Ron Dunn Podcast - Birthmark Of Peacemaking

Episode Date: March 3, 2021

Ron Dunn continues his sermon series "Birthmarks Of A Believer"

Would you open your Bibles now to the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 5. The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 5. I'm going to read this morning the seventh beatitude found in verse 9. Matthew, Chapter 5, Verse 9. Jesus is not describing in these eight beatitudes eight different people, but rather he is describing one person with eight characteristics. It's not that Jesus intended one person to be pure in heart and another Christian to be meek and another Christian to be merciful.

We sometimes interpret them that way. We say, well, I may not be merciful, but I'm meek. Or I may not be hungering and thirsting after righteousness, but I'm poor in spirit. What Jesus is describing in these Beatitudes is not eight different people, but he's describing one person with eight characteristics. And God intends all Christians to have all these characteristics. The birthmarks of a believer. We come now to number seven. The seventh characteristic of a Christian.

Jesus says in the ninth verse, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. You could always tell when Jesus was around. No matter what was going on, no matter what the kind of crowd no matter what the quality of conversation you could always tell when Jesus stepped in his presence always made a decided difference now to be sure sometimes the reaction was hatred but at least they knew he was there no one ever ignored Jesus.

You could always tell when he entered a room. The quality of the conversation suddenly changed. Where there was fear, there became hope and peace. Where there was sadness, there was joy. Where there was a funeral, there was a resurrection. Jesus' presence always made a difference. You could always tell when he was there. Now he says, as the Father has sent me, even so send I you. I wonder if your presence makes a difference in your home. He goes on in the Beatitudes and saying, you're the salt of the earth. You're the light of the world.

You can tell when light has been placed in the room of darkness. You can tell when there's salt present in a food. I wonder if your presence makes any difference. When you walk into a room, do you raise the level of conversation or do you lower it? You know, I know some people that everywhere they go, they lower the quality of conversation or do you lower it? You know, I know some people that everywhere they go, they lower the quality of life. And when they move into a conversation, suddenly they lower what they have to contribute, lowers the quality of that talk. Have you ever been around a group of people and you're exchanging stories?

And suddenly one person speaks up and immediately by telling his story he lowers the level, the quality of the conversation. And yet Jesus says, you are the light of the world, you're the salt of the earth, a preservative. And a Christian's presence in an office, in a home, in a school ought to make a difference. It ought to be like salt to decaying meat. It ought to be like light to darkness. It ought to be like medicine to a sickness. Jesus said, as the Father has sent me, even so send I you. And Christians

are supposed to affect the world in which they live. He did not say, blessed are the peace lovers. He said, blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are those who do something, whose presence has an active effect on the world in which they live. And the way that we're supposed to impress the world or affect the world is through this quality of peacemaking. Blessed are the peacemakers. Now, if you'll study carefully the Word of God, you'll find that the word peace has two aspects to it. It has a negative aspect and it has a positive aspect. Negatively, the word peace means the cessation of hostility, the end of war. But there's more to peace than just the end of war and the ending of hostility. There is a positive element there.

There is the bringing about blessings of God. Illustrations abound in American history. We bomb a city and then we build it. We go into a country and we absolutely demolish it, and then we give all the money we have to rebuild it. Peace doesn't simply mean that we stop bombing. Peace means we start rebuilding what we've bombed. That doesn't make much sense, does it? And they talk about the wisdom of the world. So when a man comes to this place where he has peace with God, and the Bible speaks about our peace with one another,

it does not simply mean that we have stopped fighting with each other, but it means that I bring into your presence, into your life, a quality of life whereby the blessings of God come upon you. Jesus says says my people, when they move out in the world, are to do two things. First of all, they're to bring about a quality of life that causes the stop fighting, that brings about the ending of hostilities. But more than that, their presence causes me to bless people. They bring a quality of life to a home, to a school, to an office where the blessings of God are in evidence. Blessed are the peacemakers.

Now there are two significant things about the position of this beatitude. Where it comes is number seven. There are eight. Now, this beatitude is the last beatitude that describes the character of the Christian. The next beatitude, the last beatitude, which has to do with those who are persecuted, does not describe the character of the Christian, but it describes the character of the world in which the Christian lives. The last beatitude describes how the world reacts to the kind of person that makes up the first seven beatitudes. So the last beatitude that

really defines what it means to be a Christian is this beatitude, number seven, blessed are the peacemakers. Now, the first significant thing about its position is that it comes last in the list of characteristics of a Christian. And by that, God is saying this, that the apex of Christian character is my relationship to other people. Well, now, I thought that the climax, the apex,

the ultimate of my Christian character was my vertical relationship, my relationship with God. But the Bible, the Bible never indicates that. The Bible repeatedly teaches that the climax of my Christian character is my ability to get along with other people. My relationship with other people. My horizontal relationship. John says, if a man does not love his brother whom he has seen, how in the world can he love God whom he has not seen? The proof of my love to God is my love to my fellow man. The proof that my relationship with

God is as it should be is that my relationship to other people is as it should be. Now this is extremely important because some of us will come to church on a Sunday morning and sing the great songs, testify, teach a Sunday school class. Man, we look so pious if you think that we're waiting for a vacancy in the Trinity. Just go holy and just go good, testifying to how much we love the Lord. And yet, if you follow that person Monday through Saturday, you'll find that they're quarrelsome, touchy, irritable, rude, impolite.

And that being with them is like living in the eye of a hurricane. Everywhere they go, they're stirring up trouble. Quarrelsome, complaining, critical, unable to get along with anybody. And yet, if you were to ask them, are you a great Christian?

They'd say yes, because on Sunday I praise the Lord and each Sunday still prays. God says if that's the extent of your religion, you're a phony. You're just a phony. You're a fraud. You're a hypocrite. Because God is not at all impressed

with how much you praise him and how much you testify. What impresses God is how do you get along with the people Monday through Saturday. The climax of Christian character is this. My relationship to other people. Blessed, blessed are the peacemakers. Now the second significant thing about the position of this beatitude is that it comes after all the others. You know what Jesus is saying here?

He's saying, listen, you can't be a peacemaker until first of all you've learned to be poor and serious. You can't be a peacemaker until first of all you've mourned over your own failures. You can't be a peacemaker until you have learned what it was to be meek, and that means to be controlled by God instead of being controlled by your emotions. And did you know that if everybody in this room

this morning was really hungering and thirsting after righteousness, we would all be peacemakers? Did you know that if all of us were pure in heart, we would be peacemakers? Did you know that if all of us this morning were merciful as God is merciful, we would be peacemakers. And what Jesus is saying is this, that you cannot, you cannot have your relationship right with your fellow man until first of all you get your relationship right with God. And that this beatitude, this characteristic can be true in a person's life only after they have experienced the previous six deities. Blessed are the peacemakers. What does it mean to be a peacemaker? I think perhaps we could understand the word a little bit better if we would translate it another way that it's translated in the

New Testament. Reconciliation. Blessed are the reconcilers. Blessed are those who are reconciled and who do a work of reconciliation. For they shall be called the children of God. Now, that promise is very important. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. And what Jesus is saying here is simply this, that I am most like God when I am doing the work of a peacemaker, when my relationship is as it should be with others, when I am doing the work of reconciliation, when I am bringing men together, when I am bringing a quality of life into a situation that promotes

peace and harmony and unity, I at that moment am most like God and I shall be called, not by God, but by called by the world, the child like God and I shall be called, not by God, but by called by the world, the child of God. I shall be recognized then and only then as a child of God. You say whatever else you want to say to the world, but they will never recognize you as a child of God until they see this policy exhibited in your daily life. The most ignorant sinner in Texas knows that the characteristic of a Christian is he ought to be able to get along with other people. Jesus said, by this shall all men know that you're my disciples, if you have love one to another.

Well, what does it mean? Let's look now and see how Jesus describes and demonstrates his quality of peacemaking. I'm going to read beginning with verse 23 of chapter 5. Let's begin reading with verse 23 of chapter 5. Let's begin reading with verse 23 and read through verse 25 of that fifth chapter. Jesus says, therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, there you remember that your brother has ought against thee. Leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way way. First be reconciled, or make peace, with thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him, lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into the prison. If, therefore, you bring your gift to the author, and while you are in the very act of offering your gift to God, suddenly you remember that a brother has something against you. Don't offer that gift. Leave the gift right where it is.

Go your way first in the order of primary importance. First be reconciled. Make peace with thy brother. Then you come back and offer your gift. And I'll accept it. And you better do it quickly, he says in the next verse. Do it quickly. Reconciliation. Making peace with one another.

Now let's take these few verses and let me say three very simple things about them. This matter of being at peace and making peace with other people and being reconciled is in the first place indispensable to my fellowship with God. It is indispensable to my fellowship with God. My relationship with other people is one of the most fragile relationships and God says you handle it with care because you cannot have fellowship with me if you are not having fellowship with one another. I remember 1 John chapter 1 verse 3, and these things write we unto you that you also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship

is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We're having fellowship with one another. Not really, and yet we are. In reality, when we're having fellowship with one another, we're really having fellowship with God. And so you cannot have fellowship with God without having fellowship with one another. And you cannot have true fellowship with one another without having fellowship with God. They are bound up together. They are indispensable. Therefore, if my brother has ought against me before I offer my gift, before I try to worship, before I attempt to fellowship with God, I must first of all be right with my brother. Then I can fellowship with God. It's a physical impossibility for two people to draw near to the same object

without drawing near to each other. It is a spiritual impossibility for us to draw near to God without drawing near to each other. You say, I want to worship God and I want to fellowship with God and I want to be near God, but I don't care for so-and-so. Then forget it. You are attempting a spiritual impossibility. And fellowship and reconciliation is indispensable to my fellowship with God. It's indispensable to my worship. Listen, God will not accept your offering if you're wrong with your fellow

man. Now, the church will accept it because we don't know whether you're right or not. Man may accept your gift, but God will not. You know, I see a tremendous thing in the scriptures. I see that when I preach, God doesn't look at my preaching, he looks at my heart. I see that when I teach a Sunday school class, God doesn't look at the quality of my teaching, he looks at the quality of the teacher. I see that when I'm out witnessing, God is not looking at how wonderfully I present the plan of salvation, but he's looking into my heart. When I seal my envelope on Sunday morning and drop it in the plate, I notice that God doesn't look at the amount written on the envelope, but he looks into my heart. And I notice that when I sing in the choir, God doesn't look

to see or listen to hear how beautiful the song is, but he looks into my heart. God accepts my offering on the basis of my heart. God accepts my preaching on the basis of my heart. God accepts my singing on the basis of my heart. Listen, here is a law of the spirit world that you must know. The quality of a gift is determined by the quality of the giver. The acceptability of any act of worship is determined by the acceptability of the worshiper. We put all of our attention on the things that we do and give. God does not see those things. First of all, he looks to see what's in our heart. And if the heart is not right, God rejects it. God rejects it. And so Jesus makes a very startling challenge. He says says if you are in the very act

in the very act of offering something unto the Lord of serving the Lord of worshiping the Lord and suddenly you remember that brother so and so has ought against you stop what you're doing go and be reconciled

can you imagine what pandemonium that would cause in the average Latin church if all of a sudden the preacher closed the Bible and said excuse me folks Can you imagine what pandemonium that would cause in the average Baptist church? If all of a sudden the preacher closed the Bible and said, Excuse me, folks. Walked over here to a man sitting in the chair and said, Listen, I want you to forgive me for what I've done. That's exactly what Jesus said.

Can you imagine what would happen next Sunday morning if everybody in this choir refused to come out and sing until they were 100% right with everybody in the world at least trying to get right? We might not be able to start service until 12 o'clock, but I guarantee you when we started it, God would be here in power. Can you imagine what would happen in Sunday school next Sunday morning if every Sunday school teacher decided to be obedient to the word of God, to take it seriously as well as taking it literally, and said, I'm not going to offer my gifts of teaching until I'm right with everybody. We may not have Sunday school and still training in time but I guarantee when

that teacher shouldn't place a seat he'd be anointed of God and God would accept him. Did you come here to worship this morning and you remember that your brother had thought against you? You know, God is not accepting your worship. He is not. You know, I find a human characteristic of trying to compensate for this. You know, one of the

most painful things we do is to be reconciled and go and say, listen, it's my fault I was wrong. I want you to forgive me. We'll do anything. I remember there was a time in my own Christian pilgrimage not too long ago, several years ago, when somebody had ought against me and I frankly had a little bit ought against them. And I knew I needed to go to them and make it right and make reconciliation, but I, you know, I didn't want them to lose the image of a pastor that I had spent years building up. I didn't want to humble myself and admit that I was wrong.

And I remember foolishly, stupidly saying, I'll pray more. I'll give more time to prayer. I'll give more time to Bible study. I'll start witnessing more. I'll give more money. prayer. I'll give more time to Bible study. I'll start witnessing more. I'll give more money. I was making all of these new commitments. Man, I was guilty. I had a guilt feeling, and I was going to really dive in there and impress the Lord and do so much more. God wasn't all impressed with my bargain. He didn't want me to pray more. He wanted me to go and apologize. He didn't want me to preach better. He wanted me to go and apologize he didn't want me to preach better he wanted me to go and apologize he didn't want me to double my tithe he wanted me to go and apologize he didn't

want me to win a hundred people to jesus and one day he wanted me to go apologize there's no substitute my friend for reconciliation for getting right no substitute god will accept no substitute indispensable to our worship it's indispensable to the spirit filled life if you'll read carefully the account of Acts you'll find that every time the spirit of God poured out upon them

there's a little phrase that keeps occurring over and over again they were all of one accord one heart one mind in the upper room on the day of Pentecost

they were there of one accord Acts chapter 4 they were of one heart and one soul unity reconciliation hey did you know that it's indispensable apart. Acts chapter 4, they were of one heart and one soul. Unity, reconciliation. Hey, did you know that it's indispensable to your prayer life? I imagine some husbands this morning

don't know that 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 7 is in the Bible where it says, likewise ye husbands, dwell with them, talking about the wives, according to knowledge, as under the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together aired together the grace of life that your prayers be not hindered now what peter is simply saying there is this husband if you don't treat your wives right forget about praying there's a husband that will never have their prayers answered because they're not treating their wives in the way god wants them to be treated there is absolutely no substitute for reconciliation. It is indispensable. All right, point number two, it is to be initiated by us, the ones of us who do the remembering.

Notice what Jesus says. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there you remember that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave your gift, go thy way, but first be reconciled unto thy brother. Who is to take the initiative in that? You because you remember. Have you ever noticed how

your memory is quickened when you start to pray? The devil helps it out a little bit. He comes and accuses us of everything we've ever done and then the spirit of God comes and you've experienced this there's been this one thing this one person and you've tried to put scar tissue over it and hide it away from the world and you'll try to pray all around that one thing

and yet every time you go to pray, that's the first thing that comes to your mind. That unconfessed sin. That unapologized offense. That unreconciled brother. There is no substitute for it and you can pray and pray. And it seems that every time you start to pray, you suddenly remember. And as you remember, he says, then it becomes your responsibility to stop whatever you're doing, go thy way,

and first, first before anything else, be reconciled to thy brother. You are to take the initiative. Now notice, it does not say that if you have ought against your brother. It says,

if thy brother hath ought against thee. You know, sometimes we accuse ourselves by saying, well, I'm not mad at him, he's mad at me. He says, I don't care. You may not have ought against him. You may not have anything against him. But if you know that he has something against you, it may be all his fault.

You go and you take the initiative and you make it right. Now, there's another case in when I have ought against somebody. See, there are two possibilities here this morning. Some of us, I have ought against this person. And then there's another case, this person has ought against me. Now, what am I to do in the case when I have ought against someone? They do not know about it. They said something. They did something.

They were even unaware of their offense. But I took it in such a way as it hurt my feelings. And I took offense at that. And they injured me. They don't know about it. They're not aware that I'm at out with them. But I have ought against them. Now, what should I do?

In Mark chapter 11, listen to what Jesus says in the 25th verse. And when you stand praying, forgive if you have ought against any. Now, this is different than what he's saying in 5.23. In Matthew 5, he's saying, if I, brother, have ought against thee, then you go to him. But in Mark 11.25, he's saying, as you're praying, if you have ought against anybody. Now, let's suppose this morning that you've said something, you've done something, and I've taken offense at it, and I have ought against you. You're not aware of this. There's been no cross words. You're not at all aware of any offense. I'm the only one that's aware of it. It is not necessary then for me to go and tell you,

hey, listen, I've hated you for the past five years. Only unless they know that you have had ought against them. Then you go and say, I want you to forgive me for having something against you. If they're not aware of it, if they're not aware of it, it is not necessary unless God specifically lays it on your heart to go, but according to the scriptures, it's not necessary if they do not know about it and no one else knows about it. It's just between you and God. You have all the wisdom. All you have to do is forgive. Immediately somebody says, well, I just can't forgive. Yes, you can. God's going to ask you to do

something you can't do. Yes, you can. You know what forgiveness is? Forgiveness is not an emotion. It's a decision. Forgiveness is simply pairing up the IOU you're holding against somebody else. You see, we're marvelous bookkeepers of other people's sins. Have you ever noticed that?

And yes, so-and-so said something I didn't like I'll just put down I owe you one for that and yes this or so and so I owe you one for that every time I see them all I see is I owe you and I'm holy and Jesus says forgive and forgiveness is simply taking all the I'm holding. And Jesus says, forgive. And forgiveness is simply taking all the IOUs and tearing them up. Holding nothing against it. It's not an emotion how

I feel in my heart. You say, well, if you can't forget, you've not really forgiven. Listen, God is the only one who has the ability to forget. You'll not find that in the scriptures. Forget and forget. You can't forget. in the scriptures. Forget and forget. You can't forget. And I know some people that are hounded today because they can't forget. Don't try to forget.

You can't forget. It'll always be there. But you've torn up that I owe you. You hold nothing against me. As an act of your will, I forgive them. And then as we go back to our study on love,

I'll just treat them as though they're my best friends. Now, that's if you have ought against somebody and they don't know anything about it. You forgive them. This is therapy I owe you. But now, if somebody has ought against you, you may not have anything against them, but they have something against you, you know about it, you go to them, and you be reconciled. You make it right. Now, the word reconcile means to be restored to another's favor.

You do whatever is necessary to be restored to that person's favor. In some instances it's going to mean that we're going to have to make restitution. Restitution. Now we don't have the time this morning to go into all the hows and the whys of making reconciliation. But please do not do it the way one dear Christian lady did it, who's not a member of this church, so I can tell it. God began to speak to her and convict her of the feelings she had against her next-door neighbor. They'd been having a few little arguments and strained relationships, so she got on the phone, and she said, I still

believe it's your fault, but I want you to forgive me. And then she came back, and she said I still believe it's your fault but I want you to forgive me and then she came back and she said I don't understand why I didn't work all right last point this reconciliation not only is indispensable to our fellowship not only to be initiated by those of us who remember it but it is to be done immediately in In that following verse, verse 25, he says, Agree with thine adversary quickly. Do it now. There are two reasons for that. Number one, the longer it goes, the deeper entrenched it becomes.

The roots of bitterness go deep. And the longer you wait to reconcile, the longer you wait to make restitution, the more deeply entrenched those roots of bitterness and hatred become. Do it now. Do it now. Paul says, let not the sun go down on thy wrath. Bitterness grows faster at night than any other time. It always grows better in the dark.

So he says, let not the sun go down upon thy wrath. Second reason we're to do it immediately is because he says, you're on your way to the judge. And all of us this morning are heading for the great judge. He says, I, the Lord, look not on the outward appearance, but I, the Lord, search the heart. Jesus says, look quickly.

James, the judge judge stands at the door with his hand on the knob and I believe I can see the knob turning Jesus said do it quickly do it immediately because you're on your way to the judge blessed are the

peacemakers peacemakers for peacemakers, for they shall be recognized by everybody as the children of God. The Ron Dunn Podcast is available only for personal edification, not to be duplicated, uploaded to the web, or resold without prior written consent. It is managed and operated by Sherwood Baptist Church.

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