The Horror of Division

Last Monday, a lasting doctrinal dispute in the Christian Union of which I am a part of has finally resulted in the formation of the Reformed CU, which is under the supervision of the Limerick Reformed Fellowship, both of which I am a member of.

This division has been, and is continuing to be, exceedingly painful. I love those in the CU which I left very much, and it breaks my heart to have this division. This pain, of course, is aggravated by my own sinful wretchedness and the mistakes of the past, and the times I have sinfully hurt others in the CU.

Even more than this is my heart broken by the lack of knowledge of the God of Scripture in the Church. So many believers are in churches where they are not fed the truths of Scripture, but are instead given "that which is trodden down" and "that which is fouled"; they are fed by lies such as "God wants you to be healthy/wealthy" and "God loves you but you can still go to hell".

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, Hos 4:6

Most sadly, the glorious Gospel of God's sovereign elective grace is no longer proclaimed, if not outrightly denied; the love of God has become a weak love that throws most of its objects into hell; the sufficiency of God's Word is denied to the plain believer, who is told that he must seek extra-biblical revelations, speak in "tongues" (gibberish) to know he is saved and must follow the "leading of the Holy Spirit" by which is meant the fickle emotions of our sinful flesh.

My heart breaks. Out of love for God and love for my fellow believers, I have joined the Limerick Reformed Fellowship to be a witness to the truths of God's Word. For the same reason, I have joined the Reformed CU.

My prayer is that the Lord would bring about the true unity of the saints, that is, unity around Truth, as opposed to unity around compromise and falsehoods.

I sang Psalm 102 this morning, as a prayer for the restoration of Zion (the Church) and the deliverance of God's children from the lies of Satan.

 1  Lord, hear my pray'r, and let my cry
      Have speedy access unto thee;
2  In day of my calamity
      O hide not thou thy face from me.

   Hear when I call to thee; that day
      An answer speedily return:
3  My days, like smoke, consume away,
      And, as an hearth, my bones do burn.

4  My heart is wounded very sore,
      And withered, like grass doth fade:
   I am forgetful grown therefore
      To take and eat my daily bread.

5  By reason of my smart within,
      And voice of my most grievous groans,
   My flesh consumed is, my skin,
      All parched, doth cleave unto my bones.

6  The pelican of wilderness,
      The owl in desert, I do match;
7  And, sparrow-like, companionless,
      Upon the house's top, I watch.

8  I all day long am made a scorn,
      Reproached by my malicious foes:
   The madmen are against me sworn,
      The men against me that arose.

9  For I have ashes eaten up,
      To me as if they had been bread;
   And with my drink I in my cup
      Of bitter tears a mixture made.

10  Because thy wrath was not appeased,
      And dreadful indignation:
   Therefore it was that thou me raised,
      And thou again didst cast me down.

11  My days are like a shade alway,
      Which doth declining swiftly pass;
   And I am withered away,
      Much like unto the fading grass.

12  But thou, O Lord, shalt still endure,
      From change and all mutation free,
   And to all generations sure
      Shall thy remembrance ever be.

13  Thou shalt arise, and mercy yet
      Thou to mount Zion shalt extend:
   Her time for favor which was set,
      Behold, is now come to an end.

14  Thy saints take pleasure in her stones,
      Her very dust to them is dear.
15  All heathen lands and kingly thrones
      On earth thy glorious name shall fear.

16  God in his glory shall appear,
      When Zion he builds and repairs.
17  He shall regard and lend his ear
      Unto the needy's humble pray'rs:

   Th' afflicted's pray'r he will not scorn.
18      All times this shall be on record:
   And generations yet unborn
      Shall praise and magnify the Lord.

19  He from his holy place looked down,
      The earth he viewed from heav'n on high;
20  To hear the pris'ner's mourning groan,
      And free them that are doomed to die;

21  That Zion, and Jerus'lem too,
      His name and praise may well record,
22  When people and the kingdoms do
      Assemble all to praise the Lord.

23  My strength he weakened in the way,
      My days of life he shortened.
24  My God, O take me not away
      In mid-time of my days, I said:

   Thy years throughout all ages last.
25      Of old thou hast established
   The earth's foundation firm and fast:
      Thy mighty hands the heav'ns have made.

26  They perish shall, as garments do,
      But thou shalt evermore endure;
   As vestures, thou shalt change them so;
      And they shall all be changed sure:

27  But from all changes thou art free;
      Thy endless years do last for aye.
28  Thy servants, and their seed who be,
      Established shall before thee stay.