Mark 4:21-25 NAS95  And He was saying to them, “A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand?  (22)  “For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.  (23)  “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”  (24)  And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides.  (25)  “For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

Light is good, but too much light will blind you. There are some things we don’t need to know YET because we are not mature enough to handle the truth. If God hides something or keeps something secret, he is protecting us until the right time to let it shine, so the light does not drive us away. 

The measure of truth we possess varies on our capacity to accept the truth. That produces a multitude of Bible teachers who contradict each other. Hence Jesus warning to take care what you listen to and be careful how we measure it. If we have accepted something about faith, and someone comes along and proves there are flaws in what we have accepted, don’t put your hand over the measuring cup and refuse more knowledge. That does not mean you have to accept every new thing that blows by. It means you must be careful that you do not reject God or call God’s power the devil at work, like the religious leaders of Jesus day.

Ephesians 4:11-13 NAS95  And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,  (12)  for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;  (13)  until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

We do not add to the Bible. It’s finished. But we have not attained to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to become a mature man. If the body of Christ was mature, we would not be divided.

According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (CSGC) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, there are approximately 41,000 Christian denominations and organizations in the world today. That number does not include independent churches.

All it takes is a disagreement about what God meant or what God will and will not do, that both sides feel strongly about, and a new denomination or independent church will pop up. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Thankfully we can start a new fellowship when the one we are in stagnates and refuses to grow in the knowledge of God. 

Paul exhorted the Corinthian church to stop rallying behind different teachers. The Corinthians were saying I am of Paul, I of Apollos, I of Cephas, and I of Christ. He encouraged them to agree, have no divisions, and to be of the same mind and judgment, because he could not give them solid food until they matured.

1 Corinthians 3:1-2 AMP However, brothers and sisters, I could not talk to you as to spiritual people, but [only] as to worldly people [dominated by human nature], mere infants [in the new life] in Christ! I fed you with milk, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it.

Giving a baby solid food is a gradual process because he or she is not physically mature enough to receive it. God gave us pastors, teachers, prophets, evangelist, and apostles to nourish us as we grow spiritually mature so we can build each other up, instead of dividing and arguing. The first step on the path to spiritual maturity and being unified by one faith is to understand the faith God taught Abraham. 

If we shut our ears because we don’t agree with what someone is saying, we might be shutting our ears to the truth and end up losing the little truth we have. If we have accepted a faith corrupted by human ideas, we have built our house on sand. When God’s presence comes like a storm, the house built on lies will fall and we will not have the foundation to understand more about God. He is not trying to wash us away. His storm washes away human ideas that are keeping us from growing in the knowledge of God, so we can be mature and united by one faith.