The Church of Eleven22 - S02E02 - Be at Peace with One Another

Episode Date: April 19, 2021

In this episode, Pastor Joby talks about the second "one another" in this series: Be at peace with one another, and what that means for our relationships with others. This "one another" is referenced in one place in the Bible: Mark 9:50

Welcome to deepen with Pastor Joby Martin. The Church of 1122 is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And we're praying this message helps you deepen your relationship with him. Now let's dive in. Hey, church family. Welcome back to week two of our divos together where we're studying 28 of the 59 one another's. And just the case you forgot 59 times in the New Testament. The Bible commands us to...

love one another, that's the most one, to greet one another with a holy kiss, that's what we talked about last week, to pray for one another, to forgive one another, to bear one another's burdens. And part of the reason I think this is such a big deal right now is that one of the things that COVID taught us is we need one another. We are not supposed to do this life in quarantine. And so again, if you hadn't come back to church yet because you're lazy, be honest, then it's time to come back. If you're not ready yet for medical reasons, or something like that, no problem. That's not what we're talking about.

But we need one another so that we can one another, one another. And so this week at church, we were still in John chapter 1 versus 29 and following. And this is where John the Baptist sees his first cousin, Jesus. And he makes the declaration that the whole Jewish community has been waiting on for the entire old covenant. He says these words. behold the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the entire world which is different than another Lamb of God that's here to cover the sin of the Jewish people for a year but he looks at Jesus Christ and he says behold the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world now

you know if you've been coming to 1122 that we preach the gospel all the time and just in this sentence is the gospel. We just talked about this this weekend. That when John the Baptist says that Jesus is the Lamb, that he was come to be the sacrificial lamb that would die in our place. And that just like in Leviticus 16 on the Day of Atonement every year, the Israelites would confess their sins to the high priest. The high priest would transfer the sins of the people from them to the head of this goat. They called it the scapegoat. They would take that goat to the edge of town and cast it out into the wilderness so that the people could see their sins being carried away as far as the east is from the west. And then he would take a lamb. A perfect, spotless

lamb, and he would consecrate himself, the high priest would consecrate himself, he would shed the blood of the lamb. He would take that lamb's blood into the holy of holies, the place that was separated, it was separated by a curtain and it separated the presence of God from the people of God. And in that room, the Holy of Holies, was the Ark of the Covenant and inside the Ark of the covenant was the Law of God, which we break all the time. And the picture going on here is that the priest, the high priest, would then cover over the broken laws of God that were contained inside of the ark with the blood of a spotless lamb. So that a way to think about it is when God looked down on his law, he did not see the broken

laws of man, but he saw the shed blood of the lamb instead. And it was to cover over the broken laws, and they did it year after year after year. And then at the Jordan, John the Baptist sees Jesus his cousin and says, behold, that means paying attention. We don't have to do that anymore because the Lamb of God is here and he's not just going to cover it over sin he's going to take away sin and this is not just for the religious Jewish people to participate in this is going to be for the entire world and so with that in mind with that backdrop in mind the one another I want to look at is this in mark chapter 9 verse 50 we are told to be at peace with one another to be at peace with one another. So one of the first questions I would ask you is this. Is there someone

that you're not at peace with? And if the answer is yes, then you need to ask yourself, well, why is that? And after you ask yourself that, what could you do to make it right? What could you do to be at peace with one another? Now, a little bit of context. In Mark chapter nine, this is the context in which we get this commandment to be at peace with one another. It's kind of long. Pick it up in verse 42. It says, whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. You see, unity, we're going to talk about this one a lot, by the way. Unity among God's people is incredibly important to God. Now, not uniformity, but unity. We don't all have to look the same and

think the same, but we need to always be at peace with one another. And so Jesus starts this thing out with, if anybody causes one of these little children to stumble and sin, it would be better for you to tie a cinder block around your neck and be thrown into the ocean than to not be at peace with one of these children, or maybe even more importantly, or to cause one of these children to not be at peace with me. And he says this, pretty extreme language. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands and go to hell to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet and be thrown into hell.

And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where the worm does not die and the fire is not quench. For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost at saltiness, how will you be made salty again? Have salt in yourself, and then here's the command. and be at peace with one another. Here's what Jesus is saying.

Cutting off your hand and cutting off your foot and gouging out your eye seems a bit extreme, does it not? And obviously, Jesus isn't being literal here, but what he is saying is that when we are not at peace with one another, that is extremely important to God, and you and I should go through extreme measures in order for us to be at peace with one another.

But here's the kicker. The only way, the only way that we are going to experience peace among one another is that first and foremost, you must be at peace with God. Now, when the Bible talks about peace, it doesn't mean what we mean in our English word. The Hebrew word for peace is shalom. It means wholeness. It means completely together. Oftentimes, when we use the word peace, we just mean like a last,

lack of conflict. And that's like the lowest level of peace. That's kind of peace in the negative sense, as long as there's not conflict. At least I'm getting a little peace and quiet. But when Jesus is saying this, he said, no, no, no, no, I want you to be wholly together with one another. I want for your one anotherness to be complete. And the only way that can happen between two sinful people, because you realize that if there's somebody that you're not at peace with, the reason is because you and that person. I mean, that's it. There's only two reasons you have a problem with other people. You and other people, that's it.

And anytime you get two sinners next to each other and they begin to interact at work, at home, whatever it is, then you begin to have friction like two body parts rubbing together or two engine parts that rubbed together. And where there is that friction, things heat up, particularly if somebody mistreats the other person or somebody sins against the other person or somebody is selfish or really basically any human interaction with each other, and the reason is because we are sinful, selfish people. And the solution for that friction and for the heat that is caused there, the solution for that is to love one another. So step one is this, in order for us to be at peace with one another, then what we have to do is first and foremost, we have to be at peace with God. So let me ask you

this. Are you at peace with God? And I don't mean like, Do you feel good about him? I mean, is there sin that separates you from God? First and foremost, I would ask you that eternally and ultimately. Have you ever come to the place where you believe that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who came to die on the cross to take away your sin? Have you ever put your faith in him? Have you ever believed?

Have you ever trusted that when Jesus Christ died on the cross, that somehow that counted for you? and if your answer is, well, I haven't done that, you should do that right now, that you should admit it, I'm a sinner in need of a Savior, that you should believe or trust when Christ died on the cross that counted for you, and then you should confess him as your Lord. And the moment you do that, the Bible says that you have been now made at peace with Jesus Christ, and the forgiveness that you did not deserve has been counted toward you. And what's even crazier in that, the righteous life that Jesus lived, that his righteousness has been imputed or credited to you,

and the sinful life that you have lived, that I have lived, that he paid for it at the cross. And so the way that you and I are to be at peace with one another, first and foremost is to be at peace with him. Because behold, he is the Lamb who came to take away the sin of the world. and then when we have experienced that kind of forgiveness, when we have experienced that kind of reconciliation between us, sinners, and a holy and perfect God, then we should therefore be ambassadors of reconciliation with other people so that just like there is peace between us and him

because of what Christ did on the cross, therefore there can be peace between one another because of what Christ has done. on the cross. Now, one other thing about this text in Mark chapter 9, he talks about three different body parts. He says, if your foot causes you to sin, if your hand causes you to sin, if your eye causes you to sin. Well, part of the reason that you don't chop off your hand and chop off your foot and gouge out your eye is because your hand has never caused you to sin. Your heart has. You see, your hand may have aided you in your sin, and your foot may have aided you in your sin,

and your eye may have aided you in your sin, but they have never caused you to sin. That is a heart issue. And so what do you need to do when your heart has caused you to sin? You do, you tear it out, and you get a new heart. And the good news, according to John, Chapter 1, because the Lamb has come and taken away the sin of the world, then the Bible tells us that when we put our faith in Jesus Christ, then God removes that sinful heart from us. That in essence, he rips out the heart of stone that we have that is built upon our own idolatry and ego and insecurity. And he rips our heart out our heart of stone

and he replaces it with a brand new heart with his heart. And I know that sounds extreme, but it's an extremely big deed. That he rips out our heart. heart of sin and he gives us a brand new one with him on the throne. And so if Jesus sits on the throne of your heart, Church of 1122, may you be at peace with one another. And if you have to go through some extreme activity to get there, well, it's extremely important. Let me pray for you. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, we thank you that you sent your son Jesus, who is the Lamb of God, who came to take away the sin of the entire world. Not just one group of people in one place,

but God, all people. And God, I thank you that he did not come to just cover over our sin, that he did not come, that we would just manage our sin, but the Lamb of God, through his blood, came to take away our sin. So God, for any of us at any time, who are not at peace with one another, Lord, I pray that just like you made peace with us,

through the gospel, then we would be at peace with one another. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for joining us for Deepen with Pastor Jobi Martin. If you're looking for additional resources to help you further deepen your relationship with Jesus Christ, visit C-O-E-22.com slash resources. We're praying this message you heard today helps you experience God in a unique and fresh way. And as always, be free.