Matthew chapter 5 verse 1, and seeing the
multitudes, he went up on a mountain.
And when he was seated, his disciples came
to him.
Then he opened his mouth and taught them,
saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall
be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain
mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they
shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be
called sons of God.
I think one of the greatest ways that
we are called to be peacemakers is the
very fact that we are ambassadors of Christ,
and we call people to be reconciled to
our God.
That comes right off the pages of 2
Corinthians 5.
But of course, peace, calling people to peace
with God, is one way we are peacemakers.
There's a lot of peacemaking that happens within
the context of the church, and even as
I was talking about in the Lord's Supper.
There's divisions that crop up in the church
that we have to resist.
Peacemakers are the people that, as soon as
they see any cracks in the church, they're
attacking them.
And listen, it's not like there are some
peacemakers in the church.
Not the true church.
In the true church, they all are peacemakers.
Because what it says here is, peacemakers are
the ones who are called the sons of
God.
In other words, it's exclusive.
It's only them.
In fact, if you have people in the
church that are given to divisiveness, it may
be momentary carnality, but oftentimes it's a demonstration
of the fact that they're sons of a
different father.
So, I want us to think today, dive
into Scripture.
Again, when we come to these Beatitudes, we're
considering what Christ said, but we are really
the ones that are under the microscope.
We're examining His Word, but what you find
is, you're the one who's really being examined.
So let's pray as we dive in.
Father, I pray, help us in this place.
Help us to handle Your Word of God.
I want to rightly divide it.
I pray that You'd give us ears to
hear what we need, what each one of
us needs to hear from this.
I ask this in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
So, I stuck a lot of verses in
my notes.
So I don't know how far we'll get,
but I don't plan on doing another message
here, so bear with me.
I know I've been looking at some of
the messages from this series being posted, and
I've been averaging about an hour and 10
or 15 minutes.
That's not...
I don't...
I'm sorry.
But anyway, if it's not killing you and
about at the 60 minute mark, if I
don't see tongues hanging out or eyes closing
and people falling over in their seats, I
typically keep going.
But I want to show you a verse.
Hebrews 12.14. Hebrews 12.14. We often
look at this text because we are concerned
with holiness.
We're concerned with a separateness, or righteousness, or
purity in the life.
And so we like to quote, if you
don't have holiness, you're not going to see
the kingdom.
And that is definitely what the verse teaches.
But there's another aspect to the verse that
we often crop off, simply because peacemaking doesn't
get a lot of mileage in the church.
We talk a lot about holiness, but peace,
it is kind of like the first message
I did.
We don't often think about peacemaker as being
one of the primary definitions of what a
Christian is, or even one of the primary
attributes of God being a peacemaker.
And yet that's what characterizes us as sons
of God.
Now notice Hebrews 12.14. Pursue peace.
Now see, in the Beatitudes, no imperatives.
It's all indicative.
It just says, hey, if you're a peacemaker,
you're blessed, and you're going to be called,
you're already called, and you will be called,
you shall be called a son of God.
And no one else will.
It's not like you can have sons of
God that aren't peacemakers.
It's not like there's two categories of sons
of God.
Some are peacemakers, some aren't.
What he's saying is, peacemakers, sons of God.
And the same truth is right here, although
right here we do get an imperative.
Over in the Beatitudes, you're not told to
do anything.
You're just basically told, if you're a peacemaker,
you're going to be called a son of
God.
If you're not a peacemaker, not going to
be called a son of God.
Over here, there's an imperative.
An imperative is a commandment.
Pursue peace.
That's an imperative.
Pursue, with all people, and holiness, without which
no one will see the Lord.
And you see, you have a conjunction there.
You pursue peace, and you pursue holiness, without
which no one will see the Lord.
And you know, we could say, well, which
one does that apply to?
Since holiness is last, is it only...
No, I don't think you want to take
it that way.
The reality is, you want to take both.
It's pursuing peace, without which no one will
see the Lord, and pursue holiness, without which
no one will see the Lord.
That's what you want to do with that
verse.
And it's very consistent with what we find
in the Beatitude.
That if you don't, you won't inherit the
kingdom.
You won't be a son of God.
And see, this is again, I'm emphasizing, these
Beatitudes cause us to look at ourselves.
Are you a peacemaker?
The truth is, strife follows some people on
their heels.
You look at their life.
Basically, strife follows them where they go.
It happens...
You know what?
It's not just strife.
Because the people that aren't peacemakers are not
just people who fight.
They're often people who run.
You see, this is pursuing peace.
And you get people who want to put
up their fists, and they want to go
to fight.
But you get other people when there's conflict,
they just run away.
They're not pursuing peace, and they're not peacemakers.
They're just...
they run away.
They don't want to be involved in the
fight at all.
And so, that's not a peacemaker either.
And so, remember peace.
Remember peace.
It's not just the absence of something.
It's not just the absence of war, and
strife, and quarreling, and conflict.
It's not that.
Peace actually has to do with harmony, and
fellowship, and love, and closeness, and intimacy, and
friendship.
That's...
If you're going to pursue peace, you've got
to pursue the whole thing.
It's not just you want to be in
the state where you're making sure that there's
no conflict around you.
You actually want to pursue the things that
make for harmony.
The things that make for closeness.
The things that draw things together.
So, here we are.
Peacemaking.
This is what you need to recognize.
Peacemaking is non-negotiable in both these passages.
Listen, I remember when...
way back.
When after we'd started the church there in
San Antonio, we had a conference.
And a certain woman was saved.
And she said that what bothered her while
she was trying to live the life of
a Christian.
What bothered her was she couldn't get along
with her mother-in-law.
You see, no peace.
And God convicted her and saved her.
Peacemaking is just not negotiable.
So, let's dive in here a bit further.
A little bit of a theology of war.
Theology of what's behind quarrels.
And of course, that ought to take us
to James.
Because James chapter 4, he wants to deal
with this very thing.
What's behind wars?
What's behind fights?
Why does it happen among us?
And so, if you go to James 4,
just a bit of a theology of peace
and strife.
This is very helpful.
As we're examining ourselves and we're thinking on
this subject, we want to dissect this animal
of warring, fighting, quarreling, striving.
So, James says this, Where do wars and
fights come from among you?
This portion of Scripture is intense.
There's no question.
And it's graphic.
There's no question.
Where do wars and fights come from among
you?
Do they not come from your desires for
pleasure?
Now, I'm reading this from the New King
James.
And I recognize different translations are going to
say this a little bit differently.
But do you recognize when it talks about
pleasure?
It's the idea of that which pleases.
It's like, I want my way.
I want what pleases me.
So, where do they come from?
Strife, fighting, quarreling.
Don't they come from your desires?
You want something.
You want what pleases you.
And these desires are at war in your
members.
The idea is your members.
But it's the kind of thing where your
eyes see things and you want it.
You've got desires of the body, desires of
the flesh, and they want things.
You lust and do not have.
You murder and covet and cannot obtain.
And you know, you don't want to just
write yourself off here.
I'm no murderer.
Yeah, but when he throws it out like
this, you understand.
He's talking about strife.
What's the root of strife?
We don't love others.
We love ourselves.
We actually hate each other.
Paul talks that way to Timothy.
Hating and hated.
That's basically what categorizes mankind.
We tolerate others as long as they are
valuable to us.
I mean, when we're lost, we will tolerate
things from other people as long as it
really serves us.
And even the love we do, the love
we have, and the way we care for
people as lost people, it really is, in
the end of it, it's self-serving.
But you murder.
John says whoever hates his brother is a
murderer.
And you know, Jesus said, we're going to
get to it in the Sermon on the
Mount.
He says, you've heard that, you know, if
you murder, well, you shall not murder.
But he says, I say to you, whoever's
angry with his brother.
And so this is the issue here.
When you're angry without a cause, when you
hate your brother, I mean, you don't want
to say, well, I've never driven a knife
at anybody.
But in your heart, you have.
That's the issue.
You've hated people.
And so he says, you fight and war.
Yet you do not have because you do
not ask.
And then he says, you ask and you
do not receive.
And so, well, which is it, James?
Well, you see what he's doing.
He sees different responses to this.
He recognizes some people, it's like, well, maybe
they're ashamed enough that they recognize they're selfish
enough that they're not even going to dare
take it to God.
Or they're atheistic enough, or they're just God
-hating enough that they're not going to take
it to Him.
Other people are bold enough where they just
look at God as some celestial Santa Claus,
and they're like, give me what I want.
And so some people might shy away.
Some people might go there.
But in the end, neither gets it.
And their hearts are...
And the reason that God would not even
think of giving it to them is they're
asking to miss.
That they might spend it on that which,
again, pleases them, their own pleasures.
Adulterers, adulteresses.
Strong language.
Do you not know that friendship with the
world is enmity with God?
And we see that's what's being exuded here.
There's this desire after things, after stuff, after
that which pleases us.
Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of
the world makes himself an enemy of God.
And so, I want you to see what's
at the root of those who are not
peacemakers.
Those who are not peacemakers have an adultery
problem.
Verse 2 says lust.
You lust.
See, it's a lust problem.
Conflicts and quarrels.
Whether it's between a man and his wife.
Whether it's in the church context or whether
it's nations.
Do you recognize?
It is a lust issue.
It is an adultery issue.
That is the issue.
Now look, if some man came into this
church and was obviously looking with lust at
the sisters in this church.
Even the mention of that sounds ugly.
It feels dirty.
But those who constantly have strife following them.
You know what James is saying?
Same sort of ugliness is truly following that
individual.
They come in here and they are lusting.
Men and women who will cause problems.
They'll wag their tongues.
They'll gossip.
They'll slander.
They'll split friendships.
They'll say ugly things.
They'll repeat matters.
They come in here and they're not trying
to bring people together.
It's a lust problem.
It's an adultery problem.
You know what?
It might be a little bit perhaps more
respectable than a guy that came in here
and he's just glaring at all the ladies.
But listen, it's just as ugly.
And that's why he's using this kind of
language.
Because it is that.
It's lust.
It's adultery.
There is ugliness.
There is dirtiness.
And listen, people who constantly have strife following
them, it's written across their foreheads.
This kind of graphic reality.
And so, their hearts.
You know what it basically says?
They're not intimate with God.
They're not developing a friendship with God.
That's what he's...
They're greedily, adulterously making love with their idols.
And oftentimes it's just their own self being
thought highly of.
And you know what?
The Bible is not afraid of being graphic
about this.
Listen, do you know what we didn't get
to in 1 Corinthians 11?
Do you know what happens when even true
Christians will not repent of divisiveness?
God killed them.
God killed.
They slept.
And you can't get away from the reality
that when there's division in the church, the
Spirit of God caused some of those people
to be sick and some of them to
die.
Because of that rift that was in that
church.
Folks, blessed are the peacemakers.
They shall be called the sons of God.
Now, I want you to look at something.
You recognize that Romans 14.
We often think of Romans 14.
There's a whole chapter.
It's devoted to how people can have differences
of opinion in the same church and yet
dwell together in harmony.
So let's look at this portion.
Romans chapter 14.
Because there's some very instructive peace language here.
Romans 14.
Very instructive.
I don't doubt that in our ethics class,
we will probably walk through this chapter.
Because there's so much that has to do
with just determining what's right and wrong before
the Lord.
And the fact is, we are not always
going to agree on what that is.
And you know what?
Scripture itself says that's okay.
Look, there are certain truths.
Truths about who God is.
Truths about how a man can be saved.
We can't budge on these things.
For the sake of peace, we will not
sacrifice the core doctrines of our faith.
But you know, there are all sorts of
areas of life that it's not so plainly
spelled out in Scripture that we have to
wrestle through.
And in the context of dealing with this,
notice verse 17.
You see, the kingdom of God is not
just about being right and getting your way
in the church.
The kingdom of God is not just about,
you know, your own opinion about vaccinations, or
your own opinion about vegetables, or whether you
should eat meat, or be vegetarian, or vegan,
or whatever.
The kingdom of God is not eating and
drinking.
But notice what it is.
It's righteousness and peace, and joy in the
Holy Spirit.
Peace.
Now, see, you could look at that and
you could say, well, I think that means,
like, tranquility in my own heart.
Okay, well, peace does sometimes get used that
way.
Problem is, context won't let you think that
way.
Let's keep reading.
It says, He who serves Christ in these
things is acceptable to God and approved by
men.
Therefore, let us pursue the things that make
for peace, and the things by which we
may edify one another.
You see exactly what he's talking about.
And this is the context of the whole
chapter.
You've got people who come to different convictions
about observing days or eating meat.
And that can...
Ah, I've seen it.
The reason I already mentioned vaccinations.
Listen, this new thing with the vaccinations and
COVID, this is just another chapter of the
vaccination argument that goes on within churches.
Oh, I've seen it and said, well, are
we going to vaccinate our children?
Are we not going to vaccinate our children?
And I mean, people can become heated over
some of these things.
We never had heated disputes over Christmas.
We had heated disputes over vaccinations.
There's different things that come up and arise
in the church.
And what clearly is being said here, is
that the righteousness and the peace and the
joy of the Holy Spirit, the things that
the kingdom of God is really all about.
We know the peace he means from verse
19.
Let us pursue the things that make for
peace, and the things by which we may
edify one another.
And notice verse 18.
He who serves Christ in these things is
acceptable to God.
As a servant of Christ, if we would
serve him in a manner acceptable, there's something
that you must pursue.
You need to pursue peace, even when you
don't exactly agree.
There is a way to tell people why
I think...
Let's see, this is part of ethics.
We're not always going to agree on whether
we should wear masks, whether we should socially
distance, or whether the government ought to be
obeyed or not to be...
Oh, if ever in the life of...
Since I've been a Christian, to see something
that Christians have divided on, it's at what
point do we stop obeying the government when
it comes to them trying to restrict what
the church clearly is told in Scripture to
do.
And oh, there's churches that still are not
meeting in your country.
There are still churches not meeting in the
U.S. And what you have is...
Why do some people decide to start meeting
at a certain time?
Why is it we're even talking about whether
to go back to Middleton or not?
Because we've got people in the church over
there that are of a mindset that they
need to more strictly follow what the government
says.
You see, these...
And what happens is, we can have our
opinion, and we do it, and we need
to have our opinion.
I mean, you start looking here, Paul wants
everybody fully persuaded.
He wants people of strong conviction.
You could almost say, Paul, seriously?
Do you really want people that are that
convinced?
You see, he says, verse 5, One person
esteems a day above another, another esteems every
day alike.
Let each be fully convinced in his own
mind.
Wow!
Don't you love that?
He wants Thomas to be convinced about things.
And he wants Adam convinced about things.
He wants us to be people of conviction.
But you know what the amazing thing is?
He's acknowledging we will come to different positions
on some of these things.
And yet, he wants us fully convinced.
You see, Paul, if anything seems like it
was going to create turmoil and trouble in
the church, it's to have people of really
strong convictions, and that guy's come to one,
and that sister's come to a different one.
Isn't that the very kind of thing that
creates volatility?
No.
Because I'll tell you this, if it's not
just you trying to be, you know, Mr.
or Mrs. Great, and be absolutely convinced that
your opinion has to be obeyed and be
bowed down to, if you're really of the
mindset that we all need to be people
of the Word of God, you know what
I really appreciate?
Spurgeon said it.
Spurgeon said he'd rather have somebody in his
church that he knew was wrong about what
they believed on a certain point.
And yet, they could present a solid biblical
argument for why they believed it.
He said, give me that guy.
Because he sold out to this book.
I just heard one of the FBC guys
last Tuesday, he was talking about why he
made the decisions that he made.
And he walked us FBC guys through the
different portions of Scripture.
And you know what?
I wrote him afterwards.
I said, I appreciated that.
Because whether I agreed with him or not,
he had a solid biblical argument.
And he was telling us the verses that
weighed on him.
You see, this is what we're going to
get into in ethics.
What are the verses in Scripture that weigh
on us, that impact us?
Because God says this, the man, the woman
I'm going to look to trembles at My
Word.
We want to be people that are glued
to this Word, that are examining everything through
the lenses of it.
And you know what?
You can come to one conviction.
I can come to another conviction.
But there's a way to pursue peace in
the midst of that.
And to respect one another.
And to love one another.
And I'll tell you this, I feel like
Spurgeon does.
If you tell me this is why I
came to the conviction that I did.
And here are the verses.
Now you know what?
We're free to say, well, did you consider
these verses?
The reality is maybe they haven't.
There's a place for us to be mutually
instructing and challenging.
There's no problem.
But you know there's a way to do
that, that fosters strength and edifies.
See, we're supposed to be building up.
That was there too as we're pursuing peace.
Edification means building each other up.
And so, you know what?
Perhaps you've thought about a verse that I
didn't think about.
Have you ever had that happen?
Somebody says, you know, in fact the FBC
guy.
You know what he really has been challenged
by?
Mordecai.
Because Ahasuerus told everybody to bow to Haman.
And Mordecai refused to do it.
And this man was saying how he wrestled
with, when do you bow to Haman and
when don't you when the emperor of the
land has told you to do it?
And there was no obvious reason why he
did it.
Why he refused to bow.
There's no obvious reason given in the letter.
And in fact, there's no commentary from God
that says Mordecai did right or wrong.
And so he said he was wrestling.
That was helpful because that is a text
that I had not really wrestled with that
way.
And so, see, we can help each other
that way.
But that produces peace rather than just attacking
each other.
Because you know what happens?
Well, you don't vaccinate your kids.
You don't love your kids.
Well, no.
Actually, the reason I don't do that is
because I do love them.
And I mean, I have reasons.
You see, our first thought should not be
that we're each ignoramuses.
Like, oh, you know, look at...
But look, there are all sorts of things
we have to sort through.
And you know what, if we're going to
be honest with Scripture, you know what's a
good thing to do sometimes?
Is to put yourself in the feet of
other people.
In fact, I've already considered this.
So be on guard, guys.
That in our ethics class, if I see
that two guys are diametric...
And I hope this happens because we need
to be fully convinced.
And we're going to talk about things that
we are not going to agree on.
But you know what I'm going to do
sometimes?
I'm going to say, hey, you two guys
are obviously at the ends of the spectrum.
What I want you to do is come
next week and I want you to defend
his position.
And I want you to defend his position.
And make the best possible argument you can.
I mean, in all honesty and sincerity.
Because if we really want to deal with
truth, we ought to be willing to do
that.
It shouldn't be, I'm right and I'm right
and that settles it.
And I'm digging my heels in and I'm
not going to consider anything else.
Well, that's the kind of thing that causes
the disunity in the church.
That we want to abhor and run from.
So, you see this.
We have to edify one another.
Brethren, you know what?
You'll never pursue peace unless you're pursuing people.
You have to pursue people to build them
up.
Because that's really the agenda.
Brethren, do you recognize we're in this together?
One of the reasons that God calls us
to meet together in a church is because
as we come together, we stir up one
another.
As we come together, we don't let each
other be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
As we come together, we comfort one another.
We instruct one another.
We use our spiritual gifts on one another.
Do you realize the task we have?
We are each responsible for helping the other
people in this church get to the finish
line.
And see, when you're in it like that,
and you're running along, and you look around,
and you recognize, hey, you know what?
Our militia here, our regiment is, somebody's missing.
And they're straggling back.
Wait, we got three that are lagging back.
Well, if you're really wanting to win the
war, I mean, you know, they have a
thing.
I don't know how it is in the
UK, but among the American Marines, especially special
forces, I mean, even if you're dead, they
will not leave one of their comrades' bodies,
let alone if you're taken prisoner.
They will give their lives to try to
rescue that person, rather than to leave them
in the arms of the enemy, even if
the body is dead.
And so, that's how we need to be,
watching out for one another.
We're trying to get each other to the
line here.
We're trying to help each other to not
fall out of this race.
That's what's really behind this kind of peace.
So, listen to this.
A little bit before this in Romans, it
says, if it is possible, as much as
depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
As much as it depends on you.
Sometimes there's aspects of peace, obviously, that are
out of your hands, because peace is had
between two parties, and if you've done everything
you can, sometimes still the other individual is
not wanting to make peace.
Pursue peace with all people.
That's what Hebrews 12 says.
Romans 12 says, live peaceably with all men.
And these are the sons of God who
do this.
None else are.
And so, this allows for no neutrality.
Jesus never said, by this the world is
going to know that you're my disciples.
Simply that you avoid quarrelsomeness, or fights.
It's not that.
It's, by this you'll be known to be
a son of God, your peacemaker.
And if you don't pursue peace, you won't
see the Lord.
And so, remember, peace isn't merely an absence
of conflict.
It's all about intimate harmony and fellowship.
We need to be pursuing this.
Now, let me tell you something.
You know the scripture says, don't grieve the
Holy Spirit.
I don't want to get into this, because
it would be more extensive than I think
what our time right now is going to
allow for.
But here's the thing.
You just hear that.
Don't grieve the Holy Spirit.
Sealed for the day of redemption.
But, if you ever stop and think, well,
I wonder what grieves the Spirit.
You know what's very interesting about Ephesians 4,
where that's stated?
If you look at the context, it basically
says this.
Hear this very carefully.
It says, Therefore, putting away lying, Let each
one of you speak the truth with his
neighbor, for we are members of one another.
Okay, you just think about that.
You know what?
Lying, not telling each other truth, that does
not make for peace.
You lie to each other, that makes for
hostility.
But notice what it says.
It says, Speak truth with your neighbor, for
we are members of one another.
Or it says this.
Let him who stole, steal no longer.
You start stealing, and you can steal other
things than just possessions.
You can steal somebody's reputation by just flapping
your lips in a way that does damage
to other people.
But it says this.
Stop stealing, but rather labor, working with your
own hands, what is good, that you may
have something to give to him who has
need.
Let no corrupt word proceed out of your
mouth, but what is good for necessary edification,
that it may impart grace to the ears.
You keep going along here.
It says, Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor,
evil speaking be put away from you with
malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God and Christ
forgave you.
Sandwiched in the middle of that is don't
grieve the Spirit.
It's very interesting.
If you take that in context, do you
recognize what Paul is saying to people?
Stop with the wicked conduct that is destructive
to one another, and do that which helps
one another.
See, it's not just out there in a
vacuum.
He's basically saying, Stop using your mouth to
destroy.
Use it to help each other.
Stop using your hands to steal from each
other, and use them to be able to
give to each other.
Don't be bitter.
Don't be clamorous.
Rather, forgive one another.
And in the midst of all this, you
get, Don't grieve the Spirit.
Remember the Lord's Supper.
Division, the Spirit of God starts killing people.
Do you want to know what grieves the
Spirit?
This type of thing.
And Paul deals with the Corinthians.
Listen to this.
What?
Do you not have houses to eat and
drink in?
Remember, Assuredly I say unto you, As much
as you have done it unto one of
the least of these, you have done it
unto him.
Listen to this.
He wraps up with the Corinthians saying, Finally,
brethren, farewell.
Be complete.
Be of good comfort.
Be of one mind.
Live in peace.
And the God of love and peace will
be with you.
Now that's conditional.
You have to hear it that way.
Live in peace.
And the God of love and peace will
be with you.
Do we want God with us?
Do we want God manifestly with us?
Well, then live in peace with one another.
You know what's very conducive to the Spirit
of God moving in here?
It's us loving each other.
It's peace.
You want to grieve the Spirit?
You want people sick and dying?
Brethren, this is what we're dealing with.
God will do things, and He'll reveal Himself,
and He'll be with us in ways He
won't when there's strife, quarrel, and conflict.
Listen to Paul.
You are still carnal for where there is
envy, strife, divisions among you.
Are you not carnal and behaving like mere
men?
You know what?
Christians are not mere men.
People that are merely man, we expect them
to fight or run.
Fight or take flight.
That's what mere men do.
You know what some Christians do?
The sons of God do.
They pursue peace.
And he says you're acting like mere men
when you allow this in the church.
Paul, you know what?
He warns them to stop, and he warns
them to stop at once.
Listen to what he says.
He says, brother goes to law against brother.
You see the strife.
And you're doing that before unbelievers?
It's already an utter failure for you that
you go to law against one another.
Why do you not rather accept the wrong?
Why do you not rather let yourselves be
cheated?
No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat.
And you do these things to your brethren.
You see, it's how he argued to the
Ephesians.
You're members of one another.
You're doing this to brethren.
You're taking the Lord separate.
These are people for whom Christ has died.
You're doing this to them, and in front
of unbelievers, he says, do you not know
that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom
of heaven?
You see where he takes it?
Yeah, you're acting like mere men, but I
want you to know this.
People that act like that don't inherit the
kingdom of heaven.
And what he recognizes is this.
If these people are genuine, they're going to
respond.
And you know when you get to the
second letter, they did.
Brethren, people can act merely like men for
a season, but if you act merely like
a man habitually, you show that you're not
a son of God.
And he says, don't be deceived by this.
The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of
God.
So we warn.
We admonish.
And then we take action.
Do you know that there's at least two
very clear passages, one in Romans and one
in Titus, that tells us if we've got
divisive people in the church, do you know
what we do?
Now see, you might think this isn't peacemaking,
but this is very peacemaking.
If we've got somebody divisive in the church,
and after we rebuke them and confront them,
it's not repented of.
It says, avoid these people.
In other words, you put them out of
the church.
I know some seasons of eradicating the church
of people, those seasons can be difficult, but
oh, I have seen such peace come after
people like that are eradicated from the church.
And here's what it says, Romans 16, 17,
I urge you, brethren, take note of those
who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the
doctrine which you learned.
See, it's contrary.
People that are creating division, they're basically going
against what has been taught by the apostles.
Avoid these people.
Titus 3.10, Reject a divisive man after
the first and second admonition, knowing that such
a person is warped and sinning, being self
-condemned.
See, he doesn't inherit the kingdom.
Self-condemned.
He's not a son of God.
This is what we're dealing with.
So, what happens?
We put a person...
I'm going to talk a little bit here
about disciplinary action in the church, because dealing
with sins in each other, I mean, if
we're really going to pursue peace, as much
as possible, as much as lies in you,
if we're going to pursue peace, we have
to be people that are pursuing our brothers
and sisters in the way of purity.
We cannot allow sin upon one another.
And the Bible is very clear about that.
There are ways that we seek to address
this.
Blessed are the peacemakers.
So, how do we pursue peace?
If it is possible, as much as depends
on you live peaceably with all men.
How do we do that?
How do we do it?
I'll tell you right in the beginning.
You've got to abide in Christ.
Because Christ said, without me you can't do
anything.
One of the things that's absolutely critical for
the church is peacemakers are people who are
not mere men.
We're not mere men because we're plugged into
Christ.
You do recognize that, I hope.
We draw resources that mere men never draw
from.
We draw from wells of salvation that the
mere man cannot draw from.
Do you recognize that Christ gives love, and
he gives wisdom, and he gives strength, and
he gives power, and he gives mercy, and
grace, and forgiveness for us to approach conflict
with in daily life that the mere man
doesn't have access to?
I mean, you do realize that, right?
We're not mere men.
There's not a conflict that comes up in
this church that we can't go to Christ
for the resources to deal with.
And you know where those come from?
Those resources come from Christ.
They come from being like Mary and sitting
at Christ's feet.
They come from people who live day in
and day out.
They live day after day in the Word,
finding Christ, in prayer, speaking to the Father,
speaking to Christ.
That is absolutely essential.
You know what?
You get lazy.
You get distracted.
You know what it'll lead to?
Carnality.
Carnality, you start acting like mere men.
You start moving away from spending quality time
with Christ.
Don't be surprised that you move towards a
fleshliness that will begin to grow in you.
You'll be sharp with people.
You'll be short with people.
Thoughts will come up.
If you're going to really be a peace
pursuer, you need to be a Christ pursuer.
The next thing is this, faith.
You know what?
A peacemaker is somebody that can step back
and view conflict through the lens of faith
in a God who is absolutely sovereign altogether.
Who never allows anything to happen in my
life by chance.
Have you ever read about what happens with
sparrows?
He knows.
He knows all about the sparrows.
Not one of them falls to the ground
apart from your father's will.
The very hairs of your heads are numbered.
Do you know if every single hair on
your head is numbered, he also has numbered
the conflicts that he has designed to come
into your life.
And you need to recognize this.
In first Corinthians, just listen to this.
Paul said, first of all, when you come
together as a church, I hear that there
are divisions among you and in part I
believe it.
For there must be factions among you.
Have you ever read that?
What?
We're supposed to be trying to keep the
factions out and yet Paul says there must
be factions.
But listen, why?
That those who are approved may be recognized.
That's what the New King James says.
You know what approved means?
Those who are genuine.
Do you recognize what happens when strife comes
into the church?
Those who are genuine rise to the surface.
Why?
Because those who are genuine peacemakers and that's
who's genuine, the peacemakers, it's shown.
Have you ever recognized that you get problem
people in the church and there's certain other
people that are problematic in the church that
tend to side with them?
Even if they're not directly involved, they kind
of like them, they kind of sniffed each
other out, they kind of found each other.
I have very often found that to be
exactly the case.
But brethren, we need to recognize this.
God specifically is going to bring things into
this church to test us.
Even though right now, you all came through
a season of testing a little over a
year ago.
I recognize that.
I recognize things happen.
But you know what?
Even though we may have a season of
peace right now, especially if God begins to
save, if God begins to use this church
and the devil really sits up and takes
notice, I'm going to tell you something.
We heard a message last week, we have
an enemy and he is in the business
of sowing tares.
And there is nothing in that parable that
seems to indicate that God is going to
prevent it.
In fact, God is going to allow it
to show who is genuine among us.
That's what we find in Scripture.
And so know this, whether God has designed
there to be some tension in your marriage,
some tension in your workplace, or some tension
in this church, this is all by God's
design.
What happens is we get tested.
You see, what we're made of.
You might not think that.
You know, wow, there's a problem in the
church.
Yeah, you're being tested.
Even though it may be happening over on
the other side.
I mean, what I mean by that is
people that you're not so directly involved with,
or you're directly involved with them, but the
conflict doesn't really involve you.
It's between two other parties.
It still is going to test you.
Because peacemakers are always not the people that
are in the conflict.
Oftentimes, a peacemaker is a moderator that comes
from the outside, that helps in that sense.
But God specifically brings this.
And you know what Scripture says.
There's no temptation that has overtaken you except
that it's common to men.
And what does God do?
God promises you a way out.
God promises that He's faithful.
He's not going to allow you to be
tempted beyond what you're able.
God is always going to make available to
you the strength and the wisdom.
I mean, as a child of God, as
a son of God, He is going to
make available to you the things that you
need access to, to weather the storm.
And see, that's what proves us.
We're tested.
That's why the factions come.
They test.
Who is it that's really clinging to God
in faith?
Every time there's a conflict in this church,
or in your marriage, or wherever, there's an
opportunity that gets laid before you.
I mean, it shows what you believe about
God.
Is God in control?
Does God have the resources here?
Is God giving me a way out?
A way of escape that we may be
able to bear up under this?
It's up to us to accept and use
His assistance and His resources and His truths.
I mean, God can heal.
God can help.
And our faith needs to be locked into
this.
But, listen, I have watched.
I mean, I was thinking, even thinking about
this.
Like, I remember one time where Ruby told
me something that was really difficult to hear.
And I walked out and I was praying
and I was pleading with the Lord.
And supernaturally, something happened.
And I know, I can think of different
times when my wife has had some situations
where there's been conflict and she's gone to
prayer and just testified how God just took
it right away.
Hudson Taylor.
I remember reading about him.
He said there was conflict.
And he really believed prayerfully that he was
right in what he was wanting from certain
missionaries in the China Inland Mission.
And there was conflict.
They were disagreeing with him.
And so they basically separated.
He just went to prayer.
And God changed the hearts of all of
those other missionaries.
Listen, this is something we've got to be
convinced of.
Do we believe that God is able to
do what we cannot do?
And have you ever thought that God brings
us into these conflicts to put Himself on
display?
We need to cling to Him and plead
with Him.
See, conflict provides these kind of opportunities to
put God on display.
Not so much us.
If we're peacemakers, we're peacemakers by His grace.
And it's just going to be an opportunity
for God to demonstrate His power working through
the people.
And I'll tell you, a lot of times
you're doing this contrary to how you feel.
I mean, we have to be guided by
truth, not by emotion.
Because there are times our emotions...
I remember one time I butted heads hard.
And I don't even remember what all the
issues were.
Over my pastor in San Antonio, not at
Grace.
This is Community Baptist Church.
I sat under a brother.
And there was a season where Ruby and
I, there was some conflict.
And I wanted to leave that church.
So did Ruby.
But I was convinced of this.
The way I feel right now feels awful
carnal.
And I am not going to make this
kind of decision based on these feelings.
And I said, I'm going to fast until
God gives me an answer and shows me
what to do.
And you know what the answer was?
And this is typically His answer.
Stay and seek peace.
And I did.
And you know, in the not too distant
future, I was then ordained in that church.
And the not too distant future after that,
sent out to start Grace.
And you know, I've looked back on that.
And I have thought...
Often when I've counseled people that are in
conflict, I've brought this story up.
Because I am pretty convinced that I would
not be where I am now if I
had walked away from that church.
So I'm being transparent with you.
Don't act on emotion.
Sometimes the right way, the way according to
truth, is exactly opposite of what your flesh
wants to do.
We want to strike out or we want
to run.
Because that's what the mere man does.
And we've still got this stuff that clings
to us.
And there's tendencies here.
So, I'll tell you this.
One of the things Peter says, if you're
going to do everything possible, one of the
things Peter says is love covers a multitude
of sins.
One of the starting points is we need
thick-skinned people.
Thin-skinned people, easily offended people.
They're a blemish on the church.
Why?
Because they walk around all the time and
you just...
You know the kind of people I'm talking
about.
You've got to walk on pins and needles
around them because they're just so easily offended.
Brethren, we need to thicken up.
One of the ways to overlook sin...
I mean, look, overlooking sin.
Sounds easy in theory, right?
Oh yeah, we can do that.
But when somebody actually insults you, they snub
you, they ignore you, they hurt you, or
they hurt your child, or they hurt your
wife, or they hurt your husband.
You see, now we're touching the apple of
the eye.
You know, in theory, oh yeah, we can
do that.
Until it actually is that thing that slaps
you beside the face and it's...
And see, the Lord knows how to bring
the conflict that touches you in the sensitive
place.
And if we're going to be the kind
of people that can overlook this thing, do
you know what has to control us?
Again, the idea of love.
That we're watching out for each other and
we're trying to get to the end.
So you've got to attack these things with
truth.
Because, and here's the truth, if the person
that hurt me is lost, well there went
I, aside from the grace of God.
I was just like that.
I hurt people like that.
I was insensitive like that.
And they're lost.
They don't know what they do.
You remember Stephen?
He could do the same thing his master
did.
Forgive them.
They don't know what they do.
Even as they're bouncing stones off his head.
Because he cared for them.
See, brethren, it's like I said some weeks
back, we can afford to overlook sin.
Do you recognize in just a few more
years, if you're a child of God, you're
going to be in such glory.
And you know one of the things you'll
hear well done for?
Is when I brought that conflict into your
life.
You did well.
You clung to me.
You clung to grace.
You see, we're the richest people in the
face of the earth.
If somebody does us a slight snub, I
mean, you think about it.
Somebody ignores you.
Oh, I'm offended.
I'm hurt.
Christ didn't ignore you.
I mean, do you realize?
It's just you don't have to, you can
afford not to be like that.
We can overlook these things.
And if they're a Christian, it's like, well,
I got my own rough edges still.
And so do they.
And you know, the kind of church where
we're able to overlook things and go on,
we need, you know how water is off
a duck's back.
Just beads up, boom, it's gone.
That's how we need to be.
And we can be that way if we're
geared with truth.
We're thinking about this.
God is for, I mean, it's kind of
like the Lord's Supper we're thinking about.
Christ died for them.
God's Spirit is at work in their life.
I mean, I can look at them and
recognize, you know what?
Yeah, they've got rough edges, but God's not
going to leave them like that.
And I'm glad because He's not going to
leave me like that either.
And so we can forgive.
I mean, we can forgive because God has
forgiven us of so much.
I mean, look what we did.
And by the way, forgiveness is a decision.
It's something you decide to do.
It's deliberate.
And remember this, brother goes to law against
brother.
That before unbelievers.
It's already an utter failure for you that
you go to law against one another.
Why do you not rather accept wrong?
Why do you not rather let yourselves be
cheated?
You see what he's saying there?
You'd be better off to not take your
brother to court and just allow yourself to
be defrauded.
That's what he's saying.
He's better off.
In other words, you as Christians, you can
do that.
Do you recognize there's nothing so...
I hope we would never get to this
place in this church.
You know what he says?
Isn't there somebody among you that can judge
this matter?
You see, there does come a place where
we need to get involved with this, set
up tribunals in the church, or even bring
matters before the whole church.
But let me tell you something.
Do you know the first step to dealing
with problems in the church?
Even if you can't overlook it.
And you know when not to overlook it?
When that sin is harming that person and
you can't just let them go on in
it.
Or that person's sin is harming others.
And it's harming this church.
We can't let them go on.
Or it's doing such dishonor to God, we
can't allow that to continue.
You see, there are problems.
There's questions to ask.
And there is another time to not just
overlook sin.
And that's if you feel that this person's
sin against you has caused you to create
a wall in your heart.
You've prayed against it.
You've tried to overlook it.
But you just recognize it's not going away.
Those are times to not overlook it.
But here's the thing.
If your brother sins against you, you know
what Scripture says?
Go to him alone.
Do you know one of the things that
does not make for peace?
Is when somebody offends you and you have
to go tell other people.
What a carnal approach that is.
Contrary to peacemaking.
Somebody hurts you.
Well, you need pity from somebody.
You need allies.
And so you know what you do?
You go tell people.
And it can seem a very holy thing.
I'm going to go tell the pastor.
I'll tell one of the deacons.
Why, they're officers in the church, so this
is more formal.
You know what?
When people come to me and want to
rat out somebody else, first thing I'm going
to ask them is, have you gone to
them?
Because I'm going to throw it back in
your lap, because that's what Scripture does.
You're supposed to go alone.
You're not supposed to go telling other people
about how you got offended, how you got
hurt, how somebody did this to you, that
to you, or the other thing.
If you're really going to resolve conflict, you
go alone.
Alone.
And you know that if you come to
me and actually tell me, oh, I have
had this happen so often, people come to
me and they say, oh, you know what
happened in this person's life?
But please don't tell them that I'm the
one that told you.
Don't ever put me in that position, because
you know what?
I can't go to the person and dogmatically
address them about something when they're wondering, how
do I know?
And I say, I can't tell you.
You know what that promotes in the church?
Suspicion.
Because now they're just thinking all the, who
said that, you know, you know what Paul
did?
Chloe's people told me about what's going on
over there.
I just want you to know this.
You come tell me about something, somebody else,
I'm going to send you back there.
And if it is something I feel like
I have to get involved with, I am
going to tell the individuals, so-and-so
told me this.
That is being transparent.
That is how you avoid suspicion.
That, listen, we got to operate that way.
But you go alone.
Don't go tell someone else.
And if they won't hear you, and you
can't gain your brother, oh, by the way,
when you go alone, Scripture does say a
few things.
One, it says get the log out of
your own eye.
A lot of times the person who goes
and addresses somebody else about sin, a lot
of times they're people that just simply can't
cover sin.
Because they're very proud, they're very thin-skinned,
and they've got this two-by-four just
sticking out of their own head, and they're
going to go try to help somebody else
with the speck.
You really need to examine yourself.
And I'll tell you this, if you come
in this condescending way, blasting somebody else about
their sin, you know what they're going to
do?
They're going to get defensive.
If you actually come to somebody, and you're
trying to talk to them about a problem
that they have, but you're also telling them
about the two-by-four that you've seen
in your own eye, either presently or in
the past that God has helped you deal
with, you know, as soon as you start
talking that way to people, it's amazing how,
right, they soften up.
Do you know what else we're told?
Is He going to restore a brother taken
in sin?
It says to do it with gentleness.
Sometimes we think we're being some kind of
these peacemakers, but we full well know the
thing we're saying is provoking to other people.
It is not the kind of thing that
is done in a gentle way.
I mean, a soft answer turns away wrath.
There's just a reality in Scripture.
And you know what it says there in
Galatians 1?
It says, you better be careful, because if
you're not gentle, you may fall into the
same temptation.
What you need to recognize is God is
very intimately involved in these things.
And do you realize if you don't deal
with gentleness, God who's watching may say, okay,
if you're going to deal proudly like that,
I'm just going to withhold the restraints, and
I'm going to let you be tempted in
a way that you fall flat on your
face.
Just be careful, brethren.
Be careful.
But here's the thing.
If you go to a brother and they
don't hear you, Scripture says to take two
or three, including yourself, you take one or
two others, and you go seek to resolve
it.
You know what you don't want to do?
Don't take your closest friends.
Don't take your closest allies.
For one, if you've got other people in
the church that have actually witnessed the same
sin in the person, they're good people to
take.
But if you really want to take the
people that are going to most help bring
peace, bring the people in the church that
you know to be peacemakers, not the people
that are most given to fighting and quarreling
and difficult to deal with, take peacemakers with
you.
Take people who are not afraid to find
fault in you, even though you're trying to
point out the sin in somebody else, they
are the kind of moderators that will be
faithful to everybody involved.
And then you know what?
If it doesn't work at that level, then
you bring it before the whole church.
And the whole church basically becomes the courtroom.
And the whole church goes after the person
and seeks to call the person to repentance.
And if at that point it doesn't work,
now these people are out.
You treat them like a Jew would have
treated a tax collector.
They were not welcome in the synagogues.
Or like they would have treated a Gentile.
You don't want to stay away from them.
You don't have them over to your house.
You don't eat with them.
That's what Scripture calls us to do.
And that is the greatest way to bring
peace, if you've got somebody that is just
absolutely opposed to peace in the church.
Now I know, again, I've probably overstepped my
bounds in how long I've gone.
But brethren, if we just close by this
reality, why did Jesus come into the world?
He came into this world to bring peace.
Prince of peace.
Peace between us.
The peace of His cross.
The peace that is bought by His blood.
Listen, we don't pursue peace at all costs.
We don't pursue peace at the cost of
truth or doctrine.
The foundations of our Christian faith.
No way.
But you know what?
We pursue peace at great cost to ourselves.
I mean, if you're going to pursue it,
you're going to put a great effort into
it.
And I want you to know, that's what
Christ did.
He put great effort into procuring peace for
us.
That's why He came.
God condescended in the person of the Son
of God to bring this peace.
And you know what?
This is where peacemakers come from.
He came to make us peacemakers.
We're sons of God because we imitate Him.
If God had simply stood on His rights,
we'd be in hell.
We'd be headed for a long damnation.
If He just simply said, you know, they've
wronged me.
Don't they know who I am?
I'm going to stand on my rights.
That isn't...
We have a God of peace.
And if we're children, we're going to bear
those same traits.
God help us to be truly children of
the God of peace.
Father, I pray for that grace, for that
help.
Lord, undoubtedly, You have ordained that there are
many battles ahead for us.
You're going to test those of us that
are genuine.
You're going to test all of us as
to what we're made of.
And I just pray for the grace of
God that we as a church would be
given the strength, the wisdom, the grace, the
mercy, the forgiveness to weather the storms.
That grace to overlook sin when we should
overlook it.
That boldness and courage to deal with it
when it needs to be dealt with, the
sin, disunity.
Help us to be strong, to put divisive
people out of the church.
Lord, we want this place to be a
place in our meetings where the Spirit is
not grieved, but where there is love and
intimacy and closeness, where the Spirit is fully
operating, moving among us.
We don't want the Spirit to be quenched.
Father, if there is anything here that is
quenching to the Spirit of God, I pray
You'd expose it.
I pray that You'd fix it.
I pray that You'd be a help to
us, Father.
In the name of the Lord Jesus, I
pray, Amen.
You're dismissed.