Matthew 1:18-25 - God has Come to Save Us

Sermon from December 26, 2010 - audio here.

Matthew 9:14-17 – And Then They Will Fast

© Eric M Schumacher – Preached January 2, 2011 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Audio will be available here.

For more information on fasting, consider reading John Piper, A Hunger for God: Desiring God through Fasting and Prayer.

Vision for 2011
I long for God to work in good and powerful ways at Northbrook in 2011.

I long for the preaching and teaching of the Word in the pulpit and the classroom to come with fresh power and change lives.

I long for our singing and corporate worship to be with renewed passion and vigor and joy.

I long to see our prayers take on fresh urgency, sincerity and intensity as we desperately and confidently seek the aid and wisdom and power of our Risen Savior.

I long to see a revival and an awakening of delight in God unlike Northbrook (or Cedar Rapids) has ever seen.

I long for our hearts to grow strong in our knowledge of the Gospel, to grow in grace.

I long for every man to be presented mature in Christ—and for the whole body to be involved in the process of discipleship, speaking the Gospel to each other, building itself up in love.

I long to see humble selflessness as members serve one another in love and sacrifice.

I long for the power of canceled sin to be broken, for the old sins that enslaved us to be laid aside, for the lies of Satan to be silenced, for mourning to be replaced with gladness.

I long to see the Spirit work in a mighty way so that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control and such things would be the fruit borne abundantly.

I long to see our rows of chairs and our living rooms and our lunch hours and our play-dates filled with unbelievers coming to hear the Gospel as our members delight to speak it to them.

I long to see our baptismal waters stirred with fresh converts announcing to the world their repentance from sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I long to see the nations of the earth reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ—and for our members to engage in the task by going and sending and praying like never before.

I long for all of this. Yet, I know that neither I and our elders nor you can do this. Only God can bring such things.

And so, I want to call you this morning to join me in fasting in 2011 for God to do all of this.

Excellent entry-level resource on Matthew's use of prophecy

I've picked up again D.A. Carson's little book, God with Us: Themes from Matthew, for preparing a two-part sermon series on Matthew 1 (part 1 here).

His section, "Prophecy and Fulfillment," in chapter one is an excellent introduction to Matthew's use of prophecy and fulfillment. (Sorry, at four pages, it is too long a section for me to type up; and I can't find it online!)

I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking to work through Matthew's use of the OT or wanting a resource to give to a church member on the subject.

Matthew 1:1-17 – Twelve Truths about Jesus from "The Ballad of Matthew's Begats"

© Eric M Schumacher – Preached December 19, 2010 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Update: Audio available here.

Glastonbury Thorn Tree

On top of Wearyall Hill in the English countryside outside of Glastonbury, there stands a thorn tree which blossoms twice a year, once in the winter and once in the spring. Its roots go back almost 2,000 years. Legend has it that Jesus’ great uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, came to Britain after the crucifixion and thrust his walking staff into the hill, planting the seed of the original tree. (Though such legends cannot be proven and this one is quite unlikely, experts have verified that the tree originated in the Middle East.)

The tree was cut down and burned as a relic by Oliver Cromwell’s puritan forces during the English Civil War. The locals, however, saved its roots and hid them in secret locations around the town. Historical records show that a nursery of trees produced from cuttings and grafting existed in 1722. Tradition has been for local children to cut a sprig from the tree to be place on the Queen’s table for Christmas.

Ten days ago, vandals cut off all the branches from the tree atop Wearyall Hill, to the dismay of the townsfolk.

The locals are devastated and outraged. They have treated its wounds, wrapped it against the frost, and plan to feed its root system in the spring, all in hopes that it will blossom again.

But for now, all they can do is look at the barren stump and wonder what will become of their barren tree.

It must have been something like this to have been a Jew two-thousand years ago.

The Jews came from the root-system of Abraham, whom the Lord chose to make into a great nation, given God’s Law and the Promised Land. Israel was the nation that had David as its king, to whom was promised a son who would reign over an eternal kingdom.

But up until the time of John the Baptist, there had been no prophet to speak for 400 years. Their land was under Roman rule. The king on the throne was not of the line of David.

To look at Israel must have like looking at the stump of tree, once great but now chopped down to a branchless stump (which is what the prophet Isaiah was told it would be). And, like the people of Glastonbury, the Israelites were surely asking, will the tree ever blossom again?

Marvelous condescension...

Matthew 1:1  "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ..."

“Marvelous condescension, that he should be a man, and have a genealogy…”

~ Charles Spurgeon, Commentary on Matthew - The Gospel of the Kingdom

O Lord, thou art the sinner’s Friend!

Matthew 1:3  "Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar..."

“Observe the dash of unclean blood which enters the stream through Judah’s incest with Thamar. O Lord, thou art the sinner’s Friend!”

~ Charles Spurgeon, Commentary on Matthew - The Gospel of the Kingdom

Broadus: Matthew's Begats a Chain of Providences

"Besides the value of this genealogy, to the Jews and to us, in showing that Jesus was a descendant of David, as it had been predicted that the Messiah would be,—the apparently barren list of names might suggest much thought to a mind familiar with the Old Testament. During all this long period, the providential arrangements were going on, which prepared for the coming of the "seed" promised to Abraham. Every person in this genealogy—the wicked as well as the devout, even the woman of stained character—formed a link in the chain of providences. Through all the troubled centuries, through all the national changes, whether reigning in splendour, or dethroned and in captivity, or afterwards subsiding into insignificance under the rule of the high priests or of Herod, the appointed line was preserved; until among the rude population of an obscure village, are found the hard-working carpenter and the poor maiden, who are chosen to rear the seed of Abraham, the son of David."

~ John A. Broadus, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew

D.A. Carson - God With Us: Themes From Matthew

I just noticed that D.A. Carson's little book, God with Us: Themes from Matthew, is in print. I picked up a yellowed and brittle copy from the 80's a few years ago while preaching through Matthew.

While a preacher will want his full-length, two-volume commentary on Matthew (1, 2) and his exposition of  Matthew 5-10 Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World, this little book might be a good help for Sunday School teachers or a devotional reader.

Matthew 5:9 - Blessed Are the Peacemakers (Part II)

© Eric Schumacher – Preached May 29, 2005 at Bethany Baptist Church, Keokuk and August 12, 2005 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

On Memorial Day, our nation remembers those who have sacrificed to ensure that we could leave in peace. What we remember on Memorial Day is that peace is not cheap. Peace comes at a cost.

If you want to have peace on a national level, you don’t sit back and pretend that slavery is not a problem. You don’t give Hitler whatever he wants in order to make him happy. This is not the path to peace.

To have peace, you must do something. You must address the issues that threaten peace. Peacemaking, as the mother of any dead soldier can tell you, is costly.

Christ has called us to be peacemakers.

Last week, I gave the follow definition of a biblical peacemaker:

“A peacemaker is someone who

1. acknowledges that fellowship has been broken,

2. addresses the issue that has broken fellowship, and

3. takes biblical steps to resolve the issues and to restore fellowship.”

What is biblical peace?

Biblical peacemaking is spiritual health and wholeness that results when a relationship is brought under the Lordship of Christ so that together the parties believe and behave according to His revealed will and righteousness.

How Do We Biblically Make Peace?

Steps to Biblical Peacemaking:

1) Pray

Galatians 5:22 says that, “the fruit of the Spirit is...peace.” This means that we must pray for the Spirit to produce peace in our lives and relationships.

2) Examine...

...the conflict.

Make sure that you understand the situation correctly. You might ask these questions:

· Do I have the facts? Or, am I reacting hearsay and gossip?

· Am I seeking the truth? Or, am I reading into things?

· Do I assume sin on the part of the other party while not examining myself?

· Is this as important as I’m making it out to be? Is it more important than I’m willing to admit?

...yourself.

We must approach conflict as persons who are “poor in spirit,” “mourning” over our sin, and “meekly” confessing that we are sinners as much as anyone else. Before condemning anyone else, we must examine the priorities and purity of our own hearts first.

We should ask: Is Peace a Priority? Am I Inclined Toward Peacemaking?

D. A. Carson explains, “Instead of delighting in division, bitterness, strife, or some petty ‘divide-and-conquer’ mentality, disciples of Jesus delight to make peace wherever possible.” The first response of a born-again heart should be a desire for genuine peace and no substitute.

There are some people who live lives full of suspicion. They are always sure someone is out to offend them. They insist on their own rights regardless of what is actually righteous. They are perpetually perturbed. They are always upset about what someone is doing or isn’t doing. They are quick to pick a fight or run away mad. But, these are not Christians.

Christians are not perpetually mad about someone or something. Christians will take stands, but they are not looking for a fight. Christians are not people whose first reaction when upset is “Fine, I guess I won’t be fellowshipping with them anymore!” That might be the end result, but that is never the desire of a Christian, or the first option. Christians are hungry to see biblical peace be established.

In fact, later in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:23-24), Jesus says that if you are going to worship and remember that you have done something to offend your brother, you should drop your offering and go be reconciled with that person. If you haven’t taken biblical steps to be reconciled to the person you’ve offended, you have no business worshiping God. We cannot allow the ceremony of Sunday morning worship to replace our duty to love our neighbor.

Is My Life and Heart Pure?

Jesus will also go on to explain in Matthew 7:3-5 that we are to examine the purity of our own lives before begin to help a brother become more pure. Jesus does not say that we should not notice or remove specks from our brother’s eye. He says that we should first make our own eyes pure and then we will see clearly to take the speck out of our brother’s eye. A pure life is required for peacemaking.

Colossians 3:14 and Ephesians 4:1-3 tells us to be sure and practice love, which these verses say is what creates the bond of peace. If you do not love those you are in conflict with, there will never be peace.

Are My Motivations Pure?

James (4:1-2) says, “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? ² You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.”

In other words, James is saying that the reason there was fighting and quarrelling is because of the motivations involved. They are coveting something and not getting their way, so they fight and quarrel. They desire what they want and cannot have it, so they murder the other parties with their gossip, slander, complaining, murmuring, and ungodly actions.

If the parties when quit worrying about what they want and start asking “What does God want?” the situation would be over and done. But since they care more about themselves and their comfort, their sinful, self-centered motivations prolong and encourage the quarrelling and fighting.

What are your motivations? Are you asking, “What do I want? What do I like? What is best for me?” Those are the questions in the heart of a peacebreaker.

Or, are you asking, “What does God want? What promotes His Kingdom and His righteousness? How do I apply the Word of God to this situation?” Those are the questions in the heart of a peacemaker.

Am I Tempted to Act Impurely to Resolve the Situation?

We may be tempted to run away. We might break promises we’ve made in a marriage covenant by seeking a divorce with biblical warrant. We may break promises we’ve made in a church family by stopping attending church, refusing to serve in church, or leaving a church without taking biblical steps to approach the issue.

It may be that we are tempted to resort to sinful behavior to get our way. We may seek revenge. We may use physical violence or murder without biblical warrant. We may complain about and criticize people behind their backs (or listen to such without confronting it). We may resort to gossip, slander, murmuring, and backbiting. We may bring up past offenses or complaints to attack a person’s character. We may try to get our way through manipulation of circumstances instead of addressing the issue. We may try to confuse the issue or ignore the issue, when God calls us to address it with clarity.

It may be that we are tempted to compromise biblical truth or righteousness for the sake of pleasing another party. This can never happen. We are never called to peace at the expense of truth and righteousness.

But, the Christian will have none of these, because peace cannot be divorced from purity in our beliefs and our behavior. James 3:17-18 says, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable...” Biblical wisdom is always pure before it is peaceable. If the solution that you have selected requires you to go against the Word of God, then it is not pure and should be rejected.

Charles Spurgeon said on this Beatitude, “Never let us be peacebreakers; evermore let us be peacemakers. Yet we must not cry ‘Peace, peace, where there is no peace.’ The verse before this speaks of purity and this of peace. First pure, then peaceable: this is God’s order, and it should be ours.”

3) Assess all the options to make peace

4) Choose an Option

Peacemaking may involve:

a) Overlooking an Offense.

Proverbs 19:11 “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.”

There are some situations which are so insignificant that they should be overlooked. To determine whether to overlook an offence, we might ask:

· Is this a one-time offense or a pattern of behavior that needs to be stopped?

· Will overlooking this offense result in bitterness and anger in my heart?

· Will overlooking this offense encourage or discourage biblical love and fellowship?

· Is it an important issue? Does this matter?

· What is at stake in this issue? Will overlooking this offense...

o ...endanger the truth of God’s Word?

o ...require compromise of biblical truth or righteous behavior?

For example, Paul opposed Peter to his face before the entire church in Galatia because (Galatians 2:14) Peter’s conduct was “not in step with the truth of gospel.” Peter’s behavior was a threat to the truth of God’s Word. Paul could not overlook Peter’s behavior and still have a clean conscience before the Lord.

Again, if “peace” requires us to deny the Lord and His Word, then we should avoid this kind of “peace” at all costs. Abraham Kuyper once wrote, “When principles that run against your deepest convictions begin to win the day, then battle is your calling, and peace has become your sin; you must, at the price of dearest peace, lay your convictions bare before friend and enemy, with all the fire of your faith.”

Should you choose to overlook an offense, you are committing to:

· not be resentful.

· not harbor bitterness.

· not save the conflict for later use.

b) Confronting Sin.

i) Discuss the situation with the other person(s) in private.

Scripture tells us that we have the responsibility to make peace through loving correction and forgiveness.

Luke 17:3 If your brother sins, rebuke him

Matthew 18:15 If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

This means that we gently show someone where they are wrong so that they can see it and repent.

If we have offended someone else, we should go to them and seek forgiveness as soon as it comes to mind (Matthew 5:23-25).

There may be times when we go to a third party first to seek advice about how to approach a situation. However, we should never criticize or complain about someone to a third party, even if it is true, when we are unwilling to go to that person in private to seek peace.

If you are a person who has done this, then you need to go to the person you’ve been complaining about and seek their forgiveness. If someone comes to you to complain about someone else, you now have the responsibility to stop them and to send them to that person to make peace.

ii) Bring in others, if needed.

After talking to them in private, it may be required that you bring one or two others along to mediate. In some situations they may be there make suggestions or ask questions. They may also be there as witnesses as to the attitudes and behaviors involved:

Matthew 18:16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

iii) Involve the church.

Some situations may involve bringing in the church to decide the dispute for you (1 Co 6:4).

In situations of unrepentant sin, the sinner is to be rebuked by the congregation. And, if they still will not repent, they are to be removed from the fellowship of the church.

Matthew 18:15-17 If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

1 Corinthians 5:1-2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

Disputes over church doctrine and practice–over what the church body believes and how it conducts itself–should never be had at a personal level. They should be brought before the church body to decide, because these are church issues, not personal issues. But, disputes between individuals should always be handled in private between those individuals before they are ever brought before the church.

5) Evaluate the progress

You should ask: How have I responded? Is my response in keeping with biblical peacemaking? Is there anything else that I must do or can do?

How has the other party responded?

What if they do not repent?

Romans 12:18 says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” It will not always be possible to leave at peace with everyone.

When Do You Part Ways?

There are times when we are to part ways:

1) Repentance has been refused.

Matthew 18:17 if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

2) The Word of God has been rejected.

Matthew 10:11-15 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. ¹⁵ Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

2 Thessalonians 3:14-16 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. ¹⁵ Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. ¹⁶ Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.

You are required to show sinners the truth of God’s Word. But, if after you have attempted to show them God’s Word, a person or a church flatly rejects the Word of God, then you are free from your obligation to them. This should be a sad occasion. But, it is necessary. Biblical fellowship cannot be had in a church outside the Word of God.

It is sad that I cannot fellowship in church membership with my Presbyterian friends. But, a church cannot both baptize infants and not baptize infants at the same time. Until we come to agreement on how to practice baptism, we cannot have the fellowship of membership in the same church. That peace should be sought, but not at the expense of the truth.

When considering whether to part ways with someone, it is best to keep these things in mind:

· You may not part ways if you have not done everything the Bible requires to make peace. If you have not pursued peace in a biblical fashion, parting ways is sin.

· You may part ways if you have followed the biblical pattern but no repentance has come or the other party refuses to make peace. In such a case, it is the other party that has broken the fellowship, not you.

· You must part ways if you can no longer remain in the situation with a clean conscience. If remaining in the situation is made impossible by the other party, or if remaining in the relationship would require you to make compromises that would be sinful, then you must leave.

If the person repents, you must forgive them and love them (Lk 17:3; Mt 18:21-22; 2 Co 2:6-11).

The goal of peacemaking is peace. So, if someone has broken fellowship with us through sin and they repent, we should extend forgiveness and live in peace.

We should keep in mind that God has forgiven us by sending His Son to die for our sins. There is no one that has offended us even half as much as we have offended God. If he is quick to forgive us, then we ought to be quick to forgive one another.

Sons of God

“Sons” receive the inheritance of their fathers. Sons also tend to reflect the character of their father. So, to be a “son of God” is to look like God the Father. To be a “son of God” is to be one to whom the Father gives the inheritance of the kingdom.

Who is it that looks like God? Who is it that inherits the Kingdom? “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.”

Jesus is saying, “These are the people who reflect the character of God. These godly people are the ones who will inherit the Kingdom.” Do you reflect the character of God? Will you inherit the eternal Kingdom? Are you a peacemaker?

"Blessed Are the Peacemakers" - Part 1 of 2

© Eric Schumacher – Originally Preached May 22, 2005 at Bethany Baptist Church, Keokuk, Iowa. Preached July 15, 2007 (PM) at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids.

What Is Peacemaking?

Based on what we will see in Scripture this morning and in the sermon to follow, I will offer this three-fold definition of a peacemaker:

“A peacemaker is someone who

1. acknowledges that fellowship has been broken,

2. addresses the issue that has broken fellowship, and

3. takes biblical steps to resolve the issues and to restore fellowship.”

God Calls Us to Peace and Peacemaking

1 Corinthians 7:15 God has called you to peace.

Romans 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Romans 14:19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

Ephesians 4:1-3 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called...eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Hebrews 12:14 Strive for peace with everyone

1 Peter 3:11 seek peace and pursue it

Peacemaking ought to be normal. It is part and parcel of following Christ.

God Warns Us Against Peacebreaking

Scripture says that we should not associate with divisive people because they are “warped and sinful; self-condemned”:

Titus 3:10-11 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

In 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, Paul writes:

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

The “you” in these verses is plural. Paul is speaking to the members of the church about the church. The church is God’s temple, it is the place where his Spirit dwells. When you encourage division through gossip, slander, murmuring, quarrelling, refusing to talk about issues, or not being active in the church, you are destroying the unity of God’s temple. Scripture promises that anyone who destroys God’s temple will be destroyed by God.

So, you should stop now and ask yourself whether you are a biblical peacemaker or an unbiblical peacebreaker. The answer determines the eternal fate of your soul.

Christ Calls Us To Costly Peace Not Cheap Peace

Dietrich Bonheoffer once wrote about “cheap grace.” “Cheap grace” was a gospel where eternal life was promised without any demand of repentance and without any cost of discipleship. You could refuse to leave all to follow Christ and still have the security of eternal life in heaven. Bonheoffer rightly showed that this “cheap grace” was a false gospel. Following Christ is costly.

Just as “cheap grace” has been preached in many churches, “cheap peace” has been pursued in many churches. “Cheap peace” is peace that is achieved by compromising biblical doctrine and practice to pander to the desires of people. “Cheap peace” refuses to address errors, sweeps problems under the rug, and wants to pretend to have unity where there really is none.

God’s Peace is not cheap peace.

Colossians 1:20 says that Christ made “peace by the blood of his cross.” The peace God made with us was not cheap. It was costly. It was made by the blood of Christ’s cross. Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross as a substitute for sinners. Their sins were laid on him. God’s wrath was poured out on him. It was painful and hideous. It was peacemaking.

In the cross, God 1) acknowledged that fellowship has been broken through our sin, 2) addressed the issue of our sin, and 3) took steps to resolve the issue and to restore fellowship. The removal of the issue–our sin–was accomplished through the blood of God’s Son. It was not cheap and easy. It was painful and costly.

Ephesians 5:1 calls us to “be imitators of God, as beloved children.” If the peacemaking that God undertook was painful and costly and we are called to imitate him, then our peacemaking will be costly as well.

Biblical peacemaking is...

Not mere emotional peace. God did not make peace by having a “peaceful, emotional feeling.” Biblical peacemaking is not an Eagles’ song, “I’ve got a peaceful easy feeling.”

Not pretend peace. God did not make peace by pretending everything was okay. God did not turn a blind eye to our sin and refuse to address it so we could just get past it.

In fact, one of the complaints God had against the leaders in Jeremiah’s day was this:

Jeremiah 6:14 They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace.

In other words, they said there was peace when there wasn’t. They “healed the wound lightly.” This means that they did not address the wound in the proper manner. They applied the wrong medicine. They used a bandage when open-heart surgery should have been performed.

Biblical peacemaking is not ignoring problems and pretending that everything is okay. Biblical peacemaking is not pasting on a fake smile and saying “Peace, peace” or “Unity, unity” where there is none. It is not sitting around, pretending that we’re not disagreeing, and singing “I’m So Glad I’m a Part of the Family of God.”

Pretending all is well when it is not is as deadly to a relationship as it is unbiblical. Imagine if we acted that way with our bodies.

Imagine a man that cuts his toe on some metal while walking at the beach. He says to himself, “I am not going to address that cut or do anything to fix it because God wants me to have health.”

Sometime later the toe is black with gangrene. The man says, “I will ignore that toe and I refuse to do address it because God calls me to health.”

The gangrene spreads to his foot, his calf, his thigh, into his torso. Each time it grows worse, the man says, “Health! Health! God calls me to health. I will not do address this!”

What will happen to that man? He will die saying “Health! Health!” where there was no health.

What should he have done? When he saw that the cut was not healing correcting, he should have taken steps to ensure the healing. And, if his steps did not work, he should have sought out help to end the infection before it grew worse.

Being concerned for health in the body does not mean you refuse to address whatever is unhealthy in your body. Concern for health means that you acknowledge when something unhealthy exists and you do all you can to remove the sickness. It is the same with our friendships, marriages, workplaces, and churches.

The friendship, family, or church that shouts “Peace! Peace!” when there is not peace and refuses to acknowledge that anything is wrong will end up like that man–dead!

Not appeasement. God did not make peace with sinful man by giving us whatever we wanted.

I remember seeing a television program which featured a mother with a 3 year old son who weighed over one-hundred pounds. This three year old ate a Big Mac and fries for lunch everyday. Whenever he asked for anything to eat, his mother gave him whatever he wanted. When the interviewer pointed out that she was ruining her son’s health and probably killing him, she began to scream, “I love my son! I love my son! And that means if he wants something, I give it to him. I love my son and so he gets what he wants.”

This mother obviously felt that loving her son meant bowing to his every desire. If she didn’t give him what he wanted, he would cry and pout. So, she thought, being loving meant “pandering to the pouter.” The result of such pandering was detrimental to this boy’s health.

But how often do we find “pandering to the pouters” in our families, friendships, and churches. How often is it that if someone pouts and withdraws for long enough, yells loud enough, gives their sob-story often enough, or threatens to leave that we change our behavior and give-in?

Could you imagine what it would look like if we did that? There are people in Cedar Rapids that would prefer that we baptize infants. There are some that wish we would marry homosexuals. There are some that wish we would teach Mormon doctrine. They would be comfortable with that. They would attend our church. We could have “peace” with them. We could be “united” with them. So, should we baptize infants, marry homosexuals, and teach Mormon doctrine for the sake of “peace” and “unity.” Just like that mother with the 100-pound three year-old, such pandering is detrimental to the health of a friendship, family, or church.

Not avoiding confrontation. In the book of Genesis, after the fall, we see two sinful ways of dealing with conflict. One manner is that chosen by Cain. He was jealous of his brother, so he killed him. He chose the option of attack.

The manner is that chosen by Adam and Eve when they heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden. They did not choose to “attack,” they chose to “avoid.” They hid from the Lord, hoping that if he did not see them, then everything would be okay.

These two responses could be characterized as “fight or flight.” Neither one is biblical. We cannot avoid the issues that break fellowship by running away. And, our confrontation cannot be an attack, through which we are merely trying to “win” and get our way.

God did not make peace by avoiding confrontation with our sin. Biblical peace never evades the true issue. Just like the man with the cut toe, sometimes you must confront the problem if you are to have health.

Not peace at any cost. God did not make peace by compromising the truth or his righteousness.

Matthew 10:34-36 Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. ³⁶ And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.

In this passage, Jesus is letting us know that when we stand for biblical truth and righteous behavior even the people closest to us may reject us. That is the cost of honoring God. We do not have permission from Jesus to seek peace at the cost of purity in doctrine or conduct.

In John 17 (11, 15-16), Jesus prays,

“…keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. ...I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”

Jesus prayed that his followers would “be one.” He prayed that we would have peace. But, notice what kind of peace it is.

Notice that Jesus prayed that we would be kept from evil and sanctified in God’s Word. That means our peace can never include us sinning, compromising our biblical convictions or acting against our conscience. That means our “peace” can never require that we go against what God has revealed in his Word–whether that be our belief or behavior.

Notice that Jesus also prayed, “that they may be one, even as we are one.” We are to be one as Jesus and the Father are one. What are they divided over? What do they have differing beliefs on? Nothing. We are to strive for complete unity in the truth, not compromised unity.

Jude 1:3 tells us, “to contend for the faith.” There are times when we must contend for the truth. We cannot abandon biblical doctrine or conviction for the sake of ‘cheap peace.’

Christ Calls Us to Costly Peace

Peacemaking is often painful.

Colossians 1:19-22 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. ²¹ And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, ²² he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death…

Pain of confronting and rebuking. Sometimes peacemaking involves pointing out sin to someone. It may include helping an unbeliever come to understand that he is a sinner who deserves to go to hell. It may include helping a believer understand that his conduct is not in line with the Word of God.

Proverbs 19:11 says, “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.” There are times when the proper thing to do is to overlook an offense. We need to possess the wisdom and the maturity to know when to do so.

Yet, Scripture often calls for us to confront and rebuke sin:

Luke 17:3 If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him

1 Timothy 5:20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.

2 Timothy 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

Titus 1:9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

Titus 1:13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith

Titus 2:15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

Scripture tells us to avoid quarrelling. This means we should be free from the love of conflict and argument. But avoiding quarrelling does not mean avoiding confrontation.

2 Timothy 2:24-25 And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.

Notice that Timothy is called to both avoid being quarrelsome and to correct his opponents. This means that pointing out error is not necessarily being quarrelsome.

Done correctly, confronting and rebuking sin is what it means to be conformed to the image of Christ, to be godly. God confronts and rebukes our sin against him–and it is loving and it is peacemaking. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, confronted for the sake of peace. The people complained in Luke 23:5 “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.”

Jesus, the Prince of Peace, also spoke words like these:

Matthew 23:27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness.

John 4:16-18 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." ¹⁷ The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; ¹⁸ for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true."

We cannot be peacemakers without being willing to openly confront and address the issues that threaten peace with both grace and truth. There can be no “congregational cold-wars.” At a conference in Des Moines a few years ago, Greg Frizzell stated that the Baptist church’s favorite phrase is “Let’s just move on...” He commented that this attitude is “as unbiblical as it can possibly be.” When there is persistent division and disagreement, neither Christ nor His Word will allow us to ignore that division and “just get past it.”

Pain of confessing and repenting. We have no peace with God unless our sin is addressed, confessed, and repented of. In order to be saved and have “peace with God,” we must suffer the pain of humbling ourselves, admitting that we have done wrong, and believing that we can do no good thing to save ourselves. We must feel the pain of being poor in spirit, we must mourn over our sin. We must have the meekness to being willing to put all our faith in Christ alone to save us from our sins.

It is the same with having peace with one another. When an issue divides us, sometimes it requires the pain of confessing that we have done wrong and being willing to repent, to leave our sin and change our heart, mind, and behavior. When we have done wrong, we cannot have peace with God or one another until we are willing to humble ourselves and admit it.

Peacemaking Requires Action. Making something requires action. Jesus does not call us to be peacewaiters or peacehopers. He calls us to be peacemakers. This means that we must take action. We must take steps. We must take the initiative to make peace. That is what the Scripture teaches:

2 Timothy 2:22 pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace

1 Peter 3:11 seek peace and pursue it.

Romans 14:19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace

Hebrews 12:14 Strive for peace with everyone

Peace is something for which we must strive. We must seek peace and pursue peace. Will you be someone who sits around and complains that there is no peace? Will you be someone who sits back, ignores problems, and pretends there is peace when there is none? Will you settle for cheap peace?

Or, will you be willing to humble yourself and lovingly, gently, humbly do the hard work of peacemaking in your friendships, your families, and your church? Will you pursue, seek, and strive for the costly peace that honors Christ?

Application

In the next sermon we will examine the steps of biblical peacemaking. For now, I would encourage you to examine yourself with these questions:

• Am I committed to costly peace? Or do I settle for cheap peace?

· Is there someone I am having a conflict with right now?

o How will I address it?

· Is there someone I have sinned against?

o Will I go repent?

· Is there someone I know who is living in sin?

o How will I address it?