Always Abounding - Spring 2020

I have found verses in the Bible that speak
contrary to that. Now I know that God is a
God of love, and we love Him because He
first loved us. But God is also a just God, and
He’s a righteous God. He’s a holy God, and
He hates the one who decided to stand in
pride and oppose what He has stated in His
commandments. This type of individual—a
sower of discord among brethren—is literally
standing against and fighting against God’s
church. Do we think God is pleased with
that? Or that He will overlook that? Why
would a person do this? Well, because he is
wicked. He has a froward mouth—a twisted,
perverted tongue. And where did that come
from? We go back to the idea of the heart.
We saw earlier that he has a froward mouth
because he has a froward heart. He has a
wicked heart. Something is wrong with his
heart. Most, if not all discord sowing is done
with the mouth. I guess it could be done with
technology in our day and age. It could be
done with a text or an email or an Instagram
post, etc. It’s done through communication.
Proverbs describes this person as a
talebearer, revealing secrets. Just because
you know something about somebody does
not mean you have to tell other people. The
Bible tells us not to meddle with those that
are talebearers. We find ourselves guilty of
this sometimes—receiving the tales brought
to us by talebearers. There is a reason they
are telling you—and it’s because you are
listening. And if you are listening, then you
are meddling with them and going against
what this verse is warning about. I am not
to undertake or support them in this activity.
If I’m lending a listening ear to that, then
I’m supporting them. The talebearer is the
sower of discord, the sower of strife, the
revealer of secrets, the traitor in scandal.
More often than not, the talebearer seeks to
defame others for his own personal gain. “In
one way or another,” he thinks, “I am going
to put them down so I can look better, since I
don’t do what they do.” This man is a sower
of discord. The Bible clearly commands,
“Speak not evil one of another, brethren.”
God certainly loves and enjoys unity among
believers, doesn’t He? I love Psalm 133:1,
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for
brethren to dwell together in unity!”
Who is it that sows discord among the
brethren? I’ll let the Bible answer that for
us. Proverbs 11:9 says that it is the hypocrite
who destroys his neighbor with his mouth.
Look again at our text, “These six things
doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an
abomination unto him: a proud look, a lying
tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
feet that be swift in running to mischief, a
false witness that speaketh lies, and he that
soweth discord among brethren.”
That man that sows discord among
the brethren is an abomination to God—
disgusting and abhorrent. Why? Because
he is doing the activity of Satan. Revelation
12:10 tells us that Satan is the accuser of the
brethren. There you go. It pains me when I
hear a brother talk about another brother.
If it grieves my heart, what must it do to
the heart of God? We’re all in this together,
right? We should love the brethren.
60 more years for Berean Baptist Church
if the Lord tarries, but I want to say this to
your church and to my church—I’m not
worried about the devil destroying our
church from the outside. I think many times
that just strengthens us. I’m worried about
what the devil can do on the inside—that
leaven, that cancer of discord, strife, and
contention. I’m thankful for this church, and
trust it will continue on in the blessing of
God.
(Randy Love [‘87] is the pastor of Anchor Baptist
Church in Salt Lake City, Utah.)
6 | ALWAYS ABOUNDING