Friday, June 30, 2017

So Far As It Depends Upon You Be At Peace With All Men



Agree with your adversary quickly… —Matthew 5:25

{CHAMBERS}  “In this verse, Jesus Christ laid down a very important principle by saying, “Do what you know you must do— now. Do it quickly. […] From our Lord’s standpoint it doesn’t matter whether I am cheated or not, but what does matter is that I don’t cheat someone else. Am I insisting on having my own rights, or am I paying what I owe from Jesus Christ’s standpoint?  Do it quickly— bring yourself to judgment now. In moral and spiritual matters, you must act immediately. […] God is determined to have His child as pure, clean, and white as driven snow, and as long as there is disobedience in any point of His teaching, He will allow His Spirit to use whatever process it may take to bring us to obedience. The fact that we insist on proving that we are right is almost always a clear indication that we have some point of disobedience. […] Have you suddenly reached a certain place in your relationship with someone, only to find that you have anger in your heart? Confess it quickly— make it right before God. Be reconciled to that person— do it now!”

{ELGIN}  One of the hallmarks of the life of Jesus was humility.  (Philippians 2:3-11) “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;  do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.  Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  Seeking to be reconciled with someone requires humility, which requires sincerity and obedience, which begins with submission to the Spirit of God and the will of the Father.

Has the Lord laid someone on your heart to which you must be reconciled?  We have been given the ministry of reconciliation and the message of reconciliation, so we should demonstrate reconciliation as a testimony of God’s grace. (2 Corinthians 5:18-21) “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  We show the same grace and mercy to others that we ourselves have been shown by God.  And, as with the world, some may reject our offer to be reconciled, or worse, treat it as garbage to be cast aside.  How people respond to us is not our responsibility, just as people reject the Gospel and God’s appeal through Jesus, your attempt to be reconciled may be rejected.  But your heart will be clean.  (Romans 12:17-19) “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.” As far as it depends upon you, be at peace .. be reconciled … and let people see Jesus in you.

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