"WHERE PEACE SHOULD FLOURISH!"

“WHERE PEACE SHOULD FLOURISH!”

“Have peace with one another” (Mark 9:50).

“If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:18).

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God”
(Matthews 5:9).

“The Church is where peace should flourish. The disgrace of the Church, in too many cases, in too many communities, is its envyings, jealousies, ill-natured scandal, idle gossip, love of pre-eminence, willingness to impute the worst possible motives to one another, having sharp eyes for our brother’s failings and none for our own. Where these abound peace vanishes, rumbling and discontent prevail, and divisiveness rears its ugly head. But these same things characterize the world of unredeemed, unconverted, unloving men! Should not the Church present a strong contrast to the world and show the world a different spirit and a different tone than its own? But does it? Why not?”

(Alex. Maclaren – Adapted).

When David sinned against God by committing adultery with Bathsheba and causing her husband Uriah to be murdered, the Prophet Nathan said to the King, the Lord’s anointed, “By this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.” (II Samuel 12:14). At this moment David was not a good representative of the Lord.
Likewise when churches do not exhibit the true spirit of Jesus their Lord, but act with unbrotherly attitudes, the world is given occasion to speak evil of the Savior and His Gospel. This should not be.
God is the God of peace. Jesus came bestowing peace and making peace, reconciliation, and brotherly love possible. Paul mentions in the greetings or closings of most of his epistles “Peace” (the O.T. greetings/blessing) and “Grace” (the N.T. salutation/benediction). The Church is to be a body of peace-loving, peace-making, peace-keeping people! Every effort is to be made by every Church and every Christian “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”!
Never in the history of the United States has there been a greater need for the demonstration of the peace of Jesus Christ! The Church, we Christians, are to be the living manifestation of this peace! Let joy abound! Let grace be multiplied! Let love prevail! Let peace flourish! When the world sees what happy, loving, peace-practicing folk we are, won’t it want the same Jesus who makes it happen?

Larry Atkin, Preacher