Administering Peace
Notes
Transcript
Doxology:
This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart, that I might not sin against God. Amen!
Scripture Reference: Matthew 5:9
I love God! I love how faithful He is. I love how dependable He is. I love how good He is. God is good.
We have been walking through the Gospels chronologically since January of 2024. We started this January in Matthew 5 with the beatitudes. God knew exactly where we were going to be on this Sunday. God knew exactly where we needed to be on this Sunday. I do not find it coincidental. I do not think it is something of chance. I believe with all of my heart that it was orchestrated of God and I praise Him because of it.
Most of everyone here is already aware of the event that was scheduled to take place down the street. At the beginning of February, I found out that there was a drag queen show scheduled to take place on March 1 two doors down from our church here.
When this information first came out, everyone who knew about it was taken back. It was unexpected. It was something like we have never had in this area before. It caused everyone to get a little bit frantic.
My first action was to go town and talk with every official I could to determine whether this was a legit event or whether this was something that someone just through out there to cause chaos. At the time, no one in town knew anything about it so I was told that they would have to check into it and get back with me.
After about a week, I was told that this was an actual event scheduled and that it was planned to take place in that building on March 1. I made our deacons aware of the situation, we announced what was going on at our Wed evening prayer service, and we started reaching out to others so that they could be in prayer as well. At this time, our plan of action was to pray and ask God to intervene so that this event would not be able to take place. That was our prayer. God please step in and stop this.
It did not take long for this information to get out within the community. It even got shared on King of Kings radio last Tuesday. At this point, I started getting calls from many within our church, many within the community, and even people who were not a part of this community. They let us know that they were also praying for us and this situation. It was amazing to see how much support began rolling in on account of this.
After praying about this consistently, I felt in my heart that we as a church needed to respond. At the time, I just didn’t know how we needed to respond. I began to pray about how God would have us to respond to this, and I messaged all of the Deacons and let them know that we were going to be getting together after service on Wed evening.
The Deacons and I met, we talked things over, and we did not feel that God was leading us to take a direct approach. We did not feel like protesting, or any other form of direct approach, was what God was wanting us to do. We decided that on that weekend, we would open the doors of our church, invite all of those within the community, and simply come together to praise our Heavenly Father. We had decided to do this for three nights: Feb 27th, Feb 28th, and March 1st.
Our goal in this service was not to speak evil of the people down the street; it was not to wish evil upon those down the street; it was simply to offer our community the option to come together and worship God for how good and faithful He is. The next afternoon, Thursday afternoon, we found out that the show had been canceled. Praise God!
With that being said, those three nights of praise and worship are still scheduled for the end of this month. We will be hosting a three night praise and worship conference here at our church. It will begin each night at 7 pm. We will have prayer, singing, and preaching each night. And this event is for everyone in our community and the surrounding communities to come take part. Again, our goal is simply to praise God for His faithfulness. This is not going to be a bashing service, but a praise service. He is definitely worthy of our praise!!!
The title of the message today is this: “Administering Peace In A Culture of Chaos”.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.
Context
Context
We are living in a different day. Our culture today is one like never before. We are living in unprecedented times.
Now I do not say this in the context of sin in general, because sin has always existed in the world, it just comes in different forms at different times. But things we are experiencing today are things that we have never had to face before.
With that being said, we are living in a culture that is in complete chaos and many people within the Church are confused about what to do. How is the church supposed to respond as these things come our way? How is the church supposed to navigate through these things? What does God expect of His people?
That is the question that we need to answer, right? What does God expect of us? Not what does the world expect of us, but what does God expect of us?
Well I am thankful that the Bible, the Word of God, though it was completed over 2,000 years ago, provides all of the answers we seek.
This is my Bible....right! It is what? It is God’s Holy Word.
It is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Not only does it illuminate for me which path I am to travel, but it is more personal, more intimate than that: it shows me what my very next step should be.
And what am I to do with the precious, living, breathing, Word of God? I am to hide its words within my heart. I am to read it, study it, meditate on it, pray over it, and most importantly apply its truths to my life.
And why do I do this? So that I might not sin against God. My goal is to ever be in the will of God. My goal is to please my Heavenly Father.
We say this every Sunday as we start our service. Each phrase comes from the Word of God and the phrase as a whole means so much.
So what instruction does God have for us today:
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.
Content
Content
The Foundation of Peace
The Foundation of Peace
“Peacemaker” is a compound word made up of two smaller words.
The Greek word for peace is “Eirene (i-ray-nay)”. It means to bring together, or to be at rest.
The Greek word for maker is “Poieo (poy-eh’-o)”. It simply means to make.
So a peacemaker is one who makes peace. It is one who brings things together, or causes things to be at rest.
Oh my, how we need more peacemakers today. Amen!
Peace is one of the major themes of Scripture:
It is mentioned directly right at 450 times and many more times indirectly.
It is one of the fruits of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5.
It is here described as one of the defining characteristics of a Christian.
It is one of the most sought-after things in the world.
Though it is one of the most sought-after things in the world, it seems as if so many struggle to find it. Everyone longs for it, but few actually experience it, and I think it is because they either don’t understand what peace truly is or they simply do not know how to find it.
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, was the greatest proponent of peace that this world has ever seen. Scripture actually tells us in Isaiah 9:6
6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Jesus is the Prince of Peace! No one knows peace better than Him. No one has exemplified peace more than Him. If we want to understand peace, all we have to do is look to the Word of God. God has shared with us everything we need to know about peace right here.
The Fallacies of Peace
The Fallacies of Peace
There are some common misunderstandings when it comes to peace:
Peace is the absence of adversity.
Even though we refer to times such as this as peaceful times, true peace is not characterized by what is external. What goes on around me does not get to decide what goes on within me. Therefore, peace is not the absence of adversity, but rather the ability to remain assured and at rest in the midst of adversity.
37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.
38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.
Jesus was in the same boat as the disciples. Jesus was in the same storm as the disciples. Yet when we read the story, the disciples are frantic because of what is going on around them, while Jesus is perfectly at peace. Jesus is in the front of the boat taking a nap while the disciples are afraid for their lives.
If we are only at rest in our souls when nothing bad is happening around us, then our peace is short lived, for there will always be someone or something that is challenging us. That is just life. There are too many people in this world, all with their own point of view, all with differing opinions, all with their own outlook on life, for everything to always go the way you want it to. When it doesn’t, true peace allows us to be at rest in our soul.
Peace can be manifested at one’s own will.
Peace is something that is deeply rooted within an individual. Its source does not come from others, or from circumstance or situation, but rather from God. As we have already discussed, peace is a fruit of the Spirit, so the source of true peace comes from being tapped into the presence of God. We see that here in Matthew 5:9, but we also see that in Galatians 5:22
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
True peace is not a matter of will power. If it were, then anyone could experience it. But Scripture makes it very clear that true peace can only be experienced by those who are tapped into His presence, by those who are children of God.
22 “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”
Being peaceful means that someone is overly passive.
Some people think that being peaceful is a sign of weakness. They feel that though peace has its place, other more direct actions are the best way to operate. If we just sit back and do nothing all the time, then we will constantly be run over by others and we will lose ground.
Let me say that some of this is based upon truth. If the church takes a back seat, never says anything, never stands up for truth, never pushes back against sin within our community or even sin within our local churches, we will get run over and we will make zero spiritual impact. Matter of fact, if we operate in this way, we will move further away from God.
But let me also say that true peacefulness is not to be overly passive. True peace does not run from confrontation, but simply chooses wisely which battles to fight and how to fight them. Not every battle is won from a head-on attack. Not every spiritual roadblock is overcome with a direct approach. Sometimes, the right answer is to simply pray and leave it in God’s hands. Other times, God expects us to get involved, have boots on the ground, and share His voice in the midst of the situation.
As we have already stated, Jesus was the Prince of Peace, but notice these verses:
13 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14 And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.
15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.
16 And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!”
Though Jesus was the Prince of Peace, there came a time when those outside of the family of God had crossed a line. When that time came, He sprang into action.
When we look at Jesus in Scripture, He never ran from trouble. When trouble came to His doorstep, He never backed down. He called sin....sin. He culled nothing. He never pulled any punches. He spoke truth and righteousness, and He did it in love.
But we also see in the Scripture, that Jesus does not go about looking for trouble either. He didn’t walk into the house of the religious leaders condemning them for how they were living their lives. He didn’t go around pointing fingers at everyone because of their sinfulness, stirring up trouble everywhere He went. He operated with a heart that was full of peace and directed in a way to bring about peace as much as possible.
The Forms of Peace
The Forms of Peace
Peacemakers: Who are we to make peace with?
Peace with God
First, we must realize that in order to have peace within the world around us, we must first have peace within us. Jesus came, lived, and died so that we might experience peace with God.
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Before salvation occurs in one’s life, there is no peace between them and God. As an individual sees God for who He is and sees themselves for who they are, they begin to understand their need for Him in their lives. He is God Almighty. It is because of Him that we exist. It is because of Him that we know and understand good from evil. He has given us His Word to direct us in these things.
As one leans into this understanding, they begin to agree with God on what He has said, and they submit to His will. They acknowledge that their sin has separated them from God and they repent of that sin. Once an individual places their faith in God, salvation occurs. It is at this moment that all sin is forgiven, which paves the pathway for peace to exist between that individual and God. As this verse states, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
When we read in our verse today, “Blessed are the peacemakers,” we must understand that first and foremost, our calling as Christians is to lead others into that same peace with God that you and I now experience. Our main focus should be on how we can get others to the foot of the cross of Calvary. That is our aim, to see souls saved.
This purpose must overshadow everything else. If we miss this, then we might very well do many things in the name of Christ and the church that bypasses our main purpose. Therefore, our main purpose as peacemakers is to help others find the peace of God in their own hearts.
15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
7 How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
We must above all else seek to bring those who are lost and undone into a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Peace Amongst the Brethren
As the peace of God is established in our hearts, we are then to exercise that peace towards one another, especially towards our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We have all been called into one body, and we are to operate is if we are one body. Therefore, we are to pursue peace with one another. It is our position in Christ that brings us together. As we all focus on the Kingdom of God, we are able to push forward in His interest, not our own.
19 Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.
Our goal here is to edify one another in the name of Christ. If we are truly pursuing the things of God, we can and will be unified through the peace of God.
22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Another aspect of this is that if we cannot operate with peace towards one another, how will ever lead others to peace who are outside of the church? When fighting, grumbling, complaining, bickering, and gossiping exists amongst ourselves, it absolutely destroys our witness to those who are out there. How can we preach peace to them if we cannot find peace in here?
50 Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.”
Now after we have experienced peace with God and peace amongst ourselves, we are in a position to where we can attempt to establish peace with those in the world.
Peace with the world
This is where most of the confusion comes into play. When it comes to dealing with the world, how are we, the church, supposed to respond? How are we to navigate through issues when we are dealing with those who do not share the same principles and beliefs that we do?
How we are not to respond:
We are not to respond with fear.
33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
The peace of God goes beyond logic and reason. It goes beyond what makes sense. Even when things don’t make sense, you can still experience the peace of God in your heart knowing that He is in control and everything is going to be ok.
Why is this important? Because it guards your heart. You need this peace to guard your hearts. If not, you will start to second guess yourself, and second guess God.
I have had so many people come to me since all of this has happened and say, “You know what Bro. Thomas, I think we should have purchased that property when we had the chance.”
We looked at it all wrong. Instead of looking at the value of the property in terms of the building and the land, we should have looked at it in terms of what value it could of had to the church.
We could have done so much with that property. It could have been this and could have been that.
Well I know we prayed about it, but we really didn’t pray that long about it. Maybe we should have prayed some more about it.
No amount of money is too much for a peace of mind.
If we would have bought it then, we would not have to be dealing with this right now.
When we are not driven by the peace of God, we begin to second-guess things when things go sideways. Here is what I know:
When that property came up for sale last time, we did have a chance to buy it. We sent some of the men of our church over to look at the building and survey everything.
We also had someone pull comps on the property to see what kind of money we should be looking at it concerning purchasing it.
We also prayed about it. Not only did we have ask the church to pray about that property for an entire month, we even took one of our evening services, split up into prayer groups, and went on a circuit around our entire property. We laid hands on this building (the sanctuary, the event center out back, the parsonage across the street, the post-office that is directly connecting to us and then also that property which next door to that. We went around that night, laying hands and praying over all of these facilities and properties and we prayed for God to grant us wisdom and guidance on what we were to do. We prayed that He would grant us with what we needed, when we needed it.
After all of that, we came back together the next month, looked at everything we had to go off of, and went with what we felt was right, which was not to purchase the property at that time.
Yea. But if we would have bought the property, this would not have happened. You are exactly right. If we would have bought that property:
This community would not have come together… cross-denominationaly for a single purpose.
This community would not have been universally brought to their knees in prayer asking God for a miracle.
This community would not have had the chance to see the powerful hand of God at work to do what we mere humans could not.
This community would not be coming together universally to praise God for His goodness and faithfulness at the end of the month.
So yes. If we would have bought that property, none of this would have happened, but would it have been better for this church or this community?
When God gives us a peace about a decision, we are to move forward in that decision. When things start to go haywire, we have to understand that it is not because we did something wrong, but because we did something right. Satan hates it when God’s children pray and move within His will. He will come against us, but praise God! Romans 16:20 says:
20 And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
God will crush Satan. God is on our side.
Listen, this is not the last time we will be faced with things like this. Next time, it may be a bar, a club or something else. Regardless, of what it is, we will come together, we will pray, and we will praise God for His faithfulness.
We are not to respond with more evil.
17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.
15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.
9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.
20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
We are not to respond with judgment.
9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.
10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.
12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?
13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”
How we are to respond:
We are to pursue peace with them.
We are to make every effort possible to lead them into a relationship with Christ, without compromising who we are as Children of God. That means we are to show them love to the fullest extent that we know how to.
18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
Notice that it says, “If it is possible,”.
Even with our very best efforts of attempting to be at peace with others, some people don’t want peace. Some people don’t want to be on the same page. In this case, we cannot force a relationship upon them. If they don’t want to be at peace with us, we must accept that.
Truth is, Jesus, as well as all of the disciples, faced this very same thing in Scripture. Jesus would preach amongst a crowd. Some of those present would believe what He said and some did not. Every time that Paul went into a synagogue to preach the Gospel, it tells us that some believed. Some… believed. Many of them did not.
They showed the love of God to all of those who would receive it, but it cannot be forced upon an individual. You cannot make someone believe in God, and you cannot make someone see everything the same way you see it. That is simply the result of free will. We all have the ability to make choices and decisions, and many times people choose to do things differently than we do.
We are told to “live peaceably with all men… as much as depends on you.” When we have exhausted every measure to be at peace with an individual to no avail, all we can do from that point forward is pray that God will step in and change their heart in His own way.
We are to be the hospital:
As I talked with other pastors this week, one of them gave me this analogy. He said there are three types of churches today:
There is the courthouse church. They judge everyone for everything.
There is the hotel church. They want to make the house of God comfortable for everyone.
There is the hospital church. They welcome all, but only for the purpose of giving them life more abundantly.
What type of church do we want to be?
Commitment
Commitment
