SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/30/2020
9:50 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-3 “The
Messengers of Peace: Believers”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 5:9
Message of the
verse: “Blessed
are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”
As we begin this SD we have to
finish up looking at our third point about peacemakers which is “A peacemaker
helps others make peace with others.” It will be best to review the last SD on
this subject to be able to follow it better.
Being
a peace maker can cause difficulties, but that is what the Lord has called
believers to be as often confrontation will bring more turmoil instead of
less. Things like misunderstanding, hurt
feelings, and resentment can certainly happen, but the only way to peace is the
way of righteousness. Sin must be dealt
with and sin that is not dealt with is sin that will disrupt and destroy
peace. Any price is worth paying to obey
God, so any price is worth paying to be rid of sin. Jesus said the following in Matthew 5:29-30 “29 "If your right eye makes you
stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose
one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
30 "If your right hand makes you stumble,
cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the
parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.” MacArthur concludes “If we are unwilling to
help others confront their sin, we will be unable to help them find peace.”
Fourth: A peacemaker endeavors to find a point of
agreement. As we look at the title to this fourth point perhaps the first thing
that comes to your mind is that we certainly do not want to compromise God’s
truth and righteousness. However there
is hardly a person so ungodly, immoral, rebellious, pagan, or indifferent that
we have absolutely no point of agreement with him. I suppose that one has to get to know a
person for a while to find common ground with them. MacArthur writes that “Wrong theology, wrong
standards, wrong beliefs, and wrong attitudes must be faced and dealt with, but
they are not usually the best places to start the process of witnessing or
peacemaking.”
As
believers we are to contend without being contentious, and we are to disagree
without being disagreeable, and also to confront without being abusive. I have to confess that this is kind of hard
for me to do at times, but I am learning this as I study these beatitudes. Ephesians 4:15 tells us “but speaking the truth in love,
we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even
Christ,” and love is the upmost importance.
When we start with love we are actually starting with peace. We must begin peacemaking by starting with
whatever peaceful point of agreement of agreement we can find. Peace will help to produce peace. A peacemaker will always, or should always
give the benefit of the doubt. The
believer must never assume that the person you are dealing with will resist the
gospel or reject the believer’s testimony.
MacArthur concludes this by saying “When he does meet opposition, he
tries to be patient with other people’s blindness and stubbornness just as he knows
the Lord was, and continues to be, patient with his own blindness and
stubbornness.” We as believers do not
know it all, and if we think we do we are kin to the Pharisees.
As
a believer trying to be a peacemaker we are not to try to attract attention to
ourselves. Probably the most effective
peacemaker are probably the simplest and least noticed people. These people seldom win headlines or prizes
for their peacemaking and the reason for this is it is their nature to be a
good peacemaker, as they don’t think of themselves, but others. Elijah the prophet in the OT was a peacemaker
but Ahab accused him of being one who disturbs people, however he was doing the
work of the Lord. “When Ahab saw Elijah,
Ahab said to him, "Is this you, you troubler of Israel?’” (1 Kings
18:17). Ahab was actually the
troublemaker of Israel, and not Elijah. Look
at Luke 23:1-5 to see that this is what the Jews were saying about Jesus: “1 Then the whole body of them got up and
brought Him before Pilate. 2
And they began to accuse Him, saying, "We found this man misleading our
nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is
Christ, a King." 3 So Pilate asked Him, saying, "Are You the
King of the Jews?" And He answered him and said, "It is as you
say." 4 Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, "I find
no guilt in this man." 5
But they kept on insisting, saying, "He stirs up the people, teaching all
over Judea, starting from Galilee even as far as this place." (Notice especially the two highlighted
verses.) God knows the hearts of both
Elijah and Jesus and He honors their work because they are working for His
peace in His power. MacArthur concludes
this section by writing “God’s peacemakers are never unfruitful or
unrewarded. This is a mark of a true
kingdom citizen: he not only hungers for righteousness and holiness
in his own life but has a passionate desire to see those virtues in the lives
of others.”
5/30/2020 10:29 AM
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