Being A Peacemaker

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. And I have chosen as my text verse, is it the 8th Beatitude that says, Blessed are the peacemakers, for what? They shall be called the children of God. As I thought of that verse, there was a question that came to my mind. [00:00:34] Why does it say they shall be called the children of God? Why doesn't it say they shall be children of God? And you think about that. Maybe we'll come back to that a little bit later. But I found some interesting things as I looked at that. I entitled my message, Being a Peacemaker, as I looked in the Native Topical Bible for references, I didn't find any references under Peacemaker. And so I looked a little more carefully, and I noticed that under peace, there was one designation of spiritual peace. [00:01:13] There was another designation of a social peace. And I don't know what the word social does to you. It does a little bit of this to me. Why? We don't believe in preaching a social gospel, do we? And I don't think we should. What do we mean when we say preach a social gospel? If I understand what we mean by that term, we mean doing good to others and basing your salvation on that. [00:01:46] Now, let me hasten to say that I think our gospel must also be social but that is not the primary thing that it must be and as I gave that some thought it gave me more of a peace for that which I would like to do I would like to say that I would like to have some input from you I would like to think of a little bit later I'd like to look at some companion words [00:02:16] I'd like to look at some words and just have you tell me then or get some input from you how are these related or maybe they're not related to a social peace or being at peace one with another. When we talk about social, we're talking about relating to our fellow men, right? That's what I understand. The social gospel that we object to is just simply doing good to your fellow men depending on that for salvation. That will never get us where we want to go. [00:02:47] And so that has some things that we want to be careful about. I would like to just simply look at a few scriptures that relate to us being at peace with one another or in the case of some of these, it was people being admonished to be at peace one with another. The first scripture reference, I debated whether I should use this one. is found in Genesis 45, 24, and I think if I will read this, you will recognize who the speaker was who was hearing this. [00:03:26] It says this, so he sent his brethren away, and they departed, and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way. Who was speaking here? Joseph, that's right, and we already know from the passage he was speaking to his brethren. And it's interesting that Joseph should say that to his brethren, and I asked, why did he say that? I think Joseph was saying, don't be quarreling about who's at fault for what happened to me, to Joseph. [00:03:58] If I understand, he is saying, don't, don't go and start fighting, because he knew a little bit about his brother's tendencies. There are some other scriptures that I'd like to just look at and these are going to be kind of piecemeal. If you want to jot them down and look at them later, that is fine. Psalm 123 verse 1 says, Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. And then, in Proverbs chapter 15, verse 17, it says, [00:04:33] Better is a dinner of herbs, or we would say a vegetable dinner, than where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. What is the author saying? What is the proverb writer saying here? Probably Solomon. Better a dinner of herbs, with where love is, than to have a stalled ox with hatred. I don't know what a stalled ox means to you, but I see that as an abundant supply of food to eat, and not just vegetables. [00:05:04] We can eat some beef along with it, is what I am saying, what I am hearing the proverb writer say. But he says it's better to have meager, a meager supply, a meager meal, where there's love, peace, than plenty with strife or with hatred, is what he said here. Proverbs 16.7 is an interesting one. It says, Where a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. [00:05:39] And there are a number that I could read. Ecclesiastes chapter 4 verse 6 says, There is better a handful with quietness than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit. And I'm just going to read a few more. They have Matthew chapter 5 verse 9, which I already quoted at the beginning here. But I'd like to read a few more. This one comes out of Acts, but it's actually a, it was what Stephen said in his defense. [00:06:15] And he was quoting from Exodus chapter 2 verse 13 and 14. You can go there for the original or Acts chapter 7 verse 26. This is what he said, And the next day he, Moses, showed himself unto them, his fellow Israelites, as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren, why do ye wrong one another? But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Moses saw his role as that of a peacemaker [00:06:49] that of a person who would maintain the peace he was not accepted as that and in fact you remember what it says there when he knew that what he had done was public knowledge he fled to Midian and there was married and there lived for 40 years now in the epistles I'd just like to read a number of scripture references This is from Romans, chapter 12, verse 18. Paul wrote this, If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. [00:07:25] And in Romans, chapter 14, verse 19, Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. And then in 1 Corinthians 14, verse 33, For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. And there are a number more that we could read. Maybe that is all that we should read until I'd like to look at at least one of these at the end here today. [00:07:59] That gives us a little bit of a basis for what we would like to look at today with you. As I said, we are not interested in preaching a social gospel. But there's one more thing I'd like to say along with that. If my peace with God is not verified by the fact that I can live peaceably with my fellow men, it gives people a reason to question my peace with God. I think some of you have heard me say that when our relationship is right with God, [00:08:34] It makes so that our relationships with our fellow men are correct also. And that is what I'm referring to when I say, if I cannot live peaceably with my fellow men, then it gives people reason to question how my relationship with my God is. As I thought of the, of why does it say what it does, what did Jesus say what he did? In Matthew chapter 5, I think it's verse 9 that I read to you. It's close to that. [00:09:07] Why did he say they shall be called the children of God? I don't very often use a concordance, or I'm not a concordance, I use a concordance a lot, but I don't very often use a commentary in preparing for a message. But I wondered enough, why was it that Jesus said that, that I turned to several commentaries, I turned to the Matthew Hendry commentary. It didn't really help me out a great deal. I have a commentary that I got from my parents. It's one that I turn to occasionally. Very seldom do I find a great deal in there that is helpful, but I thought it was interesting what they wrote about Matthew chapter 5 verse 9. [00:09:49] And I'd just like to read a little bit of what they had to say. And I'd like for you to listen carefully. I know this isn't as easy to do, to listen carefully to a commentary being read. They say this, Of all the Beatitudes, this is the only one that can hardly be expected to find its definite ground in the Old Testament. Many of the others are. This one, not so much. It was not till Christ made peace by the blood of the cross that God could manifest himself as the God of peace that brought again from the dead the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant. [00:10:34] Hebrews 13.20 could reveal himself as in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them and hold himself forth in the astonishing attitude of beseeching men to be reconciled unto himself. That's what God is asking for. Now, what follows here, I think, is noteworthy. When this reconciliation actually takes place, [00:11:05] and one has peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, even the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, the peace receivers become peace diffusers. What's a diffuser? Something that gives out, right? We receive peace, but if we receive peace and only keep it here, we become, as Brother Daniel referred to it, we become a retention pond. And we should not be a retention pond, we should be a conduit, rather. [00:11:36] So the peace receivers are recognized, or they become peace diffusers. And this is what he said that I thought was interesting, as far as shall be called the children of God. God is thus seen reflected in them and by the family likeness these peacemakers are recognized as children of God. They shall be called the children of God because people look at a person who is a child of God and they recognize him as in the same family as God is. [00:12:09] Since Amy's mother's death, we get some of her mail and we get some mail from the voice of the martyrs. We just got one small booklet recently that's a chapter out of a larger book, and I think the book is about a number of people who are serving Christ in very difficult situations. As I was reading this, it's about a young girl in Iran, and it's entitled The Fanatic. And the piece that this is talking about is the spiritual piece. I'm going to admit that to you, so it would be long in my message the last time that I preached. [00:12:46] But this young lady was, the reason she is called the fanatic is because she was that in serving Allah already. She was so desperate to find acceptance that she went to all lengths to serve Allah. She memorized the Quran, how do you pronounce it, I'm not sure. She would beat herself on the head, and I don't understand all this, but she was a very zealous person. One day her sister came home, she was a student at a university, and her sister had, I don't know if it was a CD, a DVD, it was something that portrayed the life of Christ. [00:13:28] And this young girl was confronted with Jesus Christ for the first time in her life. She looked at that a number of times and she became as desperate to follow God through Jesus Christ as she was before in serving Allah. And this young lady is a part of a house church in Iran. It is not easy to be a Christian because of the the Islam religion. It's a national religion. And to be a Christian is not easy. [00:13:59] This young girl, she said she was not even told you must go out and share. But she said there is something about being released from the prison that I was in. I could not be quiet. And I'm not sure why she went on the bus every day. But she went on the bus to and from, I suppose, her work. I'm not sure. She said, I made it a practice to pray, to pray for the person sitting beside me, to pray for the bus drivers, to pray for the people as they got off the bus. [00:14:34] And I would intercede on behalf of the people and she would talk to people as well. And she had unique ways of witnessing for the Lord. I'll let you read that. One day she was so tired that as she was praying she fell asleep and unknown to her, her head rested over on the shoulder of the next person beside her. And this person woke her up when the bus got to the end of the run and said, we're at the end of the run, you need to get off. [00:15:05] And so she did and evidently it was her place to get off. The next day she was on the bus again and there was no place to sit. She stood beside the same lady. And the lady asked, and this lady wasn't even aware that she was resting her head over in sleep on the other lady's shoulder. But she said, do you want to sleep on my shoulder again today? And she was kind of dumbfounded. The other lady had this to say. She said, I received so much peace when you were sleeping, resting on my shoulder. [00:15:44] Now, I don't know what that says to you. And I recognize that we're talking of a spiritual piece here that this lady sensed from this young Christian. I haven't read all of the booklet, but I have been blessed by reading that booklet and by seeing how God uses people to minister to other people. God wants to use you. He wants to use me to minister in that same way. And God will use us if we're willing to be used. And I trust that we are all willing to be used. [00:16:25] Now, I would like to just simply share some words, and maybe you want to jot them down. And I'd like for you to then come back and tell me, how are these words related to peace, social peace, being peacemakers, being at peace with one another? Some of these are fairly obvious. Some are not quite so obvious. What about the word forgiveness? And you can jot these down. I just like to go down over them. [00:16:56] Love is the second one I think of. And of course you could go to the opposite of these. Forgiveness, you could talk about unforgiveness. Love, you could talk about hate. Or some people say that indifference is actually a better opposite of love than hatred is. At any rates, you can do what you want to there. How about yielding my rights as a third one? Forgiveness, love, yielding my rights What about patience? [00:17:26] Or the Bible uses long-suffering, being long-suffering But we'll just say patience What about kindness? And gentleness? And I don't know if you recognize where I get some of these Some of these I'm just getting from Galatians 5, verse 22 The fruits of the Spirit What about meekness? Or humility? Meekness and humility I'm sure we could make a division. I know that they are very closely related one to another. What about self-control? Again, coming from Galatians chapter 5 verse 23, I think it is. [00:18:04] How about consideration, being considerate of another person, sensitive to his feelings or her feelings? Now, you have had just a little bit of time thinking about these. What about forgiveness? Is it related to being a peacemaker? Well, let me just go back a little bit further. I quoted Joseph. He said, told his brothers, now don't get into a fight when you go home. Don't quarrel on the way home. Did Joseph's forgiveness of his brothers have something to do with him being a peacemaker? [00:18:37] Definitely. Does it have less to do with us being a peacemaker? Now, as we look at forgiveness, I don't know for sure what you think of. when you think of forgiveness. But one of the things I think of in forgiveness is just simply canceling the debt that somebody else owes me. Or we could say it another way, assuming the debt. I take it on myself. That's what Jesus did for you and me. And the Bible talks about Jesus making peace. [00:19:10] He took away the middle wall of partition, it says in Ephesians chapter 2. And you read the, or you heard some of the scriptures that I read about Jesus making peace with us. If I really want, if I desire peace, Tim is saying, I'm going to forgive. I need to forgive. There is a definite connection if we have a love for one another. Let me see, what did Jesus say in John chapter 13, verse 35? [00:19:40] By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, one for another. Jesus is saying that it is important how we relate to one another. That's right. What about yielding my rights? Is that something that comes easy for us? You know, sometimes I sell things to people and then we don't get paid for it. Does that mean that by yielding my rights that I should overlook that? If it means that that's the only way to have peace, I think that should happen. Now, I do think that people should, for the most part, should pay for what they get. [00:20:16] We couldn't stay in business very long if most people wouldn't pay. And so I understand that. But the thing that comes to my mind is, am I going to let that stand between me and somebody else? Maybe he's a brother, maybe he isn't. But I think we would agree that it is better to yield my rights than to insist on them. But sometimes that becomes painful. In fact, doesn't it often become quite painful to yield my rights? [00:20:51] The rights of that which is, you know, the law of the land would say, yes, it's mine. But if we are willing to give that up, how about patience? Here it's not so much a matter, well, it may be yielding my rights, But it may be saying if it takes longer than we said it would. Just recently we asked somebody to come do a little bit of work for us on the mobile home before Tim's moved in. And I was amazed. I called him, I think, on a Monday. He was there on a Thursday. And I appreciated the prompt service. [00:21:23] And we were gone when he left. And so I had to mail him a check. And I tried to mail him a check promptly. And I said, we appreciate your prompt service. and I suppose the economic climate has something to do with the fact that it was as prompt as it was but what if that drags out and you wish they'd come and yes they say they're going to come and it doesn't happen and this is talking about yielding rights and about patience as well I suppose but I think we're communicating [00:21:54] I said patience, kindness, gentleness, meekness, humility, self-control, and consideration for other people's feelings. Now, we talked about some of the fruits of the Spirit here and how they relate to peace. People, and these people, I had to think of how these people stood for what they believed. Were they peacemakers? I suspect if you would have asked the Catholic people, they would have said, no, they're not peacemakers. [00:22:31] They are, well, they call them heretics. But were these people peacemakers? Did they make peace with their fellow men? There's a picture of a man, and he is standing with his hands tied, and he's standing just in front of a barrel of water, and about to be pushed over backwards into the barrel of water, drowned. I don't know how you pronounce his last name, Jairus Whip, I suppose, W-I-P-P-E, I think. The executioner had something to say about his willingness to execute Jairus Whip, and it caught my attention. [00:23:07] And it answers the question as to whether Jairus Whip was a peacemaker or not. He said, and I don't know if he was the person who actually killed, who actually pushed Jorah's whip over backwards or not. It's not clear in the Martyrs Mirror. But this is what he said. He said, how can I execute a man who has so often fed my wife and children when they were hungry and destitute of food? Was he a peacemaker? [00:23:38] Resoundingly, yes, he was a peacemaker, even though the Catholics might not have said that about him. So, one of the things, I was talking about this with Amy, and I said, what constitutes a peacemaker? And she had this to say, she said, not a person that's wishy-washy. That's right. These people in the Martyrs Mirror were not wishy-washy. they knew where they stood and we need to know where we stand on issues of right and wrong [00:24:10] but then sometimes when we the yielding comes when we have personal interpersonal relationships and we work one with another we need to be peacemakers written by Ken I think his last name is pronounced Sandy it's S-A-N-D-E I was amazed Ken Sande is a Christian attorney. He's a lawyer. Would you expect a lawyer to write a book on being a peacemaker? [00:24:41] He does. But some of the things that he writes in there were just a blessing to me and they have to do with the very topic that we're talking about. I think Bill and Steve are the right names of two people. Bill was a contractor. He built a house for Steve. and they became, they were both professing Christians and they became involved in litigation in a lawsuit. Bill said this house was not built the way it should have been [00:25:12] and no, I'm sorry, Steve was the person who said that and he said the house was not built the way it should have been and so he went to law, got a lawyer, went to law and of course Steve got another lawyer and they were butting heads in the legal system. They had been doing this, had spent thousands of dollars on attorney fees when somebody else got a hold of this and said, would you be willing to try to a team of people [00:25:46] and one of these was an attorney, one was a builder and I forget what the other person was and just let them try to bring peace about in this situation. And they were very hesitant. They held back. Finally, they agreed to try. They sat down together. Not much progress. They sat down for a number of days. They had a number of meetings and there was just not a whole lot of progress. It was interesting to me what the team that was trying to bring about peace did. [00:26:17] They gave them assignments and it was not out of here. They gave them assignments out of here and they said, go home and read this scripture and see what it says to you. And they came back and still not a lot of progress. And this went on for several days. Finally, the Holy Spirit spoke to Bill, the builder, and just helped him to see how he could be a peacemaker in this. And so at one of the meetings, he just simply asked if he could make a statement. So he did. [00:26:49] And his statement in short was something like this. He said, I have been convicted by, or maybe he didn't use the words, I've been convicted, but the Lord has shown me that I should just simply make this right. And then he had a list of the things that he agreed to do. I suspect that Ken Sand was the person on the mediation board. I don't know because of what he writes. But he said what that did to the tone, the tenor of that meeting was amazing. [00:27:25] He said Steve's countenance softened. Steve said this, he said, I was more at fault than Bill was. Can we see that they had a basis from which to work when they were looking at themselves? Can send, they said, I went to the one lawyer's office to drop off a paper there the next day. And then he said this, he said, the lawyer saw him out in the waiting room and motioned him back into the office and had him shut the door. [00:27:57] And then he just simply said this, I don't know if this lawyer was a Christian or not, the book doesn't say. But he said this about what he observed, he said, I saw two men that were unwilling to budge an inch. He said, what in the world happened? Ken told him it was God at work. The lawyer just conceded it must have been. Because I did not expect to see that happen. But this is what happens when we let God work in our lives. [00:28:27] And you see what happened there. We could say, well, Bill and Steve could have said, well, we've made a fool of ourselves. But instead of that, they just did what was right. and it spoke to those people. Ken Sandy said, one day I got a phone call from a lady and this is a little different track but it's also a part of this whole process and this lady said, I heard that you made a certain remark about a mutual acquaintance of this lady and Ken's [00:28:59] and Ken said, I just wasn't willing to confess that that was wrong. I defended myself over the phone to this lady, but the spirit started working in his life. And so he consulted another person and he told him what happened. And he tried to be honest with this person about what happened. The person started probing just a little bit and said, Ken, what? He found out some circumstances that Ken hadn't said. And this person was just simply, Ken said he was kind enough to tell me, Ken, I think you were wrong. [00:29:34] and Ken had to concede that he was. He said it took a few minutes but I picked up the phone and I called the lady back and just confessed that I was wrong. But the interesting thing, she gladly forgave him and you see this is what happens when we confess our wrongdoing, isn't it? Isn't this what happens to you? Sometimes we come to people that are gruff and would rather not, in our minds, would rather not hear more of us. [00:30:05] But I think 90 to 95 times out of 100 people appreciate when we come back. And even if they do not gladly extend forgiveness, the peace that we're left with is worth the going back. And I would just, I'd like to close with a verse out of James. You want to turn with me to James chapter 3. I'd just like to look at what James has to say here. [00:30:37] I'd just like to read one verse, and it's actually maybe kind of just, it is breaking in, close to the end of chapter 3, verse 17. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. [00:31:08] And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. Now, that last verse, I said, now what is that saying? The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. My Berkeley's, and I think the Amplified Bible makes this clear as well, if you have an Amplified. James chapter 3 verse 18 from the Berkeley's, modern Berkeley's says, [00:31:40] and the harvest which righteousness yields to the peacemakers comes from sowing in peace. And I like that. It says the same thing. It's just a little easier for this little boy to understand. Are we peacemakers? I have to think of peacemaking. There are some things that I would ask us about. How many people have to be, when two people are dealing together, [00:32:11] do both of them have to be peacemakers in order for their relationship to be peaceful? And I'm not sure if there's one right answer to that. But I think oftentimes when one person is a peacemaker, it makes it easier for that relationship to go smoothly. It's best if both of them are peacemakers, then one can cover for the other, and if the one fails, the other can cover for him. But if they aren't, if there is at least one peacemaker, I think God can often use that relationship to speak to the person who is not a peacemaker. [00:32:52] I had to think of some people in the Bible and I wondered about their relationship and what these people and as you envision a relationship, what that would say to you. I think of Naomi and Ruth. Peacemakers? I think so. What about David and Jonathan? What about Jacob and Esau? Jacob and Esau had this kind of a relationship, but I am blessed that at the end they made peace. [00:33:29] And so it's not always the same. What about Barnabas and Saul? Who was the peacemaker of those two? Paul or Saul? Peacemaking is, may we say it's a gift? Some people are more naturally inclined to be peacemakers than others. but I think we should all strive for it. Paul was not naturally given to be a peacemaker. As I read Paul's writings, Barnabas was. Who was the person that said, John Mark's not going with us? [00:34:02] He left us the last time we went back home. It was Paul. He wasn't willing to give him a second chance. But later we read that John Mark ministered to Paul. Paul wrote about John Mark. So, we may not all alike be peacemakers, but we can all work at cultivating our ability to be peacemakers. It does not justify us to not be a peacemaker, but the way we are wired does have something to do with it. [00:34:34] I think of Abraham and Lot, who was a peacemaker there. I don't know if Lot was necessarily a person that was combative, but he made a choice. I want the best. And it was not the choice that brought peace for him or his descendants. And we've looked at Joseph and his brothers. If there is one person in the Old Testament that I think of as a peacemaker, it is, I was going to look at this and I didn't. I failed to look at it in my notes. [00:35:07] But you read about it in Genesis. And I forget the chapter. Is it 24? For Isaac was a peaceful man, wasn't he? Do you read of Isaac ever having conflict with others? What happened when Isaac dug the wells that Abraham, his father, had dug before him and the people had stopped him up with dirt and stones and he dug them out? What happened with him? Was it peaceful? It was because Isaac just moved on. [00:35:37] It says that the herdsmen there at that place strove with him. They said, that's our well. So, Isaac moved on, dug a second well, what happened there? Same thing. It wasn't until Isaac dug the third well that he was able to live at peace. Could he have insisted on his rights? Yeah, he could have, but he chose to be a peacemaker. What are we going to choose to be?