sermonette: Peacemaker

Trumpets and Peace
Bill Cherry
Given 07-Sep-02; Sermon #575Bs; 22 minutes

Description: (show)

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Thank you, Brian and greeting to you all. Please turn to Isaiah 9 chapter 9 and verse 6. For unto us a child is born unto us. A son is given unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulders and the government shall be upon his shoulder. Oh shall be called wonderful counselor, the mighty God. As Father, the prayer of peace. The day of trumpets pres Christ's return. And it will be war to end all wars, and We will be in it forever as we heard. And it will be the beginning of an era of everlasting peace, ruled by the perfect peace. Now, Uh, verse 7 says, Of the increase of his government and peace, there should be no end. So God, the day of trumpets, pictures a time when peace will begin. And God wants us in this life right now to learn the way of peace, and learn to be peaceful and learn to live as peacemakers, so we can teach other people when Christ returns and sets up his government because we have learned ourselves in this era right now. The purpose of this sermon is to show you three scriptural passages that will tell us how we can be peacemakers. So please turn to the first one, James 3 and verse starting at verse 14. Have you ever had your feelings hurt, hurt by somebody, maybe they said something, or maybe they did something, or maybe they did not do something. But this can happen to all of us. And if we are not careful, it can turn into bitterness, and maybe we feel really down and sometimes our reaction might be. Something to cause hurt and strife to happen. Now, bitterness is a feeling. It's something that we have inside of us, and strife is an action that causes other people to react and probably with strife, and probably to generate strife. So let's see what James says about bitterness and strife. Verse 14 of James 3, but if you have bitter envious and strife in your heart, Very not, and why not against the truth. This wisdom descends not from above, but is earthly, sensual, and devilish. Now, we've seen movies. And TV dramas where they have a good guy and a bad guy sometimes and you feel like you know, you start identifying with a good guy and somebody will do something to maybe harm him or offend him, or you say, well, that guy shouldn't do this. And so the movie is generated that to show you this guy is being unjustly treated. And by around and by the end of the movie, he comes around and he gets even, like I say, I do not get mad, I get even and the the motive of the movie will be that he finally wins out and justice wins out. But sometimes we can get this idea that is portrayed by the world. That we have an obligation to get even and it's our place to avenge people and to our place to not let anybody get one up on us. But this wisdom is earthly, sensual, and devilish just like it says. So this is not of God and it's not from above. Now verse 16 tells us the result of envying strife, where there is envy, envying and strife, there is confusion. And every evil work. So I think the first thing that we can consider when we have envying and strife or or bitterness feeling of bitterness confusion can happen a lot of times when we get bitter about somebody, then everything they do, we say, aha, he's against me and, and, and make a Uh, false concept of what this person is and what he feels. And so this bitterness can come into us and there is confusion and confusion is with us, confusion with people around if we react differently from a loving kindness. So, so this is a product of envy and strife. But the wisdom, then on the verse 17, contrasting it to the wisdom from from above, but the wisdom that is from above is first pure. Our motives are pure. We want to obey God. We want to represent God. We want to do the will of God. So there is our pure motives and then peaceable. And first, peaceable, we have peace when we keep God's commandments. We have peace when we understand God's will and make our lives as much like we think God wants us to do, and that's where our peace is. And so first, our peace is within and with God, and then We want to have peace with other people and their scriptures that say as much as possible, live peaceably with all men. So our desire is for peace, right? Next thing, full easily, excuse me, gentle, and sometimes we can react in such a way. With a pure motive that manner may be gruff and it may be offensive to people. So it's wise to be gentle and to strive to be gentle, um, and easily. And easy to be entreated. And I think a lot of times the Somebody will come to us and they they want to talk to us, and we may be preoccupied with something and, and not even give them our full attention. So stop, look, look them right in the eye and listen and listen to what they say and really care. So this is the wisdom from above, easy to be entreated, full of mercy. Good fruits, the things that you do without partiality and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sow in peace of them that make peace. So our goal is to be peacemakers, and before we can produce righteousness, before God's government can extend to all the world, there must be an atmosphere of peace. And, and so this is what. Um, We have to create peace in an atmosphere of peace. And now, please turn to Matthew 5, and most of you know what I'm going to read Matthew 5 and verse 9. But the thing I want to show you is that blessed are the peacemakers, for they should be called. The children of God. See this is what Our aim is to become a child of God, to be a part of His kingdom, and People recognize the children of parents because they like them. They look like them, they, they act like them. And so that's what we want people to see in us in this life. He's like God. He's acting like God. He's a child of God. And so this is what a peacemaker does. Now in the same chapter. We have a simple. List of instructions that we can do to be a peacemaker. Simple, clear instructions. Now, They're not hard. They're not easy to do, but they are simple and clear. Verse 44. But I say unto you. Love your enemies. Bless them. They curse you, do good to them. They hate you. And pray for them which despitefully use you. That's very clear. But we need to examine our own motives and a pure heart, and see, do we really love our enemies? Do we really see them as a creation of God who has the same faults as human beings that we do. And that God has a great love for them and that we have a love for them that we should have. Uh, if we love our enemies, what happens to bitterness and strife? There is no place for it, not at all. It's with somebody that you loveHow about blessing them, they curse you. Um, Think about things you can say to them to encourage them. See, think about things you can say about them to other people to see their good points, but see, you're using your mouth to say something about that person. Now, um, This This moment now let me see I got. OK. I do good to them. Uh, the next one says do good to them. Which um And do good to them that hate you. Now, I want to tell you a story about a man that was in God's church. He's, he's, he's dead now, but he was a very fine, righteous, sincere man. And he worked at a, at a grocery store and he He had a there was a man that was working with him that said, I hate, and his name was Max, I hate Max, and he would talk ugly about him in his presence and behind his back, and He made Max's life at the grocery store miserable. And Max was, he was giving him, he was seriously considering quitting because he said, I do not need to live in an atmosphere like this, and I do not need to work in an atmosphere like this. But what happens This man that was talking about him. Uh, came to a situation in his life where he was in financial trouble. He really needed money, and I'm not sure what the situation was, but he really needed money. And Max found out about it. And he went to the man and said, I will loan you $1000. It stopped the man's mouth. It was a great witness. To the way of God and the kind of man that he was. And the man never more said anything about Max, but he was very much appreciated of what happened. So this is an example of doing good to them that hate you. Now the next one says, um, pray for them. Excuse me. All right, pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. And when we go to pray for somebody. We come before God and we realize God only is good. We're not good. God only is good. And that we are sinners just like this man, so we see him in the light, we see ourselves in the true light of what we are. And then our prayer should be, God, how do you want me to react to him? And the scriptures make it plain. Um, how do you want me to react and what do you want me to learn? So we want to do God's will, but when we pray, we change our perspective on the way we look at people and the way we look at ourselves and, and learn to be peacemakers. Now the other scripture, please turn to I Peter 3. Alright, in verse 8. So. Uh, we will read 8 and 9 together. Uh, finally, do you all of one mind having compassion, one of another. Lavish brethren, be pitiful and courteous. Now this word pitiful, I have a note that says kind-hearted. So, so that's what pitiful means. Not rendering evil for evil or railing for wailing, but contrary wise, blessing, knowing that you are there to call that you should inherit a blessing. So, um, First to be of one mind. It with somebody else, you need to communicate with them, talk with them, try to understand. The way they feel, and I think an an example of somebody who made peace and tried to be of one mind was Abraham and lot. And her husband were fighting over, you know, we, we want this place for our water or we want to put our cattle here and so their husband there was conflict. And Abraham said, look, we've got the whole land ahead of us. And, and they, he said, OK, now we will, we will be of one mind. We'll make this line here. You want this side, you take it, I'll take the other. You want that side, you take it. And I'll take the other. And so they had an agreement, and they had one mind about this particular thing, and it was a way to make peace. And so there are ways that we can make peace with other people and A lot of times, communication is a key, trying to understand the way they feel, what they want, and sometimes you ask them, it makes them really consider what, what do I really want, or makes you consider sometimes, what do you really want. Right, not willing evil for evil and um This is no retaliation. Now for me, Uh, one of the greatest things that That I have understood from being in the church of the great God are are reinforced to me with God's sovereignty. And that God is overseeing us and he looks at our eyes very uh. That's very special, and he's concerned about what we do on an individual basis. And he takes charge and the things that happen are are not just happening if they are controlled by God. Um So it gives me in Romans 12:19 echoes this. It says we do not turn there, but it says uh. Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord, I will repay. And so if we understand. Peacemaking and we understand God's sovereignty. We know that God is in charge and he's going to repay as we heard this morning. He's going to shake this as as as as Rodman is like a rag doll, take it by the equator and shake it. And people will be shocked at the power of God when he finally decides to punish people for blasphemy and all the sins that they do. But it's God's prerogative. It's not man's prerogative, it's God's prerogative. And God is sovereign, and he judges. But when you decide. Don't let that bother you. Don't think about getting even a bitterness. It gives you peace. It takes a whole terrific burden off of you. You do not have to produce justice. You do not have to do it. It's God's place. He tells you not to, and you do not even see it from God's perspective. Now. An example of not rendering evil for evil was when David was In exile are fleeing from Absalom, and a man of the house of Saul named Shia came out and started throwing rocks. Now he was not very smart because it was David's company, and he started throwing rice and cussing David, and Abii said, let me go over and take his head off. And he's the one who said, let me smite him I not hit him, but just once. And so there goes his head. That was what he was capable of doing. But David said, no, let him curse. He was sent by God to crush me, and he said, let him crush and do not take any vengeance on this man. Well, The, the, the rest of it, for he that will love life and see good days, that is the formula now. We've heard a sermon about depression. And we know that this world is not a happy world. And the people are unhappy and they get down, but that's not what God wants us to do, and it's not the way God wants us to live. We should be happy, we should be joyous and have, as we read the oil of joy, but, but I, life should be happy, but here is 3 things we can do or 4 things that we can do to make it happy. It says, for he that will love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil. Love him, uh. Wait a minute, and his lips that they speak no guile. Don't say anything bad about somebody else. Let him chew evil. You hate evil? Identify and stay away from it. Do good. Seek peace and ensue it, which means follow after it after you find it, to seek it. OK, that's the way to love life, but Uh God has given us a way of peace. We are called to be peacemakers in this life. We should set it as our goal to make peace if we possibly can, and And give peace to all men. Uh, without partiality, we want to become like God. And have The label a child of God, and blessed are the peacemakers, for they should be called the children of God. So Trumpets shows when God, when Christ comes, sets up his government and the increase of his government in peace, there should be no end. And we who have qualified when they were him. Because we have learned the way of peace, and we will produce the fruit of righteousness and peace.