he message given by Jesus and the apostles is resoundingly clear: whether our
conflicts involve minor irritations or major legal issues, peace and unity are
of paramount importance to God. Therefore, peacemaking is not an optional activity
for a believer. . . . Token efforts will not satisfy this command; God wants
you to strive earnestly, diligently, and continually to maintain harmonious relationships
with those around you.
Isaac Barrow
The devil loves to fish in troubled waters.
Thomas Adams
Were it not a piece of strange madness, when the enemy is at the walls, and the
town every moment in danger of being stormed, the bullets flying thick about
the streets, for within to be sitting still and consulting, whether a musket
would carry further than a trunk. Truly, such folly, such madness, is it to employ
ourselves about needless discourse about the world or superficial things, when
our inestimable souls are continually in danger of being surprised and slain.
John Flavel
Be deeply affected with the mischievous effects and consequences of schisms and
divisions in the societies of the saints, and let nothing beneath a plain necessity
divide you from communion with one another; hold it fast till you can hold it
no longer without sin. At the fire of your contentions your enemies warm their
hands, and say, Aha, so would we have it.
Dennis Johnson
Are there any who, when they hear of the future of uniting all Christians in
profession, affection, and practice, are disposed to receive the intimation with
a smile of incredulity, to treat the prospect as visionary, and to exclaim, "How
can these things be? Will God create a new race on the earth? Will he give new
structure to the minds of men? Will they not continue to think and act about
religion as they have done from the beginning until now?" Hear the Word of the
Lord, you scornful men: Is it a small matter for you to weary men, will you weary
my God also? Has he not said, "I will give them one heart and one way, that they
may fear me?" And will he not do it?
William Gurnall
There are many conflicts that can be properly solved
only through confrontation, confession, forgiveness, and cooperative negotiation.
But there are hundreds more that can be properly resolved simply by
overlooking minor offensesrelinquishing rights for the sake of God's kingdom.
Therefore, before focusing on your rights, take a careful look at your responsibilities,
and before you go to remove the speck from
your brother's eye, ask yourself, "Is this really worth fighting over?"
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
'These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud
look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked
plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies,
and one who sows discord among brethren.' The sense is not, that the six things
are hateful to God, and the seventh an abomination to Him besides; . . . the
seven are to be numbered separately, and the seventh is the non plus ultra
of all that is hated by God. . . . The chief of all that God hates is he who
takes a fiendish delight in setting at variance men who stand nearly related.
John Sanderson
The ethic of peace is not an ethic that is expected of society in general, but
is an ethic for the regenerate, for the members of the body of Christ. God is
creating within society a reconciled community, a community of believers to live
in freedom and fellowship. In this new community we as believers are to model
the way of peace. . . . The new community is to demonstrate the true meaning
of peace, love, and justice in human relations.
Jerry Bridges
The promise is that this kingdom will grow, issuing forth in peace (Is. 9:7).
When Messiah is born into the world, He will be granted His kingdom. . . . The
reign of Christ over His kingdom, which was entered at His first coming, will
be "progressive and perpetual". . . . This peace grows incrementally through history:
Christ "extends its boundaries far and wide, and then preserves and carries it
forward in uninterrupted progression to eternity." His righteous rule begins at
the first coming of Christ (Lk 1:32-33). . . . Because Christ has come, He will
bring "peace on earth" (Lk 2:14a). It is His birth at His first coming that insures
the peace on earth, not His second coming.
Credenda/Agenda Vol. 7, No. 2
