not the full, final revelation of God. They're saying there's something over and above the Bible which is accurately described as blasphemy. Because Jesus Christ is the full and final revelation of God. So, God is not giving us any revelation today. We have the completed revelation. Now what God does He illuminates. He enlightens. So, when you came into this room and the lights were off, it was dark. When you hit the switch and the lights came on, the room was illuminated so that you could see whatever was in this room.

[John Weaver] This now is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. I want you to look in your Bibles to John 15. John 15, and let's begin reading there with verse 26. Look what the Scripture says. John 15 and verse 26. Our Lord says, But when the Comforter is come, the Holy Spirit, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceeded from the Father, He shall testify of me." Now skip down to John 16 and verse 12. Our Lord tells His disciples, I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak it Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are Mine. Therefore said I that He shall take of Mine and shall show it unto you."

[John Weaver] So it is the ministry of the Holy Spirit then to illuminate, to enlighten, to give us understanding of that truth that has been revealed. So let me say this again. When you see something in the Bible, and you get so excited, and you say, God just revealed this to me. No. God just opened your eyes so that you could see what He had already revealed. Okay? That is illumination. That is enlightenment.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to go back to Luke 24. I want you to see what our Lord said and did for His disciples. Look at Luke chapter 24. And notice verses 44 and 45. Now, we're talking about His disciples. Luke 24, verse 44. Watch carefully. Luke 24, verse 44. And He said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me.

[John Weaver] Then opened He their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures." Now, the Scriptures are the revelation. The opening of the eyes, or the opening of the understanding, is illumination. So, what God does is He illuminates our mind so that we can understand the divinely revealed Word of God.

[John Weaver] Now, you remember, and I want you to look back, please, to our text. Look in Luke 24 at verses 14 and 15. We're talking about the two on the Emmaus Road, verse 14, and they talk together, that's verse 14, And they talked together of all these things which had happened, verse 15, and it came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them, but their eyes were

[John Weaver] a-holding that they should not know Him. Now, that means their eyes were powerfully closed. They did not recognize Jesus Christ. But, skip down to verse 31, and their eyes were opened and they knew Him and He vanished out of their sight. So verse 31 is analogous then to verses 44 and 45 where God opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. Here He opened their eyes and they saw Him, they knew Him.

[John Weaver] So here again, let me say it, the revelation is the Bible. Our understanding it is illumination. Let me read something to you by Matthew Henry. Matthew Henry said this, talking about Luke 24, the two disciples on the Emmaus Road. In his discourse with the two disciples, he took the veil from off the text by opening the scriptures. Here he took the veil from off the heart by opening the mind. The design of opening the understanding is that we may understand the scriptures.

[John Weaver] Now listen, not that we may be wise above that which is written, but that we may be wiser in that is written and may be made wise unto salvation by it. The spirit in the word and the spirit in the heart say the same thing. Christ's scholars never learn above their Bibles in this world, but they need to be still learning more and more out of their Bibles and to grow more ready and mighty in the Scriptures. That we may have right thoughts of Christ and have our mistakes concerning Him rectified, there needs no more than to be made to understand the Scriptures. He says we do not grow above the Bible. We don't outgrow the Bible. There's nothing beyond the Bible. We must understand what is in the Bible. And the way to understand is through the illuminating work and ministry of the Holy Spirit.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you something. By nature, we do not see. By nature, we do not hear. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 14 talk about the unsaved man. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. Now notice that. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. So an unsaved man has no receptors. He has no capacity to understand the things of God.

[John Weaver] Even when we are converted, we're still fleshly. We still have to have our eyes opened. If our Lord had to open the understandings of His disciples who walked with Him for three years, I would think he would really need to have to open our understandings as well. We have to have illumination. Job said it like this in Job 34 verse 23. That which I see not, teach thou me. That which I see not, teach thou me. David said it like this in Psalm 119 verse 18. Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy walls. In other words, God must open our eyes. That was quite a prayer for David since David wrote most of the Psalms. Open thou mine eyes that I may build wondrous things out of thy wall.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you what I'm trying to present to you today. If you understand that God is sovereign in salvation, You also have to understand that God is sovereign in illumination. God does not give the same truth to all the people, nor does he give the same amount of truth to people, nor does he give that truth at the same time. You know, I've had people say, I would to God I'd understood this 20 years ago. You understand that sentiment, but you wouldn't listen 20 years ago. You wouldn't hear 20 years ago. That is why there is a difference in the understanding and the spiritual level of people. You have to understand that God is sovereign in illumination, there are certain people that will understand certain truths and other people that will not understand those truths. There are people that will hear and there are people that will not hear.

[John Weaver] And let me make a statement. I'm going to show it to you from the Bible. There are Christians that are not able to hear the truth. Look in your Bibles to the book of Mark chapter 4. Mark chapter 4. And look, if you would please, at verse 33. Mark 4, verse 33. Here's an amazing statement. Mark 4, watch verse 33. The Bible said, And when many such parables spake he the word unto them as they were able to hear it. He spake as they were able to hear it.

[John Weaver] Let me ask you a question. Why is it when you get around a little baby, you'll want to tickle his chin and say, kitchy, kitchy, koo, or something like that? Or you kind of, you know, make little sounds over that baby? You don't ever look at that little baby and say, not today. I'm going to be talking about dichotomy and trichotomy. And I'm going to explain the difference to you between supralapsarianism and infralapsarianism, and so I want you to listen carefully. Why? Because the baby's not going to understand a word that you're saying like that. Let me show you. Look in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3.

[John Weaver] And let's begin reading there with verse 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 1. Look what Paul had to say to these Corinthian Christians. Here it is. He said, And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and not with meat. For hitherto you were not able to bear it, or to hear it, or to have it, or to eat it. Neither yet now are you able. For you are yet carnal, for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, or fleshly, and walk as men? Paul said, I couldn't speak to you in spiritual terms. I could not talk about theological concepts.

[John Weaver] Because you're nothing but a baby. You won't take meat. You don't take a T-bone steak and feed it to a two-month-old baby. You just don't do it. The baby has to have milk. And that's what Paul is... You're not able to bear it. Our Lord spake truth as they were able to hear it. Wow. You are not able to hear more truth until you obey the truth that you've already heard. Why would God give us more truth if we're not going to obey the truth that is already given to us? The truth of the matter is, obedience is the very first fundamental, basic, foundation of every child, physically or spiritually. The child that will not obey will never learn and will never mature, at least intellectually and morally.

[John Weaver] And it's the same thing true when it comes to spiritual things. I want you to turn to the book of Hebrews chapter 5. See what the author of the book of Hebrews says. And it is exactly the same thing. So let's look in Hebrews chapter 5, beginning there with verse 10. Hebrews chapter 5, verse 10. In fact, he's talking about the Melchizedek priesthood of Jesus Christ. He says, called of God and high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Now look what he says in verse 11. Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, no words are deep, they are theological things, seeing you are dull of hearing.

[John Weaver] For when the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk, and not strong meat. For everyone that useth milk, is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But strong meat belong to them that are full of age, even those who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." So, the apostle here says, I can't teach you anything about the mezzanical priesthood of Christ. You're dull of hearing. You're a baby. I can't give you meat. You have to have milk. You're not able to bear it. You're not able to hear it. And truth is only spoken as people are able to hear.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to ask yourself this question. Why is it some Christians understand a lot of truth and others understand hardly any truth except the fact that Jesus Christ is the Savior and their salvation is wrapped up in Him? Stop and think about this. Why? I'm trying to give you a divine side answer today. You're going to see that the human side and the divine side are intertwined as we go, because we do have Christian responsibilities. OK? But the fact is, God is sovereign in illumination. He does not reveal the same truth to everybody. Nor does he reveal the same truth at the same time to everyone. If he did, everybody would have the same understanding. But not everybody has the same understanding.

[John Weaver] Now, let me try to put things in perspective for you. I want you to think with me. Here's my application. You have to understand that God is sovereign in illumination. Let's pretend just for a moment that I happen to be the best preacher in the entire world. I'm the best teacher. I have the best communicating skills imaginable. I have the best oratory. I know the best illustrations. So I could be the best preacher, the best teacher with the best communication skills. I could have the greatest oratory. I could have the greatest illustrations.

[John Weaver] And the truth of the matter is, no matter how great, no matter how good, no matter how thorough I am, if God doesn't open your eyes, you're never going to see the truth. It's not in man, it's in God. If God withholds you from seeing truth, and you say, well, God wouldn't do that. Oh, yes, He will. And yes, He does. And I will show you before I'm through with this series. If God withholds you from seeing truth, there's nothing I can do to open your mind.

[John Weaver] The only thing I can do is be patient with you. Let me show you. Turn in your Bibles. to 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 2, 2 Timothy chapter 2, and let's begin reading there with verse 24. 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 24. Watch carefully. And the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient. The servant of the Lord.

[John Weaver] the preacher, the teacher, the pastor, the elder. The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle to all men, apt to teach, patient, watch, in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves, if God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him and his will. So you can ask it like this. When do men recover themselves out of the snare of the devil? The answer is when they acknowledge the truth. When do men acknowledge the truth? When God gives them repentance. When God opens their eyes, when God turns them, when they see. I can't make anybody see. I can't make anybody turn. So God tells me in verse 24, I'm to be patient in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves. My responsibility is to teach. It is God's prerogative to open the eyes and give understanding and give repentance and turn them to the truth.

[John Weaver] So, here's the thing Christians, listen carefully. If I grasp this truth, that God is sovereign in illumination, and that my responsibility is to patiently teach the truth, It should make me more kind, more tender, and more patient with those who do not see the truth. Because only God can open the eyes. I should not abuse them. I should not reject them. I should not despise them. I should not make fun of them. If I understand this, it should make me more pitiful toward them and more thankful that God has opened my eyes. So we cannot make men see. We cannot do the work of the Holy Spirit. We may pray, we may teach, we may witness, yet we must wait upon Him to open the eyes and the understanding. We cannot become bitter and hateful and resentful toward each other because you don't see what I see. Or I don't see what you see. If we understand that God is sovereign in illumination, it should lead us to be able to agree to disagree and still be kind and loving to each other and helpful to each other.

[John Weaver] It should also make us more thankful for that which we do see. Let me show you something else. I want you to look in your Bibles to Matthew 13. Matthew 13. Look, if you would, please, Matthew 13. Matthew 13, verses 10 and 11. You ought to really concentrate on this passage. Matthew 13, verse 10. And the disciples came and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

[John Weaver] He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given." Now wait a minute. Why are you speaking in parables? We understand them, Lord, but some do not. Because it is given to you to understand. Understanding is the gift of God. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in illuminating and enlightening our minds that we may see truth. Others are not given the truth.

[John Weaver] Let me put it to you plainly. Every doctrine that you and I know and understand and love, every truth that we see and hold dear was a gift from God. God opened our eyes. He let us see it. He allowed us to embrace it and to believe it and to apply it. God does not give the same truth to everyone, nor does he give the same amount of truth to everyone, nor does he give this truth at the same time.

[John Weaver] Who maketh thee to differ one from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? And have you received it? Why do you boast that you have not received it? Everything that we have, everything that we know, God gave us. God sovereignly allowed our minds to be open. so that we could understand his divine revelation. He illuminated us and gave us truth. It ought to make us more thankful when we understand that everything we have was given to us. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee this day.

[John Weaver] We thank you for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. We thank You, Father, for Your full, final, and complete revelation in Jesus Christ. And Your full, final, and complete revelation in the Word of God. We bow to it. And we ask You, Father, to be pleased to illuminate our minds. Enlighten us that we might understand and comprehend Thy divine and revealed truth. that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray. Amen.

[John Weaver] so so

Can We All Just Get Along? - Part 1 of 4

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	1gcMcs-KVWs
Subject	Eschatology
Course	Kingdom, Judgment, and Victory
Genre	Sermon
Date	2018-04-03
Dictation Name
Book	Book 113: Can We All Just Get Along? — Chapter 3
Source Timed Segments	67

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: The Problem of Division Among Christians

Weaver introduces the series title 'Can We All Just Get Along?' referencing Rodney King's plea, and notes the dismay over friction between Christians, distinguishing necessary divisions from the ungodly and heretics.

Luke 24. And we're just going to start out by reading verses 15 and 16. Luke 24. This is the first part of a four-part message. The title of the message, all four parts, is "Can We All Just Get Along?" If you'll look in Luke 24, verses 15 and 16, talking about the two men on the Emmaus road,

Scripture Reading — Luke 24:15-16

"And it came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near with them and went with them, and their eyes were holden that they should not know him."

Note, if you would,

Scripture Reading — Luke 24:15-16

"their eyes were holden that they should not know him."

Many will recognize the source of the title of this message. "Can we all just get along?" The words were spoken by Rodney King, the black motorist that was arrested and beaten by four white officers from the Los Angeles Police Department in 1991. Riots broke out after the four officers were acquitted in the spring of 1992. The five days of rioting left 50 dead, over 2,000 wounded, and the riots cost the city of Los Angeles over $2 billion. So, in appealing for common peace, on May 1, 1992, Rodney King asked, "Can we all just get along?"

I was talking to a Christian friend recently, and he was dismayed at the friction and division that exists between Christians. He expressed dismay particularly at the fact that a lot of Christians just simply cannot get along with each other. Understandably, we cannot get along with the wicked. We cannot get along with anyone who is going to deny the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ or the inspiration and authority of the Bible. We're not going to get along with anyone who's going to deny the fundamentals of faith. And the truth of the matter is, this division was caused by Jesus Christ. He is indeed the great divider. If you look back in Luke chapter 12, and let's begin reading there with verse 49, you will see what our Lord Himself said concerning this. Luke chapter 12 and verse 49, we'll read through verse 53. Luke 12, verse 49, our Lord says,

Scripture Reading — Luke 12:49-53

"I have come to send fire on the earth, and what will I if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straightened till it is accomplished? Suppose you that I 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. The father shall be divided against the son, the son against the father, and the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." So notice if you would, our Lord is talking about the fact that He is indeed the great divider. When you get to John 7 and verse 43, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — John 7:43

"So there was a division among the people because of Him."

When you get to the book of John chapter 9 and verse 16,

Scripture Reading — John 7:43

"Therefore said the Pharisees, 'This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day.' Others said, 'How can a sinner do such miracles?' So there was a division among them."

Every time you read in the Scripture, you will find a division based upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. In John 10 and verse 19 again,

Scripture Reading — John 7:43

"There was a division among them, among the Jews, for this saying."

So Jesus Christ is indeed the great divider.

He divides the sheep from the goats. He divides the wheat from the tares. He divides the righteous from the wicked. And you're going to find we will either be separated unto Him or separated from Him. So obviously, He's indeed the great divider. We understand that there is a division between the righteous and the wicked. There is also a division between what you and I would call the seed of the godly and the seed of the wicked one.

In the Protevangelium, which is found in Genesis 3:15, it is when God was cursing the serpent that he said this, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." So here was a warfare that was started between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. And that warfare not only began then, but it has continued, and consequently, when you get to Genesis chapter 4, you see where Cain murders Abel. And so there is indeed a warfare that exists between the righteous and the wicked. So it is a war that exists between the progeny of the seed of the woman, which, of course, refers to Jesus Christ, because he was born of the virgin, and the seed of the serpent. We grasp that reality. We can also grasp the reality that there is a division, not just between the righteous and the wicked, but between the righteous and those whom we would deem absolutely heretical.

For instance, in Titus chapter 3, verses 10 and 11, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Titus 3:10-11

"A man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject; knowing that such an one is subverted and sinneth and condemneth himself."

So God says a man who refuses to listen, who refuses to heed, who will not obey the word of God after the first and second admonition, just reject him because he is condemned. Now we have no problem grasping the division between the righteous and the wicked, and we have no problem grasping the division between the righteous and the heretics. But that which concerns many people, and it should rightly concern us, is the divisions and the lack of compassion that occurs between Christians. So you have to ask, why is it that seemingly those who belong to Jesus Christ at many times are at variance with each other? They are divided. They cannot get along. They show absolutely no compassion. And there is strife and division and sometimes what you and I would call just outright hatred. So why is that?

Jesus Christ: The Great Divider

Jesus Himself declared He came to bring division, not peace, separating the righteous from the wicked, as seen in Luke 12:49-53 and other passages.

He is indeed the great divider. If you look back in Luke chapter 12, and let's begin reading there with verse 49, you will see what our Lord Himself said concerning this. Luke chapter 12 and verse 49, we'll read through verse 53. Luke 12, verse 49, our Lord says,

Scripture Reading — Luke 12:49-53

"I have come to send fire on the earth, and what will I if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straightened till it is accomplished? Suppose you that I 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. The father shall be divided against the son, the son against the father, and the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

So notice if you would, our Lord is talking about the fact that He is indeed the great divider.

When you get to John 7 and verse 43, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — John 7:43

"So there was a division among the people because of Him."

When you get to the book of John chapter 9 and verse 16,

Scripture Reading — John 7:43

"Therefore said the Pharisees, 'This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day.' Others said, 'How can a sinner do such miracles?' So there was a division among them."

Every time you read in the Scripture, you will find a division based upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. In John 10 and verse 19 again,

Scripture Reading — John 7:43

"There was a division among them, among the Jews, for this saying."

So Jesus Christ is indeed the great divider. He divides the sheep from the goats. He divides the wheat from the tares. He divides the righteous from the wicked. And you're going to find we will either be separated unto Him or separated from Him. So obviously, He's indeed the great divider. We understand that there is a division between the righteous and the wicked. There is also a division between what you and I would call the seed of the godly and the seed of the wicked one.

The Warfare Between the Seeds

From Genesis 3:15, God established enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, a conflict continuing through history, exemplified by Cain and Abel.

Division Over Heresy

Scripture commands rejection of heretics after admonition (Titus 3:10-11), a division believers readily accept.

For instance, in Titus chapter 3, verses 10 and 11, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Titus 3:10-11

"A man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject; knowing that such an one is subverted and sinneth and condemneth himself."

So God says a man who refuses to listen, who refuses to heed, who will not obey the word of God after the first and second admonition, just reject him because he is condemned.

The Troubling Divisions Among Christians

The real concern is strife and lack of compassion between Christians, despite Jesus' prayer for unity in John 17, which will ultimately be fulfilled but is not yet perfect.

Now we have no problem grasping the division between the righteous and the wicked, and we have no problem grasping the division between the righteous and the heretics. But that which concerns many people, and it should rightly concern us, is the divisions and the lack of compassion that occurs between Christians. So you have to ask, why is it that seemingly those who belong to Jesus Christ at many times are at variance with each other? They are divided. They cannot get along. They show absolutely no compassion. And there is strife and division and sometimes what you and I would call just outright hatred. So why is that?

It is true that our Lord prayed that we might be one. If you would look in your Bibles very quickly to John 17. This is our Lord's high priestly prayer. Or at least part of it I'm going to read in verses 21 through 24. John 17. Listen to what He prayed and what He asked for in this prayer. And of course we know that this prayer is going to be answered.

So I want you to watch it. John 17 verse 21. Our Lord is—well, let's go to verse 20. He says,

Scripture Reading — John 17:20-24

"Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also that shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that Thou hast sent me and hast loved them as Thou hast loved me. Father, I will also, whom Thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which Thou hast given me, for Thou lovest me before the foundation of the world."

Now, when you look at this prayer, you ask, well, why in the world cannot we be one since Jesus Christ prayed for this?

And the truth of the matter is we are going to be one ultimately. There is certainly no perfection in this life. But let me give you a quote from John Gill. John Gill was a great Baptist expositor. And here's what he said on this passage: "This may regard their unity in the faith and in the knowledge of Christ, for there is but one faith which all truly experienced souls agree in, and they are converted by the same Spirit, and have the same work of grace wrought in them, and though they have not the same degree of light and measure of spiritual knowledge, yet they agree in the main point of the gospel, salvation alone by the Lord Jesus Christ." "And such an agreement in the doctrine of faith and the grand articles of it respecting the person and offices of Christ is absolutely necessary to their comfortably walking together in church fellowship and the more honorable carrying on the worship of God together and which will be more made manifest in the latter days when saints shall see eye to eye. Likewise, a unity in affection may be here designed, of being knit together in love to each other, which is the bond of perfectness, the evidence of regeneration, the badge of the Christian profession, the beauty of church communion, and the barrier and security from the common enemy, and without which social worship and mutual service will either be neglected or coldly performed. Moreover, this petition may have respect to the gathering together of all the saints at the last day, as one body united together in faith and love, as one General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, as one fold of Christ, who is the Head, the Savior, and the Shepherd."

So Gill is saying that yes, this could refer to a oneness in doctrine, it is that. But he said it's probably referring more to the last day, when everybody's going to see eye to eye, then everybody's going to understand everything. So, I don't think anyone believes that there is going to be perfection in this life, in any shape, form, or fashion. We may have a glimmer of what you and I would call the perfection in our mutual love for each other, in our worship of each other, in our coming together in Jesus Christ, but yet in spite of the mutual love, in spite of worshiping together a church, there are divisions. There are differences. Some of these differences are major.

God's Sovereignty in Salvation

God is absolutely sovereign in all things, including salvation, which is entirely His work; no one can know the Father or Son unless revealed to them (Matthew 11:27).

Every Christian, if he believes the Bible, has to acknowledge that God is absolutely sovereign. Not only does the Bible teach that, but when you stop and think about this, God has to be absolutely sovereign. He has to control absolutely everything. Because if there's anything outside of and beyond God's sovereign control, then God's not God. Whatever God can't control or doesn't control would be God. So we have to confess and we have to acknowledge that God is sovereign. There's no two ways around it. Now, we also acknowledge that God is sovereign in salvation. Salvation is the work of God alone.

Man cannot save himself, and man cannot help save himself. Salvation is the work of God. In fact, the Bible teaches us that in one sense of the word, that salvation is a sovereign revelation. I'll explain what I mean by that. In Matthew 11, verse 27, here's what our Lord said. Matthew 11, verse 27:

Scripture Reading — Matthew 11:27

"All things are delivered unto me of my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, but the Father, and He to whomsoever He revealed Him. Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and He to whomsoever He revealed Him."

So here's what Matthew 11 verse 27 is saying. No one can know God the Father unless Jesus Christ reveals Him. No one can know God the Son unless God the Father reveals Him. Now the Greek word for reveal there is apokaluptō.

It literally means to uncover, to lay open that which has been veiled or covered up. It means to disclose. It means to make known, to make manifest or to reveal. So he is saying that no man can know the Son except the Father disclose Him, or uncovers or unveils him so that they can see. And our Lord says, no man can know the Father unless he unveils the Father to him. So if the only way that a man can savingly know the Father is the Son reveals him, and the only way anyone can savingly know the Son is the Father reveals him, then salvation absolutely has to be a work of God alone, because only God can do the unveiling or the uncovering of Himself. Now, our Lord illustrates this point in John 5. I want you to turn there, John 5.

Illustration: Healing at Bethesda

Jesus healed one man out of many at the pool to demonstrate His sovereignty, quickening whom He will (John 5:21), showing He does as He pleases.

I'm going to show you this just momentarily. But in John 5, you have the healing of the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda. And you have to remember that the Bible says that around this pool and in the porches here lay a great multitude of impotent folk, sick, lame, halt, waiting for the moving of the water. And our Lord walks through this great multitude and singles out one man and heals him. The man had been lame for 38 years. Everyone knows that Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ is omnipotent. Jesus Christ could have healed absolutely everyone around that pool and in those porches at one time as easily as he could have healed the one man. But he did not. He only healed the one man. And by the way, the one man certainly did not deserve healing. Not only did he not deserve healing, he never asked for healing. He didn't even know who Jesus Christ was. Because Jesus Christ said, "Will thou be made whole?" Well, he said, "I have no man to help me. Well, the water's troubled."

"While I'm coming, someone else steps in ahead of me. I have no one." He never asked to be healed. He didn't even know who Jesus Christ was. Jesus Christ said, "Take up thy bed and walk." And he did. So here's my question. Why did Jesus Christ single out one man and heal him out of the entire multitude when he could have healed all just as easily? Here's the answer.

Look in John 5 and verse 21. John 5 verse 21. Our Lord says,

Scripture Reading — John 5:21-23

"As the father raises up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth, here it is, whom He will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son."

Why? Why does the Son quicken whom He will? And why has the Father committed all judgment to the Son? Here's why, verse 23:

Scripture Reading — John 5:21-23

"That all men should honor the Son even as, that is equally, as they honor the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which has sent me."

So Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. What is the one attribute that singles God out as God? That is His sovereignty. He does as He pleases, only as He pleases, always as He pleases. So as the Father quickeneth whom He will, even so the Son quickens whom He will. So our Lord, in a demonstration of His absolute sovereignty, walks through the multitude, heals one man, and he demonstrates that he is God.

God's Sovereignty in Illumination

Just as God is sovereign in salvation, He is sovereign in illumination—opening understanding to His already-revealed Word; revelation has ceased, but illumination continues.

Now, I want you to listen to me carefully. If you understand that God is sovereign in salvation, you must also understand that God is sovereign in everything else. Which brings me to this point. The same God that is sovereign in salvation is equally sovereign in illumination. You know what illumination is? Illumination is the act or the work or the ministry of God, the Holy Spirit, whereby he opens our eyes. He opens our understanding that we may comprehend, that we may grasp the truth that has been revealed in the word.

Now, let me make a distinction for you, and what I'm about to tell you is very important. And it will make a difference if you understand it. There is no more revelation. God is not revealing truth today. Many times Christians use the word wrongly. They will say, "Well, let me tell you what God revealed to me." No, God did not reveal anything to you. He may have opened your eyes to understand His divine revelation, but He did not reveal anything to you. And why am I saying that revelation is ceased? Because we have the full, final, and complete revelation of God in the living Word, Jesus Christ, and in the written Word, His Bible.

Now, I want you to stop and think about this. Here's what revelation is. Revelation is the act of God whereby God has revealed truth never known before to the human mind. Here's a wonderful example. Who wrote the first five books of the Bible? Moses. Well, let's look at Genesis 1 through 4, or even Genesis 1-12. How did Moses know what happened at creation? He wasn't there. How did Moses know what happened between Adam and Eve? He wasn't there. How did Moses know what happened when Cain killed Abel? How did Moses know the call of God to Abraham and what happened there? And the answer is, God revealed it to Moses. Revelation is the act of God whereby God reveals truth never known before to the human mind.

Inspiration now comes along and superintends that revelation and makes sure that it's written down accurately and truthfully. So revelation, then, is the act of God whereby God reveals truth never known before to the human mind. Now, how can I say that revelation is ceased? And the answer is because that's what the Bible teaches. I want you to look in John chapter 1 and verses 17 and 18. Here's a verse or two verses that are very simple. Look in John 1:17 and 18. The Bible says, "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man had seen God at any time."

Scripture Reading — John 1:17-18

"The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him,"

or he hath revealed Him. Now,

Scripture Reading — John 1:17-18

"for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."

Do you mean to tell me there was no grace in the Old Testament? Well, of course there was. The Bible says Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Anyone saved in the Old Testament was saved by grace. Is the Old Testament truth? Well, of course it's truth. Everything that God revealed is truth. How then can we say in John 1:17,

Scripture Reading — John 1:17-18

"for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ"

? Because Jesus Christ is the fullness, the completeness, the apex, the highest part of grace and truth. There is nothing above or beyond Jesus Christ. He is the fullness. He is the completeness. He is God in the flesh. There is no further revelation beyond Jesus Christ.

If you will turn in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews 1. And look, if you would please, at verse 1. Hebrews 1. And beginning there with verse 1. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1. Look what the Bible says. "God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets." How did God speak to the prophets? Sometimes in dreams, sometimes in trances. So God spoke in different ways in the Old Testament. Watch in verse 2.

"But God hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, who is the appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds, who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high." So God, in the Old Testament and in the writing of the New Testament, spoke many different ways.

The Ministry of the Holy Spirit as Illuminator

The Spirit guides into truth (John 16:13) and opens understanding (Luke 24:45); believers need continual illumination, and God does not give the same truth to all equally.

This now is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. I want you to look in your Bibles to John 15. John 15, and let's begin reading there with verse 26. Look what the Scripture says. John 15 and verse 26. Our Lord says,

Scripture Reading — John 15:26; 16:12-15

"But when the Comforter is come, the Holy Spirit, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceeded from the Father, He shall testify of me."

Now skip down to John 16 and verse 12. Our Lord tells His disciples,

Scripture Reading — John 15:26; 16:12-15

"I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are Mine. Therefore said I that He shall take of Mine and shall show it unto you."

So it is the ministry of the Holy Spirit then to illuminate, to enlighten, to give us understanding of that truth that has been revealed. So let me say this again. When you see something in the Bible, and you get so excited, and you say, "God just revealed this to me." No. God just opened your eyes so that you could see what He had already revealed. Okay? That is illumination. That is enlightenment.

Now, I want you to go back to Luke 24. I want you to see what our Lord said and did for His disciples. Look at Luke chapter 24. And notice verses 44 and 45. Now, we're talking about His disciples. Luke 24, verse 44. Watch carefully. Luke 24, verse 44. "And He said unto them, 'These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me.'"

"Then opened He their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures." Now, the Scriptures are the revelation. The opening of the eyes, or the opening of the understanding, is illumination. So, what God does is He illuminates our mind so that we can understand the divinely revealed Word of God. Now, you remember, and I want you to look back, please, to our text. Look in Luke 24 at verses 14 and 15. We're talking about the two on the Emmaus Road, verse 14,

Scripture Reading — Luke 24:14-15, 31

"And they talked together of all these things which had happened,"

verse 15,

Scripture Reading — Luke 24:14-15, 31

"And it came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them, but their eyes were holden that they should not know Him."

Now, that means their eyes were powerfully closed. They did not recognize Jesus Christ. But, skip down to verse 31, "And their eyes were opened and they knew Him and He vanished out of their sight." So verse 31 is analogous then to verses 44 and 45 where God opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. Here He opened their eyes and they saw Him, they knew Him.

So here again, let me say it, the revelation is the Bible. Our understanding it is illumination. Let me read something to you by Matthew Henry. Matthew Henry said this, talking about Luke 24, the two disciples on the Emmaus Road: "In his discourse with the two disciples, he took the veil from off the text by opening the scriptures. Here he took the veil from off the heart by opening the mind. The design of opening the understanding is that we may understand the scriptures." "Now listen, not that we may be wise above that which is written, but that we may be wiser in that is written and may be made wise unto salvation by it. The spirit in the word and the spirit in the heart say the same thing. Christ's scholars never learn above their Bibles in this world, but they need to be still learning more and more out of their Bibles and to grow more ready and mighty in the Scriptures. That we may have right thoughts of Christ and have our mistakes concerning Him rectified, there needs no more than to be made to understand the Scriptures." He says we do not grow above the Bible. We don't outgrow the Bible. There's nothing beyond the Bible. We must understand what is in the Bible. And the way to understand is through the illuminating work and ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Now, let me show you something. By nature, we do not see. By nature, we do not hear. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 14, talk about the unsaved man:

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 2:14

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God."

Now notice that.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 2:14

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

So an unsaved man has no receptors. He has no capacity to understand the things of God.

Even when we are converted, we're still fleshly. We still have to have our eyes opened. If our Lord had to open the understandings of His disciples who walked with Him for three years, I would think he would really need to have to open our understandings as well. We have to have illumination. Job said it like this in Job 34:23: "That which I see not, teach thou me." That which I see not, teach thou me. David said it like this in Psalm 119:18: "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." In other words, God must open our eyes. That was quite a prayer for David since David wrote most of the Psalms. "Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law."

Now, let me show you what I'm trying to present to you today. If you understand that God is sovereign in salvation, you also have to understand that God is sovereign in illumination. God does not give the same truth to all the people, nor does he give the same amount of truth to people, nor does he give that truth at the same time. You know, I've had people say, "I would to God I'd understood this 20 years ago." You understand that sentiment, but you wouldn't listen 20 years ago. You wouldn't hear 20 years ago. That is why there is a difference in the understanding and the spiritual level of people. You have to understand that God is sovereign in illumination. There are certain people that will understand certain truths and other people that will not understand those truths. There are people that will hear and there are people that will not hear.

Spiritual Immaturity Limits Reception of Truth

Some Christians are unable to bear deeper truth because they are carnal babes needing milk (1 Corinthians 3:1-3; Hebrews 5:11-14); Jesus spoke as they were able to hear.

And let me make a statement. I'm going to show it to you from the Bible. There are Christians that are not able to hear the truth. Look in your Bibles to the book of Mark chapter 4. Mark chapter 4. And look, if you would please, at verse 33. Mark 4, verse 33. Here's an amazing statement. Mark 4, watch verse 33. The Bible said, "And when many such parables spake he the word unto them as they were able to hear it." He spake as they were able to hear it.

Let me ask you a question. Why is it when you get around a little baby, you'll want to tickle his chin and say, "kitchy, kitchy, koo," or something like that? Or you kind of, you know, make little sounds over that baby? You don't ever look at that little baby and say, "Now today, I'm going to be talking about dichotomy and trichotomy. And I'm going to explain the difference to you between supralapsarianism and infralapsarianism, and so I want you to listen carefully." Why? Because the baby's not going to understand a word that you're saying like that. Let me show you. Look in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3.

And let's begin reading there with verse 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 1. Look what Paul had to say to these Corinthian Christians. Here it is. He said,

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 3:1-3

"And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and not with meat. For hitherto you were not able to bear it,"

or to hear it, or to have it, or to eat it.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 3:1-3

"Neither yet now are you able. For you are yet carnal, for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, or fleshly, and walk as men?"

Paul said, "I couldn't speak to you in spiritual terms. I could not talk about theological concepts."

"Because you're nothing but a baby. You won't take meat. You don't take a T-bone steak and feed it to a two-month-old baby. You just don't do it. The baby has to have milk." And that's what Paul is... "You're not able to bear it." Our Lord spake truth as they were able to hear it. Wow. You are not able to hear more truth until you obey the truth that you've already heard. Why would God give us more truth if we're not going to obey the truth that is already given to us? The truth of the matter is, obedience is the very first fundamental, basic, foundation of every child, physically or spiritually. The child that will not obey will never learn and will never mature, at least intellectually and morally.

And it's the same thing true when it comes to spiritual things. I want you to turn to the book of Hebrews chapter 5. See what the author of the book of Hebrews says. And it is exactly the same thing. So let's look in Hebrews chapter 5, beginning there with verse 10. Hebrews chapter 5, verse 10. In fact, he's talking about the Melchizedek priesthood of Jesus Christ. He says, "called of God and high priest after the order of Melchizedek." Now look what he says in verse 11. "Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, no words are deep, they are theological things, seeing you are dull of hearing."

"For when the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk, and not strong meat. For everyone that useth milk, is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But strong meat belong to them that are full of age, even those who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." So, the apostle here says, "I can't teach you anything about the Melchizedek priesthood of Christ. You're dull of hearing. You're a baby. I can't give you meat. You have to have milk. You're not able to bear it. You're not able to hear it." And truth is only spoken as people are able to hear.

Practical Implications: Patience and Thankfulness

Recognizing God's sovereignty in illumination should make believers patient, gentle, and thankful rather than bitter when others do not see truth, since only God opens eyes (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

Now, I want you to ask yourself this question. Why is it some Christians understand a lot of truth and others understand hardly any truth except the fact that Jesus Christ is the Savior and their salvation is wrapped up in Him? Stop and think about this. Why? I'm trying to give you a divine side answer today. You're going to see that the human side and the divine side are intertwined as we go, because we do have Christian responsibilities. OK? But the fact is, God is sovereign in illumination. He does not reveal the same truth to everybody. Nor does he reveal the same truth at the same time to everyone. If he did, everybody would have the same understanding. But not everybody has the same understanding.

Now, let me try to put things in perspective for you. I want you to think with me. Here's my application. You have to understand that God is sovereign in illumination. Let's pretend just for a moment that I happen to be the best preacher in the entire world. I'm the best teacher. I have the best communicating skills imaginable. I have the best oratory. I know the best illustrations. So I could be the best preacher, the best teacher with the best communication skills. I could have the greatest oratory. I could have the greatest illustrations.

And the truth of the matter is, no matter how great, no matter how good, no matter how thorough I am, if God doesn't open your eyes, you're never going to see the truth. It's not in man, it's in God. If God withholds you from seeing truth, and you say, "Well, God wouldn't do that." Oh, yes, He will. And yes, He does. And I will show you before I'm through with this series. If God withholds you from seeing truth, there's nothing I can do to open your mind. The only thing I can do is be patient with you. Let me show you. Turn in your Bibles to 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 2, 2 Timothy chapter 2, and let's begin reading there with verse 24. 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 24. Watch carefully. "And the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient." The servant of the Lord.

the preacher, the teacher, the pastor, the elder. "The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle to all men, apt to teach, patient, watch, in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves, if God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will." So you can ask it like this. When do men recover themselves out of the snare of the devil? The answer is when they acknowledge the truth. When do men acknowledge the truth? When God gives them repentance. When God opens their eyes, when God turns them, when they see. I can't make anybody see. I can't make anybody turn. So God tells me in verse 24, I'm to be patient in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves. My responsibility is to teach. It is God's prerogative to open the eyes and give understanding and give repentance and turn them to the truth.

So, here's the thing Christians, listen carefully. If I grasp this truth, that God is sovereign in illumination, and that my responsibility is to patiently teach the truth, it should make me more kind, more tender, and more patient with those who do not see the truth. Because only God can open the eyes. I should not abuse them. I should not reject them. I should not despise them. I should not make fun of them. If I understand this, it should make me more pitiful toward them and more thankful that God has opened my eyes. So we cannot make men see. We cannot do the work of the Holy Spirit. We may pray, we may teach, we may witness, yet we must wait upon Him to open the eyes and the understanding. We cannot become bitter and hateful and resentful toward each other because you don't see what I see. Or I don't see what you see. If we understand that God is sovereign in illumination, it should lead us to be able to agree to disagree and still be kind and loving to each other and helpful to each other.

It should also make us more thankful for that which we do see. Let me show you something else. I want you to look in your Bibles to Matthew 13. Matthew 13. Look, if you would, please, Matthew 13. Matthew 13, verses 10 and 11. You ought to really concentrate on this passage. Matthew 13, verse 10. "And the disciples came and said unto him, 'Why speakest thou unto them in parables?'"

Conclusion: All Understanding Is a Gift

Every doctrine we grasp is a gift from God, who sovereignly opens minds; this should produce humility and gratitude, not pride or strife.

"He answered and said unto them, 'Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.'" Now wait a minute. Why are you speaking in parables? We understand them, Lord, but some do not. Because it is given to you to understand. Understanding is the gift of God. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in illuminating and enlightening our minds that we may see truth. Others are not given the truth.

Let me put it to you plainly. Every doctrine that you and I know and understand and love, every truth that we see and hold dear was a gift from God. God opened our eyes. He let us see it. He allowed us to embrace it and to believe it and to apply it. God does not give the same truth to everyone, nor does he give the same amount of truth to everyone, nor does he give this truth at the same time. "Who maketh thee to differ one from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? And have you received it? Why do you boast that you have not received it?" Everything that we have, everything that we know, God gave us. God sovereignly allowed our minds to be open so that we could understand his divine revelation. He illuminated us and gave us truth. It ought to make us more thankful when we understand that everything we have was given to us. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee this day.

We thank you for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. We thank You, Father, for Your full, final, and complete revelation in Jesus Christ. And Your full, final, and complete revelation in the Word of God. We bow to it. And we ask You, Father, to be pleased to illuminate our minds. Enlighten us that we might understand and comprehend Thy divine and revealed truth, that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Divine Sovereignty in Salvation and Illumination

Summary: God is absolutely sovereign, controlling all things, including who is saved and who understands spiritual truth; illumination is a sovereign act of the Holy Spirit.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'If you understand that God is sovereign in salvation, you must also understand that God is sovereign in illumination.' He cites Matthew 11:27, John 5:21, and 1 Corinthians 4:7.

The Necessity of Division Caused by Christ

Summary: Jesus Christ is the great divider, separating the righteous from the wicked, and this division is biblically mandated and unavoidable.

Evidence: Weaver reads Luke 12:49-53 where Jesus says He came to bring division, and references John 7:43, 9:16, 10:19.

The Problem of Strife Among Believers

Summary: Despite Christ's prayer for unity, Christians often exhibit division, lack of compassion, and even hatred over minor doctrinal differences.

Evidence: Weaver expresses dismay at pastors who cannot get along over issues like eschatology or baptism, and notes the prayer in John 17 for oneness.

Spiritual Immaturity Hinders Reception of Truth

Summary: Many Christians remain carnal babes, unable to digest deeper truths, which explains varying levels of understanding among believers.

Evidence: Weaver cites 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 and Hebrews 5:11-14, where Paul and the author of Hebrews rebuke believers for being dull of hearing and needing milk.

Patience and Meekness in Teaching

Summary: Because only God can open eyes, believers must instruct opponents with patience and gentleness, not strife, trusting God to grant repentance.

Evidence: Weaver expounds 2 Timothy 2:24-26, emphasizing the servant of the Lord must not strive but be patient, instructing in meekness.

Thankfulness for Revealed Truth

Summary: Recognizing that all understanding is a gift from God should produce humility and gratitude rather than pride or resentment toward those who disagree.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Every doctrine that you and I know and understand and love... was a gift from God,' and references 1 Corinthians 4:7.

Key Arguments

God's sovereignty extends to who understands truth

Summary: Just as God sovereignly chooses whom to save, He sovereignly chooses whom to illuminate, giving different measures of understanding at different times.

Evidence: Weaver argues from Matthew 13:11, 'Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries... but to them it is not given,' and states God does not give the same truth to all.

Revelation has ceased; illumination continues

Summary: God's full revelation is complete in Christ and Scripture; the Spirit's ongoing work is to illuminate what has already been revealed, not to give new revelation.

Evidence: Weaver distinguishes revelation (truth never known before) from illumination (opening understanding), citing Hebrews 1:1-2 and John 1:17-18.

Spiritual maturity determines capacity for truth

Summary: Believers who are carnal and disobedient cannot bear deeper doctrines; God withholds further light until they obey what they already know.

Evidence: Weaver notes Jesus spoke 'as they were able to hear it' (Mark 4:33) and Paul fed Corinthians milk because they were not able to bear meat (1 Corinthians 3:1-2).

Human responsibility is to teach patiently, not to open eyes

Summary: Preachers and teachers must instruct with gentleness and patience, leaving the work of opening minds entirely to God, avoiding strife and bitterness.

Evidence: Weaver cites 2 Timothy 2:24-26, emphasizing 'the servant of the Lord must not strive' and that repentance is granted by God.

Disagreement should not lead to personal animosity

Summary: Understanding divine sovereignty in illumination should free believers to agree to disagree without resentment, since only God can change minds.

Evidence: Weaver shares his personal practice: 'I can agree to disagree. I'm just not going to fuss. I'm not going to fight with them.'

Scripture References

Luke 24:15-16

Context: Introduction to the Emmaus road disciples whose eyes were holden, illustrating divine control over recognition.

Luke 12:49-53

Context: Jesus declares He came to bring division, not peace, even within families.

John 7:43

Context: Division among the people because of Jesus.

John 9:16

Context: Division among the Pharisees over Jesus' healing on the Sabbath.

John 10:19

Context: Division among the Jews over Jesus' sayings.

Genesis 3:15

Context: The Protevangelium: God puts enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.

Titus 3:10-11

Context: Command to reject a heretic after first and second admonition.

John 17:20-24

Context: Jesus' high priestly prayer for unity among all believers.

Matthew 11:27

Context: No one knows the Son except the Father reveals Him, and no one knows the Father except the Son reveals Him.

John 5:21-23

Context: The Son quickens whom He will, demonstrating divine sovereignty in healing the impotent man.

1 Corinthians 4:7

Context: Who makes you to differ? What do you have that you did not receive? Why boast?

John 1:17-18

Context: Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ; He has declared the Father, the full revelation.

Hebrews 1:1-2

Context: God spoke in times past by prophets, but in these last days by His Son, the final revelation.

John 15:26; 16:12-15

Context: The Holy Spirit will guide into all truth, illuminating what Christ has revealed.

Luke 24:44-45

Context: Jesus opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures.

Luke 24:14-15, 31

Context: The disciples' eyes were holden then opened, illustrating illumination.

1 Corinthians 2:14

Context: The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit; they are spiritually discerned.

Mark 4:33

Context: Jesus spoke the word as they were able to hear it.

1 Corinthians 3:1-3

Context: Paul could not speak to Corinthians as spiritual but as carnal babes, feeding them milk.

Hebrews 5:10-14

Context: Believers dull of hearing need milk, not strong meat; mature have senses exercised.

Historical References

Rodney King and the 1992 Los Angeles riots

Context: Weaver references Rodney King's 1992 plea 'Can we all just get along?' after the acquittal of officers in his beating sparked riots causing 50 deaths and $2 billion in damage.

John Gill (1697-1771), Baptist expositor

Context: Weaver quotes Gill's commentary on John 17, suggesting the unity prayed for may refer to the last day when all saints see eye to eye.

Matthew Henry (1662-1714), commentator

Context: Weaver quotes Henry on Luke 24: Christ took the veil off the text by opening Scriptures and off the heart by opening the mind.

Important Quotes

I have come to send fire on the earth, and what will I if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straightened till it is accomplished? Suppose you that I come to give peace on earth, I tell you nay, but rather division.

Significance: Jesus' own words establishing that He is the great divider, a foundational point for the message.

God does not give the same truth to all the people, nor does he give the same amount of truth to people, nor does he give that truth at the same time.

Significance: Explains why Christians have differing levels of understanding, a key to patience with others.

Every doctrine that you and I know and understand and love, every truth that we see and hold dear was a gift from God.

Significance: Cultivates humility and thankfulness, countering pride in one's own understanding.

Discussion Questions

How does understanding Jesus as 'the great divider' help us accept necessary divisions while still pursuing peace?

Context: Weaver emphasizes that Christ came to bring division between righteousness and wickedness, which is unavoidable.

In what ways might we be guilty of causing strife over minor doctrinal differences rather than showing patience?

Context: Weaver laments pastors who cannot get along over issues like eschatology or baptism.

How does the distinction between revelation and illumination affect the way we approach Scripture and share truth with others?

Context: Weaver argues revelation has ceased; the Spirit now illuminates the completed Word.

Why is it dangerous to claim God is giving new revelation today, according to Weaver?

Context: Weaver says such claims imply something beyond Christ and Scripture, which is blasphemy.

How can recognizing that God sovereignly withholds or grants understanding change our attitude toward those who disagree with us?

Context: Weaver teaches that only God opens eyes, so we should be patient and not bitter.

What does it mean to be 'dull of hearing' spiritually, and how can we avoid that condition?

Context: Weaver cites Hebrews 5:11, where believers were unable to receive deeper truth due to immaturity.

How does 1 Corinthians 4:7 ('Who maketh thee to differ?') challenge pride in our theological knowledge?

Context: Weaver uses this verse to show that all understanding is a gift, eliminating grounds for boasting.

Applications

Cultivate patience and gentleness with those who do not see truth as you do

Summary: Since only God can open eyes, believers must instruct opponents with meekness, not strife, trusting God to grant repentance.

Evidence: Weaver expounds 2 Timothy 2:24-26 and states, 'I should not abuse them. I should not reject them. I should not despise them.'

Agree to disagree without personal animosity

Summary: Weaver models a commitment to not fight or hold bitterness over doctrinal differences, recognizing that only God can change minds.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'I can agree to disagree. I'm just not going to fuss. I'm not going to fight with them.'

Examine your own life to ensure you are not a source of division

Summary: Listeners are urged to self-reflect and make sure they are not causing strife among believers.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'I want you to make sure that you examine your life so that you can see and make sure that you are not a source of any division or strife.'

Be thankful for the truth God has revealed to you

Summary: Recognizing that all understanding is a gift should produce humility and gratitude rather than pride.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'It ought to make us more thankful when we understand that everything we have was given to us.'

Do not hold bitterness, remembering Christ's forgiveness of your greater sins

Summary: Weaver argues that since Christ forgave our far greater wrongs against Him, we should not hold resentment against others.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'My wrongs to Christ are far greater than any wrongs that anyone has ever done to me.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T14:24:03Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T02:49:23Z

Clean Transcript

Can We All Just Get Along? - Part 1 of 4

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Luke 24. And we're just going to start out by reading verses 15 and 16. Luke 24. This is the first part of a four-part message. The title of the message, all four parts, is "Can We All Just Get Along?" If you'll look in Luke 24, verses 15 and 16, talking about the two men on the Emmaus road, "And it came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near with them and went with them, and their eyes were holden that they should not know him." Note, if you would, "their eyes were holden that they should not know him." Many will recognize the source of the title of this message. "Can we all just get along?"
#1 | 0:13 to 1:13 | cleaned
The words were spoken by Rodney King, the black motorist that was arrested and beaten by four white officers from the Los Angeles Police Department in 1991. Riots broke out after the four officers were acquitted in the spring of 1992. The five days of rioting left 50 dead, over 2,000 wounded, and the riots cost the city of Los Angeles over $2 billion. So, in appealing for common peace, on May 1, 1992, Rodney King asked, "Can we all just get along?"
#2 | 1:14 to 2:04 | cleaned
I was talking to a Christian friend recently, and he was dismayed at the friction and division that exists between Christians. He expressed dismay particularly at the fact that a lot of Christians just simply cannot get along with each other. Understandably, we cannot get along with the wicked. We cannot get along with anyone who is going to deny the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ or the inspiration and authority of the Bible. We're not going to get along with anyone who's going to deny the fundamentals of faith. And the truth of the matter is, this division was caused by Jesus Christ.
#3 | 2:07 to 2:54 | cleaned
He is indeed the great divider. If you look back in Luke chapter 12, and let's begin reading there with verse 49, you will see what our Lord Himself said concerning this. Luke chapter 12 and verse 49, we'll read through verse 53. Luke 12, verse 49, our Lord says, "I have come to send fire on the earth, and what will I if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straightened till it is accomplished? Suppose you that I come to give peace on earth, I tell you nay, but rather division."
#4 | 2:54 to 3:32 | cleaned
"For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, the son against the father, and the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." So notice if you would, our Lord is talking about the fact that He is indeed the great divider.
#5 | 3:33 to 3:57 | cleaned
When you get to John 7 and verse 43, the Bible says, "So there was a division among the people because of Him." When you get to the book of John chapter 9 and verse 16, "Therefore said the Pharisees, 'This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day.' Others said, 'How can a sinner do such miracles?' So there was a division among them." Every time you read in the Scripture, you will find a division based upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. In John 10 and verse 19 again, "There was a division among them, among the Jews, for this saying." So Jesus Christ is indeed the great divider.
#6 | 3:58 to 4:46 | cleaned
He divides the sheep from the goats. He divides the wheat from the tares. He divides the righteous from the wicked. And you're going to find we will either be separated unto Him or separated from Him. So obviously, He's indeed the great divider. We understand that there is a division between the righteous and the wicked. There is also a division between what you and I would call the seed of the godly and the seed of the wicked one.
#7 | 4:46 to 5:20 | cleaned
In the Protevangelium, which is found in Genesis 3:15, it is when God was cursing the serpent that he said this, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." So here was a warfare that was started between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. And that warfare not only began then, but it has continued, and consequently, when you get to Genesis chapter 4, you see where Cain murders Abel. And so there is indeed a warfare that exists between the righteous and the wicked. So it is a war that exists between the progeny of the seed of the woman, which, of course, refers to Jesus Christ, because he was born of the virgin, and the seed of the serpent. We grasp that reality. We can also grasp the reality that there is a division, not just between the righteous and the wicked, but between the righteous and those whom we would deem absolutely heretical.
#8 | 5:20 to 6:33 | cleaned
For instance, in Titus chapter 3, verses 10 and 11, the Bible says, "A man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject; knowing that such an one is subverted and sinneth and condemneth himself." So God says a man who refuses to listen, who refuses to heed, who will not obey the word of God after the first and second admonition, just reject him because he is condemned.
#9 | 6:34 to 7:11 | cleaned
Now we have no problem grasping the division between the righteous and the wicked, and we have no problem grasping the division between the righteous and the heretics. But that which concerns many people, and it should rightly concern us, is the divisions and the lack of compassion that occurs between Christians. So you have to ask, why is it that seemingly those who belong to Jesus Christ at many times are at variance with each other? They are divided. They cannot get along. They show absolutely no compassion. And there is strife and division and sometimes what you and I would call just outright hatred. So why is that?
#10 | 7:11 to 8:07 | cleaned
It is true that our Lord prayed that we might be one. If you would look in your Bibles very quickly to John 17. This is our Lord's high priestly prayer. Or at least part of it I'm going to read in verses 21 through 24. John 17. Listen to what He prayed and what He asked for in this prayer. And of course we know that this prayer is going to be answered.
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So I want you to watch it. John 17 verse 21. Our Lord is—well, let's go to verse 20. He says, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also that shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that Thou hast sent me and hast loved them as Thou hast loved me. Father, I will also, whom Thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which Thou hast given me, for Thou lovest me before the foundation of the world." Now, when you look at this prayer, you ask, well, why in the world cannot we be one since Jesus Christ prayed for this?
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And the truth of the matter is we are going to be one ultimately. There is certainly no perfection in this life. But let me give you a quote from John Gill. John Gill was a great Baptist expositor. And here's what he said on this passage: "This may regard their unity in the faith and in the knowledge of Christ, for there is but one faith which all truly experienced souls agree in, and they are converted by the same Spirit, and have the same work of grace wrought in them, and though they have not the same degree of light and measure of spiritual knowledge, yet they agree in the main point of the gospel, salvation alone by the Lord Jesus Christ."
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"And such an agreement in the doctrine of faith and the grand articles of it respecting the person and offices of Christ is absolutely necessary to their comfortably walking together in church fellowship and the more honorable carrying on the worship of God together and which will be more made manifest in the latter days when saints shall see eye to eye. Likewise, a unity in affection may be here designed, of being knit together in love to each other, which is the bond of perfectness, the evidence of regeneration, the badge of the Christian profession, the beauty of church communion, and the barrier and security from the common enemy, and without which social worship and mutual service will either be neglected or coldly performed. Moreover, this petition may have respect to the gathering together of all the saints at the last day, as one body united together in faith and love, as one General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, as one fold of Christ, who is the Head, the Savior, and the Shepherd."
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So Gill is saying that yes, this could refer to a oneness in doctrine, it is that. But he said it's probably referring more to the last day, when everybody's going to see eye to eye, then everybody's going to understand everything. So, I don't think anyone believes that there is going to be perfection in this life, in any shape, form, or fashion. We may have a glimmer of what you and I would call the perfection in our mutual love for each other, in our worship of each other, in our coming together in Jesus Christ, but yet in spite of the mutual love, in spite of worshiping together a church, there are divisions. There are differences. Some of these differences are major.
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Some of them are minor. And some of these divisions even occur outside of the church. One of the things that has troubled me for many years, and has bothered me, is that there are many pastors that cannot even get along with each other. You know, they disagree on some minor issue. It might be eschatology. It may be baptism. It may be something else. They may believe together and they believe all the other basic fundamental principles, yet they'll differ on this. And the next thing you know, they're at each other's throat and they're just basically creating strife and division.
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So you have to ask this question. Why, then, will one Christian attack another Christian? Why are there variances of faith, when variances in the same faith and sometimes in the same faith and practice?
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Now, there are answers to these questions and I'm going to attempt to give you some of these answers. And as I give you some of these answers, I want you to make sure that you examine your life so that you can see and make sure that you are not a source of any division or strife. I will tell you my perspective. And I will tell you what I've told people all through the years. I've often said to brethren who disagree with me, or if I disagree with them, that if there's ever a division, if there's ever strife, if there is ever animosity or resentment, it's going to be on their part and not mine. Because I'm just not going to be angry with them. I can agree to disagree. I'm just not going to fuss. I'm not going to fight with them. I'm more than willing to teach them. I'm more than willing to help them. But I'm not going to fight with them. Now, you're going to ask me, well, have you ever been wrong?
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And the answer is yes. I've been wronged by preachers, by pastors, by men that I count my friends. Have I ever been hurt? And the answer is yes. But I am not going to hold bitterness and resentment and anger and ill will. When I stop and think of the wrongs that have been done to me, I have to think of the wrongs that I did to Jesus Christ. And my wrongs to Christ are far greater than any wrongs that anyone has ever done to me. And if Jesus Christ forgave me, and does not hold bitterness and ill will and resentment against me for sinning against him, well, why should I hold bitterness and resentment and ill will against someone who sins against me? It's just that simple. So I'm just saying my position is I'm not going to argue. I'm not going to bicker. I'm not going to fuss. I'm not going to fight.
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I can agree to disagree. I can still work with you. I can still help you. But you have to understand that when we begin to answer these questions, why are there so many divisions? Why so much strife going on? There is a divine side and there is a human side. I'm going to give you the divine side today. In the next three messages, I'm going to develop what you and I would call the human side or Christian responsibility. So today I'm going to show you God's sovereignty. And you're going to see that God's sovereignty and man's responsibility, Christian responsibility, are intertwined and they go together. So a few of the scriptures I'm going to show you today I'm going to be actually building upon just a little bit later just to demonstrate what I'm trying to say. So let's begin by looking at the divine side today. You're going to understand as you read the scripture that God's sovereignty runs through everything. Sovereignty is absolute.
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Every Christian, if he believes the Bible, has to acknowledge that God is absolutely sovereign. Not only does the Bible teach that, but when you stop and think about this, God has to be absolutely sovereign. He has to control absolutely everything. Because if there's anything outside of and beyond God's sovereign control, then God's not God. Whatever God can't control or doesn't control would be God. So we have to confess and we have to acknowledge that God is sovereign. There's no two ways around it. Now, we also acknowledge that God is sovereign in salvation. Salvation is the work of God alone.
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Man cannot save himself, and man cannot help save himself. Salvation is the work of God. In fact, the Bible teaches us that in one sense of the word, that salvation is a sovereign revelation. I'll explain what I mean by that. In Matthew 11, verse 27, here's what our Lord said. Matthew 11, verse 27: "All things are delivered unto me of my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, but the Father, and He to whomsoever He revealed Him. Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and He to whomsoever He revealed Him." So here's what Matthew 11 verse 27 is saying. No one can know God the Father unless Jesus Christ reveals Him. No one can know God the Son unless God the Father reveals Him. Now the Greek word for reveal there is apokaluptō.
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It literally means to uncover, to lay open that which has been veiled or covered up. It means to disclose. It means to make known, to make manifest or to reveal. So he is saying that no man can know the Son except the Father disclose Him, or uncovers or unveils him so that they can see. And our Lord says, no man can know the Father unless he unveils the Father to him. So if the only way that a man can savingly know the Father is the Son reveals him, and the only way anyone can savingly know the Son is the Father reveals him, then salvation absolutely has to be a work of God alone, because only God can do the unveiling or the uncovering of Himself. Now, our Lord illustrates this point in John 5. I want you to turn there, John 5.
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I'm going to show you this just momentarily. But in John 5, you have the healing of the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda. And you have to remember that the Bible says that around this pool and in the porches here lay a great multitude of impotent folk, sick, lame, halt, waiting for the moving of the water. And our Lord walks through this great multitude and singles out one man and heals him. The man had been lame for 38 years.
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Everyone knows that Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ is omnipotent. Jesus Christ could have healed absolutely everyone around that pool and in those porches at one time as easily as he could have healed the one man. But he did not. He only healed the one man. And by the way, the one man certainly did not deserve healing. Not only did he not deserve healing, he never asked for healing. He didn't even know who Jesus Christ was. Because Jesus Christ said, "Will thou be made whole?" Well, he said, "I have no man to help me. Well, the water's troubled."
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"While I'm coming, someone else steps in ahead of me. I have no one." He never asked to be healed. He didn't even know who Jesus Christ was. Jesus Christ said, "Take up thy bed and walk." And he did. So here's my question. Why did Jesus Christ single out one man and heal him out of the entire multitude when he could have healed all just as easily? Here's the answer.
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Look in John 5 and verse 21. John 5 verse 21. Our Lord says, "As the father raises up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth, here it is, whom He will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." Why? Why does the Son quicken whom He will? And why has the Father committed all judgment to the Son? Here's why, verse 23: "That all men should honor the Son even as, that is equally, as they honor the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which has sent me."
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So Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. What is the one attribute that singles God out as God? That is His sovereignty. He does as He pleases, only as He pleases, always as He pleases. So as the Father quickeneth whom He will, even so the Son quickens whom He will. So our Lord, in a demonstration of His absolute sovereignty, walks through the multitude, heals one man, and he demonstrates that he is God.
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Now, the Apostle Paul goes farther and asks three questions concerning salvation, and those three questions again demonstrate that salvation is of the Lord. For instance, in 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 7, Paul asks this. Number one, "Who maketh thee to differ from another?" Why is it you're saved and others are not saved? Why do you know truth and others do not know truth? Why have you been made righteous when others have not been made righteous? "Who maketh thee to differ from another?"
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And the second question is this: "What hast thou that thou didst not receive?" Everything you have God gave you. And the third question is this: "If thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory or boast as if thou hadst not received it?" In other words, he's putting you on the spot. Who makes you different? What do you have that you have not been given? And if God gave you everything, why would you boast as if you had not received it from God? So you have to understand that everything that we have—faith, repentance, grace, mercy, love, goodness, compassion, kindness, and every other virtue of grace—is nothing more than a gift from God and comes from God alone. So the answer is, it is God who makes us to differ because God is the one who's given us all of his gifts.
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Now, I want you to listen to me carefully. If you understand that God is sovereign in salvation, you must also understand that God is sovereign in everything else. Which brings me to this point. The same God that is sovereign in salvation is equally sovereign in illumination. You know what illumination is? Illumination is the act or the work or the ministry of God, the Holy Spirit, whereby he opens our eyes. He opens our understanding that we may comprehend, that we may grasp the truth that has been revealed in the word.
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Now, let me make a distinction for you, and what I'm about to tell you is very important. And it will make a difference if you understand it. There is no more revelation. God is not revealing truth today. Many times Christians use the word wrongly. They will say, "Well, let me tell you what God revealed to me." No, God did not reveal anything to you. He may have opened your eyes to understand His divine revelation, but He did not reveal anything to you. And why am I saying that revelation is ceased? Because we have the full, final, and complete revelation of God in the living Word, Jesus Christ, and in the written Word, His Bible.
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Now, I want you to stop and think about this. Here's what revelation is. Revelation is the act of God whereby God has revealed truth never known before to the human mind. Here's a wonderful example. Who wrote the first five books of the Bible? Moses. Well, let's look at Genesis 1 through 4, or even Genesis 1-12. How did Moses know what happened at creation? He wasn't there. How did Moses know what happened between Adam and Eve? He wasn't there. How did Moses know what happened when Cain killed Abel? How did Moses know the call of God to Abraham and what happened there? And the answer is, God revealed it to Moses. Revelation is the act of God whereby God reveals truth never known before to the human mind.
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Inspiration now comes along and superintends that revelation and makes sure that it's written down accurately and truthfully. So revelation, then, is the act of God whereby God reveals truth never known before to the human mind. Now, how can I say that revelation is ceased? And the answer is because that's what the Bible teaches. I want you to look in John chapter 1 and verses 17 and 18. Here's a verse or two verses that are very simple. Look in John 1:17 and 18. The Bible says, "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man had seen God at any time."
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"The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him," or he hath revealed Him. Now, "for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." Do you mean to tell me there was no grace in the Old Testament? Well, of course there was. The Bible says Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Anyone saved in the Old Testament was saved by grace. Is the Old Testament truth? Well, of course it's truth. Everything that God revealed is truth. How then can we say in John 1:17, "for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ"? Because Jesus Christ is the fullness, the completeness, the apex, the highest part of grace and truth. There is nothing above or beyond Jesus Christ. He is the fullness. He is the completeness. He is God in the flesh. There is no further revelation beyond Jesus Christ.
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If you will turn in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews 1. And look, if you would please, at verse 1. Hebrews 1. And beginning there with verse 1. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1. Look what the Bible says. "God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets." How did God speak to the prophets? Sometimes in dreams, sometimes in trances. So God spoke in different ways in the Old Testament. Watch in verse 2.
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"But God hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, who is the appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds, who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high." So God, in the Old Testament and in the writing of the New Testament, spoke many different ways.
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When Jesus Christ came, Jesus Christ is the fullness and the completeness of divine revelation. Now listen to me. When someone contends for a continuing revelation, when someone says, "Well, God is revealing truth today," what they are saying is that there is something truth, there is something over and above and beyond Jesus Christ. They're saying He's not the full, final revelation of God. They're saying there's something over and above the Bible which is accurately described as blasphemy. Because Jesus Christ is the full and final revelation of God. So, God is not giving us any revelation today. We have the completed revelation. Now what God does, He illuminates. He enlightens. So, when you came into this room and the lights were off, it was dark. When you hit the switch and the lights came on, the room was illuminated so that you could see whatever was in this room.
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This now is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. I want you to look in your Bibles to John 15. John 15, and let's begin reading there with verse 26. Look what the Scripture says. John 15 and verse 26. Our Lord says, "But when the Comforter is come, the Holy Spirit, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceeded from the Father, He shall testify of me." Now skip down to John 16 and verse 12. Our Lord tells His disciples, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are Mine. Therefore said I that He shall take of Mine and shall show it unto you."
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So it is the ministry of the Holy Spirit then to illuminate, to enlighten, to give us understanding of that truth that has been revealed. So let me say this again. When you see something in the Bible, and you get so excited, and you say, "God just revealed this to me." No. God just opened your eyes so that you could see what He had already revealed. Okay? That is illumination. That is enlightenment.
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Now, I want you to go back to Luke 24. I want you to see what our Lord said and did for His disciples. Look at Luke chapter 24. And notice verses 44 and 45. Now, we're talking about His disciples. Luke 24, verse 44. Watch carefully. Luke 24, verse 44. "And He said unto them, 'These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me.'"
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"Then opened He their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures." Now, the Scriptures are the revelation. The opening of the eyes, or the opening of the understanding, is illumination. So, what God does is He illuminates our mind so that we can understand the divinely revealed Word of God.
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Now, you remember, and I want you to look back, please, to our text. Look in Luke 24 at verses 14 and 15. We're talking about the two on the Emmaus Road, verse 14, "And they talked together of all these things which had happened," verse 15, "And it came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them, but their eyes were
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holden that they should not know Him." Now, that means their eyes were powerfully closed. They did not recognize Jesus Christ. But, skip down to verse 31, "And their eyes were opened and they knew Him and He vanished out of their sight." So verse 31 is analogous then to verses 44 and 45 where God opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. Here He opened their eyes and they saw Him, they knew Him.
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So here again, let me say it, the revelation is the Bible. Our understanding it is illumination. Let me read something to you by Matthew Henry. Matthew Henry said this, talking about Luke 24, the two disciples on the Emmaus Road: "In his discourse with the two disciples, he took the veil from off the text by opening the scriptures. Here he took the veil from off the heart by opening the mind. The design of opening the understanding is that we may understand the scriptures."
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"Now listen, not that we may be wise above that which is written, but that we may be wiser in that is written and may be made wise unto salvation by it. The spirit in the word and the spirit in the heart say the same thing. Christ's scholars never learn above their Bibles in this world, but they need to be still learning more and more out of their Bibles and to grow more ready and mighty in the Scriptures. That we may have right thoughts of Christ and have our mistakes concerning Him rectified, there needs no more than to be made to understand the Scriptures." He says we do not grow above the Bible. We don't outgrow the Bible. There's nothing beyond the Bible. We must understand what is in the Bible. And the way to understand is through the illuminating work and ministry of the Holy Spirit.
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Now, let me show you something. By nature, we do not see. By nature, we do not hear. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 14, talk about the unsaved man: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God." Now notice that. "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." So an unsaved man has no receptors. He has no capacity to understand the things of God.
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Even when we are converted, we're still fleshly. We still have to have our eyes opened. If our Lord had to open the understandings of His disciples who walked with Him for three years, I would think he would really need to have to open our understandings as well. We have to have illumination. Job said it like this in Job 34:23: "That which I see not, teach thou me." That which I see not, teach thou me. David said it like this in Psalm 119:18: "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." In other words, God must open our eyes. That was quite a prayer for David since David wrote most of the Psalms. "Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law."
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Now, let me show you what I'm trying to present to you today. If you understand that God is sovereign in salvation, you also have to understand that God is sovereign in illumination. God does not give the same truth to all the people, nor does he give the same amount of truth to people, nor does he give that truth at the same time. You know, I've had people say, "I would to God I'd understood this 20 years ago." You understand that sentiment, but you wouldn't listen 20 years ago. You wouldn't hear 20 years ago. That is why there is a difference in the understanding and the spiritual level of people. You have to understand that God is sovereign in illumination. There are certain people that will understand certain truths and other people that will not understand those truths. There are people that will hear and there are people that will not hear.
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And let me make a statement. I'm going to show it to you from the Bible. There are Christians that are not able to hear the truth. Look in your Bibles to the book of Mark chapter 4. Mark chapter 4. And look, if you would please, at verse 33. Mark 4, verse 33. Here's an amazing statement. Mark 4, watch verse 33. The Bible said, "And when many such parables spake he the word unto them as they were able to hear it." He spake as they were able to hear it.
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Let me ask you a question. Why is it when you get around a little baby, you'll want to tickle his chin and say, "kitchy, kitchy, koo," or something like that? Or you kind of, you know, make little sounds over that baby? You don't ever look at that little baby and say, "Now today, I'm going to be talking about dichotomy and trichotomy. And I'm going to explain the difference to you between supralapsarianism and infralapsarianism, and so I want you to listen carefully." Why? Because the baby's not going to understand a word that you're saying like that. Let me show you. Look in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3.
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And let's begin reading there with verse 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 1. Look what Paul had to say to these Corinthian Christians. Here it is. He said, "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and not with meat. For hitherto you were not able to bear it," or to hear it, or to have it, or to eat it. "Neither yet now are you able. For you are yet carnal, for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, or fleshly, and walk as men?" Paul said, "I couldn't speak to you in spiritual terms. I could not talk about theological concepts."
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"Because you're nothing but a baby. You won't take meat. You don't take a T-bone steak and feed it to a two-month-old baby. You just don't do it. The baby has to have milk." And that's what Paul is... "You're not able to bear it." Our Lord spake truth as they were able to hear it. Wow. You are not able to hear more truth until you obey the truth that you've already heard. Why would God give us more truth if we're not going to obey the truth that is already given to us? The truth of the matter is, obedience is the very first fundamental, basic, foundation of every child, physically or spiritually. The child that will not obey will never learn and will never mature, at least intellectually and morally.
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And it's the same thing true when it comes to spiritual things. I want you to turn to the book of Hebrews chapter 5. See what the author of the book of Hebrews says. And it is exactly the same thing. So let's look in Hebrews chapter 5, beginning there with verse 10. Hebrews chapter 5, verse 10. In fact, he's talking about the Melchizedek priesthood of Jesus Christ. He says, "called of God and high priest after the order of Melchizedek." Now look what he says in verse 11. "Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, no words are deep, they are theological things, seeing you are dull of hearing."
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"For when the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk, and not strong meat. For everyone that useth milk, is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But strong meat belong to them that are full of age, even those who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." So, the apostle here says, "I can't teach you anything about the Melchizedek priesthood of Christ. You're dull of hearing. You're a baby. I can't give you meat. You have to have milk. You're not able to bear it. You're not able to hear it." And truth is only spoken as people are able to hear.
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Now, I want you to ask yourself this question. Why is it some Christians understand a lot of truth and others understand hardly any truth except the fact that Jesus Christ is the Savior and their salvation is wrapped up in Him? Stop and think about this. Why? I'm trying to give you a divine side answer today. You're going to see that the human side and the divine side are intertwined as we go, because we do have Christian responsibilities. OK? But the fact is, God is sovereign in illumination. He does not reveal the same truth to everybody. Nor does he reveal the same truth at the same time to everyone. If he did, everybody would have the same understanding. But not everybody has the same understanding.
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Now, let me try to put things in perspective for you. I want you to think with me. Here's my application. You have to understand that God is sovereign in illumination. Let's pretend just for a moment that I happen to be the best preacher in the entire world. I'm the best teacher. I have the best communicating skills imaginable. I have the best oratory. I know the best illustrations. So I could be the best preacher, the best teacher with the best communication skills. I could have the greatest oratory. I could have the greatest illustrations.
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And the truth of the matter is, no matter how great, no matter how good, no matter how thorough I am, if God doesn't open your eyes, you're never going to see the truth. It's not in man, it's in God. If God withholds you from seeing truth, and you say, "Well, God wouldn't do that." Oh, yes, He will. And yes, He does. And I will show you before I'm through with this series. If God withholds you from seeing truth, there's nothing I can do to open your mind.
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The only thing I can do is be patient with you. Let me show you. Turn in your Bibles to 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 2, 2 Timothy chapter 2, and let's begin reading there with verse 24. 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 24. Watch carefully. "And the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient." The servant of the Lord.
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the preacher, the teacher, the pastor, the elder. "The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle to all men, apt to teach, patient, watch, in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves, if God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will." So you can ask it like this. When do men recover themselves out of the snare of the devil? The answer is when they acknowledge the truth. When do men acknowledge the truth? When God gives them repentance. When God opens their eyes, when God turns them, when they see. I can't make anybody see. I can't make anybody turn. So God tells me in verse 24, I'm to be patient in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves. My responsibility is to teach. It is God's prerogative to open the eyes and give understanding and give repentance and turn them to the truth.
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So, here's the thing Christians, listen carefully. If I grasp this truth, that God is sovereign in illumination, and that my responsibility is to patiently teach the truth, it should make me more kind, more tender, and more patient with those who do not see the truth. Because only God can open the eyes. I should not abuse them. I should not reject them. I should not despise them. I should not make fun of them. If I understand this, it should make me more pitiful toward them and more thankful that God has opened my eyes. So we cannot make men see. We cannot do the work of the Holy Spirit. We may pray, we may teach, we may witness, yet we must wait upon Him to open the eyes and the understanding. We cannot become bitter and hateful and resentful toward each other because you don't see what I see. Or I don't see what you see. If we understand that God is sovereign in illumination, it should lead us to be able to agree to disagree and still be kind and loving to each other and helpful to each other.
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It should also make us more thankful for that which we do see. Let me show you something else. I want you to look in your Bibles to Matthew 13. Matthew 13. Look, if you would, please, Matthew 13. Matthew 13, verses 10 and 11. You ought to really concentrate on this passage. Matthew 13, verse 10. "And the disciples came and said unto him, 'Why speakest thou unto them in parables?'"
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"He answered and said unto them, 'Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.'" Now wait a minute. Why are you speaking in parables? We understand them, Lord, but some do not. Because it is given to you to understand. Understanding is the gift of God. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in illuminating and enlightening our minds that we may see truth. Others are not given the truth.
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Let me put it to you plainly. Every doctrine that you and I know and understand and love, every truth that we see and hold dear was a gift from God. God opened our eyes. He let us see it. He allowed us to embrace it and to believe it and to apply it. God does not give the same truth to everyone, nor does he give the same amount of truth to everyone, nor does he give this truth at the same time.
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"Who maketh thee to differ one from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? And have you received it? Why do you boast that you have not received it?" Everything that we have, everything that we know, God gave us. God sovereignly allowed our minds to be open so that we could understand his divine revelation. He illuminated us and gave us truth. It ought to make us more thankful when we understand that everything we have was given to us. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee this day.
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We thank you for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. We thank You, Father, for Your full, final, and complete revelation in Jesus Christ. And Your full, final, and complete revelation in the Word of God. We bow to it. And we ask You, Father, to be pleased to illuminate our minds. Enlighten us that we might understand and comprehend Thy divine and revealed truth, that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray. Amen.
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so so
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T14:24:03Z

Can We All Just Get Along? - Part 1 of 4

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

In this first part of a four-part series, Pastor John Weaver addresses divisions among Christians, asking why believers often fail to get along. He distinguishes between necessary divisions (righteous vs. wicked, orthodox vs. heretical) and the troubling strife among genuine Christians. The message focuses on the divine side of the issue: God's absolute sovereignty in salvation and illumination. Weaver argues that just as God sovereignly saves whom He wills, He also sovereignly opens understanding to His revealed truth, not giving the same truth or amount of truth to everyone at the same time. This should produce patience, humility, and thankfulness rather than bitterness when Christians disagree, since only God can open eyes.

Introduction: The Problem of Division Among Christians

Scripture Reading — Luke 24:15-16

"And it came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near with them and went with them, and their eyes were holden that they should not know him."

Note, if you would,

Scripture Reading — Luke 24:15-16

"their eyes were holden that they should not know him."

Scripture Reading — Luke 12:49-53

"I have come to send fire on the earth, and what will I if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straightened till it is accomplished? Suppose you that I come to give peace on earth, I tell you nay, but rather division."

Scripture Reading — John 7:43

"So there was a division among the people because of Him."

When you get to the book of John chapter 9 and verse 16,

Scripture Reading — John 7:43

"Therefore said the Pharisees, 'This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day.' Others said, 'How can a sinner do such miracles?' So there was a division among them."

Every time you read in the Scripture, you will find a division based upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. In John 10 and verse 19 again,

Scripture Reading — John 7:43

"There was a division among them, among the Jews, for this saying."

So Jesus Christ is indeed the great divider.

For instance, in Titus chapter 3, verses 10 and 11, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Titus 3:10-11

"A man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject; knowing that such an one is subverted and sinneth and condemneth himself."

Jesus Christ: The Great Divider

Jesus Himself declared He came to bring division, not peace, separating the righteous from the wicked, as seen in Luke 12:49-53 and other passages.

Scripture Reading — Luke 12:49-53

"I have come to send fire on the earth, and what will I if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straightened till it is accomplished? Suppose you that I 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. The father shall be divided against the son, the son against the father, and the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

So notice if you would, our Lord is talking about the fact that He is indeed the great divider.

When you get to John 7 and verse 43, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — John 7:43

"So there was a division among the people because of Him."

When you get to the book of John chapter 9 and verse 16,

Scripture Reading — John 7:43

"Therefore said the Pharisees, 'This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day.' Others said, 'How can a sinner do such miracles?' So there was a division among them."

Every time you read in the Scripture, you will find a division based upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. In John 10 and verse 19 again,

Scripture Reading — John 7:43

"There was a division among them, among the Jews, for this saying."

The Warfare Between the Seeds

From Genesis 3:15, God established enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, a conflict continuing through history, exemplified by Cain and Abel.

Division Over Heresy

Scripture commands rejection of heretics after admonition (Titus 3:10-11), a division believers readily accept.

For instance, in Titus chapter 3, verses 10 and 11, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Titus 3:10-11

"A man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject; knowing that such an one is subverted and sinneth and condemneth himself."

So God says a man who refuses to listen, who refuses to heed, who will not obey the word of God after the first and second admonition, just reject him because he is condemned.

The Troubling Divisions Among Christians

The real concern is strife and lack of compassion between Christians, despite Jesus' prayer for unity in John 17, which will ultimately be fulfilled but is not yet perfect.

So I want you to watch it. John 17 verse 21. Our Lord is—well, let's go to verse 20. He says,

Scripture Reading — John 17:20-24

"Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also that shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that Thou hast sent me and hast loved them as Thou hast loved me. Father, I will also, whom Thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which Thou hast given me, for Thou lovest me before the foundation of the world."

Now, when you look at this prayer, you ask, well, why in the world cannot we be one since Jesus Christ prayed for this?

God's Sovereignty in Salvation

God is absolutely sovereign in all things, including salvation, which is entirely His work; no one can know the Father or Son unless revealed to them (Matthew 11:27).

Scripture Reading — Matthew 11:27

"All things are delivered unto me of my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, but the Father, and He to whomsoever He revealed Him. Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and He to whomsoever He revealed Him."

Illustration: Healing at Bethesda

Jesus healed one man out of many at the pool to demonstrate His sovereignty, quickening whom He will (John 5:21), showing He does as He pleases.

Look in John 5 and verse 21. John 5 verse 21. Our Lord says,

Scripture Reading — John 5:21-23

"As the father raises up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth, here it is, whom He will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son."

Why? Why does the Son quicken whom He will? And why has the Father committed all judgment to the Son? Here's why, verse 23:

Scripture Reading — John 5:21-23

"That all men should honor the Son even as, that is equally, as they honor the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which has sent me."

God's Sovereignty in Illumination

Just as God is sovereign in salvation, He is sovereign in illumination—opening understanding to His already-revealed Word; revelation has ceased, but illumination continues.

Scripture Reading — John 1:17-18

"The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him,"

or he hath revealed Him. Now,

Scripture Reading — John 1:17-18

"for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."

Scripture Reading — John 1:17-18

"for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ"

The Ministry of the Holy Spirit as Illuminator

The Spirit guides into truth (John 16:13) and opens understanding (Luke 24:45); believers need continual illumination, and God does not give the same truth to all equally.

Scripture Reading — John 15:26; 16:12-15

"But when the Comforter is come, the Holy Spirit, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceeded from the Father, He shall testify of me."

Now skip down to John 16 and verse 12. Our Lord tells His disciples,

Scripture Reading — John 15:26; 16:12-15

"I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are Mine. Therefore said I that He shall take of Mine and shall show it unto you."

Scripture Reading — Luke 24:14-15, 31

"And they talked together of all these things which had happened,"

verse 15,

Scripture Reading — Luke 24:14-15, 31

"And it came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them, but their eyes were holden that they should not know Him."

Now, let me show you something. By nature, we do not see. By nature, we do not hear. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 14, talk about the unsaved man:

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 2:14

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God."

Now notice that.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 2:14

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

So an unsaved man has no receptors. He has no capacity to understand the things of God.

Spiritual Immaturity Limits Reception of Truth

Some Christians are unable to bear deeper truth because they are carnal babes needing milk (1 Corinthians 3:1-3; Hebrews 5:11-14); Jesus spoke as they were able to hear.

And let's begin reading there with verse 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 1. Look what Paul had to say to these Corinthian Christians. Here it is. He said,

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 3:1-3

"And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and not with meat. For hitherto you were not able to bear it,"

or to hear it, or to have it, or to eat it.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 3:1-3

"Neither yet now are you able. For you are yet carnal, for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, or fleshly, and walk as men?"

Paul said, "I couldn't speak to you in spiritual terms. I could not talk about theological concepts."

Practical Implications: Patience and Thankfulness

Recognizing God's sovereignty in illumination should make believers patient, gentle, and thankful rather than bitter when others do not see truth, since only God opens eyes (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

Conclusion: All Understanding Is a Gift

Every doctrine we grasp is a gift from God, who sovereignly opens minds; this should produce humility and gratitude, not pride or strife.

Can We All Just Get Along? - Part 1 of 4

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	1gcMcs-KVWs
Subject	Eschatology
Course	Kingdom, Judgment, and Victory
Genre	Sermon
Date	2018-04-03
Dictation Name
Book	Book 113: Can We All Just Get Along? — Chapter 3
Source Timed Segments	67

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Problem of Division Among Christians: Weaver introduces the series title 'Can We All Just Get Along?' referencing Rodney King's plea, and notes the dismay over friction between Christians, distinguishing necessary divisions from the ungodly and heretics.
Jesus Christ: The Great Divider: Jesus Himself declared He came to bring division, not peace, separating the righteous from the wicked, as seen in Luke 12:49-53 and other passages.
The Warfare Between the Seeds: From Genesis 3:15, God established enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, a conflict continuing through history, exemplified by Cain and Abel.
Division Over Heresy: Scripture commands rejection of heretics after admonition (Titus 3:10-11), a division believers readily accept.
The Troubling Divisions Among Christians: The real concern is strife and lack of compassion between Christians, despite Jesus' prayer for unity in John 17, which will ultimately be fulfilled but is not yet perfect.
God's Sovereignty in Salvation: God is absolutely sovereign in all things, including salvation, which is entirely His work; no one can know the Father or Son unless revealed to them (Matthew 11:27).
Illustration: Healing at Bethesda: Jesus healed one man out of many at the pool to demonstrate His sovereignty, quickening whom He will (John 5:21), showing He does as He pleases.
God's Sovereignty in Illumination: Just as God is sovereign in salvation, He is sovereign in illumination—opening understanding to His already-revealed Word; revelation has ceased, but illumination continues.
The Ministry of the Holy Spirit as Illuminator: The Spirit guides into truth (John 16:13) and opens understanding (Luke 24:45); believers need continual illumination, and God does not give the same truth to all equally.
Spiritual Immaturity Limits Reception of Truth: Some Christians are unable to bear deeper truth because they are carnal babes needing milk (1 Corinthians 3:1-3; Hebrews 5:11-14); Jesus spoke as they were able to hear.
Practical Implications: Patience and Thankfulness: Recognizing God's sovereignty in illumination should make believers patient, gentle, and thankful rather than bitter when others do not see truth, since only God opens eyes (2 Timothy 2:24-26).
Conclusion: All Understanding Is a Gift: Every doctrine we grasp is a gift from God, who sovereignly opens minds; this should produce humility and gratitude, not pride or strife.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

God's sovereignty extends to who understands truth

Just as God sovereignly chooses whom to save, He sovereignly chooses whom to illuminate, giving different measures of understanding at different times.

Weaver argues from Matthew 13:11, 'Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries... but to them it is not given,' and states God does not give the same truth to all.

Revelation has ceased; illumination continues

God's full revelation is complete in Christ and Scripture; the Spirit's ongoing work is to illuminate what has already been revealed, not to give new revelation.

Weaver distinguishes revelation (truth never known before) from illumination (opening understanding), citing Hebrews 1:1-2 and John 1:17-18.

Spiritual maturity determines capacity for truth

Believers who are carnal and disobedient cannot bear deeper doctrines; God withholds further light until they obey what they already know.

Weaver notes Jesus spoke 'as they were able to hear it' (Mark 4:33) and Paul fed Corinthians milk because they were not able to bear meat (1 Corinthians 3:1-2).

Human responsibility is to teach patiently, not to open eyes

Preachers and teachers must instruct with gentleness and patience, leaving the work of opening minds entirely to God, avoiding strife and bitterness.

Weaver cites 2 Timothy 2:24-26, emphasizing 'the servant of the Lord must not strive' and that repentance is granted by God.

Disagreement should not lead to personal animosity

Understanding divine sovereignty in illumination should free believers to agree to disagree without resentment, since only God can change minds.

Weaver shares his personal practice: 'I can agree to disagree. I'm just not going to fuss. I'm not going to fight with them.'

Scripture References

Luke 24:15-16: Introduction to the Emmaus road disciples whose eyes were holden, illustrating divine control over recognition.
Luke 12:49-53: Jesus declares He came to bring division, not peace, even within families.
John 7:43: Division among the people because of Jesus.
John 9:16: Division among the Pharisees over Jesus' healing on the Sabbath.
John 10:19: Division among the Jews over Jesus' sayings.
Genesis 3:15: The Protevangelium: God puts enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.
Titus 3:10-11: Command to reject a heretic after first and second admonition.
John 17:20-24: Jesus' high priestly prayer for unity among all believers.
Matthew 11:27: No one knows the Son except the Father reveals Him, and no one knows the Father except the Son reveals Him.
John 5:21-23: The Son quickens whom He will, demonstrating divine sovereignty in healing the impotent man.
1 Corinthians 4:7: Who makes you to differ? What do you have that you did not receive? Why boast?
John 1:17-18: Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ; He has declared the Father, the full revelation.
Hebrews 1:1-2: God spoke in times past by prophets, but in these last days by His Son, the final revelation.
John 15:26; 16:12-15: The Holy Spirit will guide into all truth, illuminating what Christ has revealed.
Luke 24:44-45: Jesus opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures.
Luke 24:14-15, 31: The disciples' eyes were holden then opened, illustrating illumination.
1 Corinthians 2:14: The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit; they are spiritually discerned.
Mark 4:33: Jesus spoke the word as they were able to hear it.
1 Corinthians 3:1-3: Paul could not speak to Corinthians as spiritual but as carnal babes, feeding them milk.
Hebrews 5:10-14: Believers dull of hearing need milk, not strong meat; mature have senses exercised.

Historical References

Rodney King and the 1992 Los Angeles riots: Weaver references Rodney King's 1992 plea 'Can we all just get along?' after the acquittal of officers in his beating sparked riots causing 50 deaths and $2 billion in damage.
John Gill (1697-1771), Baptist expositor: Weaver quotes Gill's commentary on John 17, suggesting the unity prayed for may refer to the last day when all saints see eye to eye.
Matthew Henry (1662-1714), commentator: Weaver quotes Henry on Luke 24: Christ took the veil off the text by opening Scriptures and off the heart by opening the mind.

Important Quotes

I have come to send fire on the earth, and what will I if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straightened till it is accomplished? Suppose you that I come to give peace on earth, I tell you nay, but rather division.

Jesus' own words establishing that He is the great divider, a foundational point for the message.

God does not give the same truth to all the people, nor does he give the same amount of truth to people, nor does he give that truth at the same time.

Explains why Christians have differing levels of understanding, a key to patience with others.

Every doctrine that you and I know and understand and love, every truth that we see and hold dear was a gift from God.

Cultivates humility and thankfulness, countering pride in one's own understanding.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does understanding Jesus as 'the great divider' help us accept necessary divisions while still pursuing peace?

[Context]

Weaver emphasizes that Christ came to bring division between righteousness and wickedness, which is unavoidable.

[Question]

In what ways might we be guilty of causing strife over minor doctrinal differences rather than showing patience?

[Context]

Weaver laments pastors who cannot get along over issues like eschatology or baptism.

[Question]

How does the distinction between revelation and illumination affect the way we approach Scripture and share truth with others?

[Context]

Weaver argues revelation has ceased; the Spirit now illuminates the completed Word.

[Question]

Why is it dangerous to claim God is giving new revelation today, according to Weaver?

[Context]

Weaver says such claims imply something beyond Christ and Scripture, which is blasphemy.

[Question]

How can recognizing that God sovereignly withholds or grants understanding change our attitude toward those who disagree with us?

[Context]

Weaver teaches that only God opens eyes, so we should be patient and not bitter.

[Question]

What does it mean to be 'dull of hearing' spiritually, and how can we avoid that condition?

[Context]

Weaver cites Hebrews 5:11, where believers were unable to receive deeper truth due to immaturity.

[Question]

How does 1 Corinthians 4:7 ('Who maketh thee to differ?') challenge pride in our theological knowledge?

[Context]

Weaver uses this verse to show that all understanding is a gift, eliminating grounds for boasting.

Applications

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