Amy Carmichael

Mark 14:1-9

Focus on Jesus, Unity, Future

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Mark 14:1-9 tells of the woman who inspired this year's World Missions Conference theme. While everyone else in the room was distracted, she focused on Jesus, thereby teaching us the best way to focus on unity. Her deed also focused on the future. It will be mentioned wherever the Gospel is preached. We all want to do things that will long matter. I am grateful that as we start a brand new church, we are also celebrating Hamlin Baptist Church, which we started over a century ago.

Another lady whose life taught the value of focus is Amy Carmichael (1867-1951). Born in a small village in Ireland, she was the oldest of seven children in a devout Presbyterian family. She had at least two opportunities to marry, but chose not to. She felt the Lord had called her to a life of singleness. She believed this would let her have an undivided, laser beam focus on the call of Jesus for her life.

Amy served as a Christian missionary to India, where she opened an orphanage in Dohnavur, 30 miles from the southern tip of India. She served in India 55 years without a furlough. Her most notable work was with girls who were saved from forced prostitution. Over the years, she helped thousands of children.

Amy became one of the world's most famous and admired missionaries ever, and rightly so. She obviously lived a wonderful, successful Christian life, and can teach us by her example traits that might help us live a life worthy of our Lord.

One, she helped the helpless. One sure way we can be used by God is to find people no one else cares about, and to minister to them. We should help the unloved, not for earthly praise and reward, or to earn merit for salvation, but because Jesus loves them. He is in their midst, identifying with them. Thus, when no one is helping them, the Lord himself is being neglected. He blesses those who bless the outcast. Amy provided abundant evidence of this, even as a teenager.

When Amy was 16, the family moved to Belfast. Her dad died when she was 18. This left the family in poverty. Amy never allowed much time for self-pity. She was always more concerned about the wellbeing of others than about herself.

She started a Sunday class at her church for the shawlies, mill girls who wore shawls because they were too poor to wear hats. The numbers grew, much to the chagrin of several dignified church members. She finally realized she needed to find a separate place large enough for them to worship in. Amy started her own church, Welcome Evangelical Church. She raised enough money to construct on donated property a building that could seat 500. She was 20. The church still exists today. As time passed, she became convinced she was called to be a missionary.

Amy arrived in Dohnavur in 1901, and soon learned about the nightmarish, demonic system of Hindu temple prostitution. Girls were "married to the gods" as young as 10 years old. They were forced to spend their lives in illicit sexual service to priests, and in forced prostitution to earn money for the temples. To Amy's horror, she learned none—not one!—of these temple prostitutes had ever been won to Christ. No Christians had ever been allowed to work among them. This system was a sword to Amy's heart. Something had to be done. The lady who had blessed the shawlies felt surely someone could find a way to touch these girls for God.

This passion to save the girls became a fire blazing in her bones. Amy immediately knew she had found her calling. "I remember waking up to the knowledge that there had been a very empty corner somewhere in me that the work had never fulfilled." Her life changed forever. She never looked back.

Her search-and-rescue missions for children were often clandestine affairs. Girls were usually abandoned to temples for money to help families in hard times.

Amy, believing prevention was her best hope, pleaded with families to let her have the girls instead of selling them. If girls escaped the system, Amy fought legal battles in court with the temple priests. She once described a holy man who was a ringleader in this prostituting of children as a beast in human shape; she then corrected herself, "It is slandering good animals to compare bad men to beasts."

Within months of her arrival at Dohnavur, Amy had become Amma (Tamil, mother) to about 10 children. Within three years, she was serving over 30 children.

About this time, Queen Mary recognized Amy's work, and funded a hospital at Dohnavur. Within 12 years, 130 girls were living there. Six years after this, a home for boys was added. By the time she died, over 300 lived at the compound. It continues today, over 500 live on 400 acres, with 16 nurseries and a hospital.

Of the thousands of children Amy cared for, many were not in danger of temple prostitution, but were orphans or children otherwise abandoned by their families. Many were severely handicapped mentally and/or physically. She helped the helpless because she saw in them the Savior she loved.

Two, Amy died to herself. When a lady who was considering mission service wrote Amy and asked what it was like, Amy replied, "Missionary life is simply a chance to die." Leaving her family was almost more than Amy could bear. Fifty-two years later she wrote, "Never, I think, not even in Heaven shall I forget that parting. . . .Even now my heart winces at the thought of it. . . .The night I sailed for China, March 3, 1893, my life, on the human side, was broken, and it never was mended again. But He has been enough."

When Amy sailed, friends sang songs on the wharf for about an hour, till the boat was out of hearing distance. The hardest farewell was to an elderly man who took her under wing when her dad died. Amy said of leaving him, "Jesus has two nail-pierced hands. He lays one upon each and parts us so--He does the parting."

For years, Amy died to herself. For instance, she always traveled third class on the trains. When asked why, she said, "Because there is no fourth class."

Amy desired, as Elisabeth Elliott phrased it, "Utter holiness, crystal pure." She reminds us holiness matters most. She died to herself in order that Jesus might live totally through her. Amy always feared she would disappoint people who first met her. She was afraid she would not live up to the stories they heard of her. Few were disappointed. One young missionary met her and said, "I have seen the Lord Jesus." An Indian Pastor said, "I felt that here was a person who had realized God."

Because Amy died to herself, people saw the power of the resurrected Christ through her. During WW1, when Amy had 12 nurseries and dozens of children, supplies were hard to come by. Hindus and Muslims in the region came to their rescue. They often said, "God is there". They could not otherwise explain her wonderful work. We should ask, why should God bless mediocrity in us? Is there any part of our lives where there is extraordinary evidence of God's presence?

Amy learned as a child the lesson of needing to die to herself. Wishing she had blue eyes, she asked God to change the color of her brown eyes. She later admitted having brown eyes made her more acceptable to the people of India.

Three, Amy prayed. Often she found God's will in an impression that came after a time of intense prayer. She believed God can directly plant a thought in a mind yielded to Him. For instance, her call to missions did not come to Amy as a "miracle". She said, "The thought came". To Amy, the issue was surrender, not the specifics of a call. Being willing to do God's will, whatever it may prove to be, before it is known, makes it easier to determine God's will. She never did seek an audible voice from God, or handwriting on the wall, or an angel visitor. She prayed, and would look to circumstances, counsel, and Bible principles.

She often endured terrible times of distress and concern. These would drive her to prayer. One night when the whole enterprise was in danger of being done away with, she prayed, "I am beginning to sink. Lord, save me." A favorite verse was, "When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up" (PS 94:18).

To Amy it fell to make the major decisions. She always dreaded doing this. She feared making the wrong choices. If things did not go well, she always blamed herself. Once, when she decided to make a large purchase of land, she signed the check kneeling by her desk, "so deeply did I fear." She felt only a razor edge separated faith and presumption. She spoke of middle-of-the-night misgivings, yet also of renewed-dawn-determination to press ahead. There is no recorded instance of where she once made up her mind that she ever changed it.

Four, Amy loved. You who have pets will be glad to know Amy loved animals. She taught the children to treat all creatures gently, with respect. She would remind them the cobra did not ask to be a cobra; it wasn't his fault he was a danger. All living things were to be treated kindly unless they came into the house where they did not belong. During reports of bombings in WW2 she cried when thinking of people being killed, and also grieved over animals that would be dying.

All children were treated with respect. When a child died, and hundreds of them did over the years--epidemics and inadequate medical care were rampart--everyone followed the body to the burial plot as a way of saying they were merely accompanying the beloved from one living place to another, from earth to heaven.

For years, until her health weakened and the numbers of children became prohibitive, she kissed each child good night. Asked what drew them to Amy, the children usually replied, "Amma (Amy) loved us." Her gravemarker is a birdbath the children put up. It reads "Amma" which means mother in the Tamil language.

Five, Amy stayed faithful to the end. In 1931 she fell on a dark night into a hole at a construction site. She never fully recovered from her injuries, and was a homebound semi-invalid the rest of her life, for 20 years. This terribly burdened Amy, who never wanted to be a bother to anyone. Her nurse said she never complained. Even her doctors had trouble getting her to discuss her symptoms.

Amy claimed she had wanted to die like the old ox she read of in a children's story. It kept going till it died standing up, and even then they had to push it over.

Her world became a hut that had a bedroom, sitting room, and study. She could walk a little, but pain never left her. Her room of incarceration became her writing room. She had long used a typewriter, but while on her bed, she wrote in longhand on a writing stand. Her helper would then type for her.

She had always written much, but her two decades of being homebound saw her become amazingly prolific in writing. These difficult days are a major reason she became so well known around the world. She wrote hundreds of poems and stories, kept regular diaries, and published missions newsletters. She wrote about 35 books, yielding total sales of over half a million, with zero advertising. By the time she died, her works had been translated into 15 languages.

She wrote literally thousands of letters. Three themes dominated her correspondence: concern, encouragement, and most of all, love. To the end, she believed all of life should be characterized by love.

What did Amy Carmichael teach us? In order to please God, we need to help the helpless, die to self, pray, love, and stay faithful to the end. May God help us all to focus on Jesus and unity, resulting in deeds that will have influence forever.

 

Epic Church San Francisco

It’s hard to believe it’s already been 5 years since Ben and Shauna Pilgreen started Epic Church in San Francisco. We remember their days with us here at Second with fond regard. Ben sent out this report about their fifth anniversary celebration. I knew you would want to read this.

Dear Partners,

Yesterday we celebrated 5 years as a church and you all had so much to do with what God has done here during that time. A few things to celebrate:

• 687 people showed up yesterday in downtown San Francisco (84 of these were kids)
• 116 baptisms since our church began
• Over 30 small groups are currently meeting this year through Epic
• Our church has given away over $440,000 to our mission partners these past 5 years...doing for others what you all did for us!
• And our family is thriving and Shauna have never been at a better place in our 15 years of marriage. 

Please receive my highest thanks for all you and your churches have done to start an influential church in the middle of San Francisco.

Extremely grateful,

Ben

Noble, Not Wasted

Matthew 26:9-11

Noble, Not Wasteful

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Matt. 26:9 (Holman) "This might have been sold for a great deal and

given to the poor."

 

We can't know for sure what motivated the disciples to say this. Were they truly worried about the poor? Did they fear they would individually be financial losers due to money being taken from the group's treasury?

One thing is sure; one of them was a thief. Always beware the Judas ever lurking in our heart. He was the group treasurer, and would steal from their moneybag (John 12:6).

Their complaint is interesting to try to analyze because Jesus Himself was poor. Therefore, the gift actually was being given to the poor.

Their outburst indicted the lady of wrongdoing. By claiming she was robbing from the poor, they in essence were saying she was sinning.

The Twelve remind us; critics are not always better than the ones they criticize. The one speaking to us certainly has a logistical advantage over the one being spoken about, but be slow to judge the absent party. "The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him" (Proverbs 18:17).

 

Matt. 26:10-11  But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why are you

bothering this woman? She has done a noble thing for Me. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me."

 

Jesus and the lady could feel the anger of the Twelve. He and she were not deaf. They had heard the Twelve's self-righteous storm of protest. He knew they were implicating Him as an accomplice to this outrage. "Why did He let this happen?"

They should have looked at Jesus' face before deciding if the lady's gift was good or not. One glance at Him would have told them the most important person in the room was looking at the lady with glad approval.

Their contentious outburst was built on two fallacious premises. One, they missed the interlocking connection between giving to Jesus and giving to the poor.

They wrongly felt they could not do both, but the truth is; the poor never lose due to generosity to Jesus. No one loves the poor less due to loving Jesus more. Anyone whose heart is open to Jesus will care for the poor. People who give to Jesus tend to give more to the poor than those who don't give to Jesus.

Jesus is by far the best thing that ever happened to the poor. Giving to Jesus and to His Kingdom-work drives the piston that made it culturally acceptable in the first place to help the poor. Jesus lifted their station by teaching others the poor have dignity and value in His eyes.

When Jesus commanded us to love God and others, He was not giving two mutually exclusive requirements. We are to honor God, and help others, with equal fervor at the same time. Doing one does not nullify our chance to do the other.

We gladly do both simultaneously. In giving to Jesus, our hearts are expanded to give more to the poor. In helping the poor we know we are lovingly serving Jesus.

In our text, Jesus reminded us we would always have ample opportunity to do both. He referenced Deuteronomy 15:11, "There will never cease to be poor people in the land; that is why I am commanding you, 'You must willingly open your hand to your afflicted and poor brother in your land.'"

Poverty's ongoing existence does not excuse ignoring the poor. It rather ever gives us a chance to act like Jesus, to show self-denial and love.

The Twelve's second fallacious premise was; they wrongly estimated the purpose and value of possessions. They said, "Waste!" Jesus said, "Noble." What they deemed useless, Jesus deemed useful.

By rebuking them, Jesus reminded us; not everything we do in loving Him has to be practical. We tend to dissect details and fret through all kinds of options ad nausea. We are sometimes too cranial. Live occasionally from the heart. There is no loss in spontaneously honoring God and helping the poor.

What we see as imprudent giving, God may view as abundant love. A gift is most consequential when it includes sacrifice, which in the context of this story means when it can be said to include an element of waste. The sacrifice inserted in the gift increases its value, making it more appreciated.

In the final analysis, we must come face to face with the stark choice; which is more wasted; what we spend on Jesus or on us? Before the Great Depression a wealthy Texas businessman paid to build several buildings on Baptist college campuses. He later lost his wealth in the stock market crash.

One day he was walking with a friend past a building that bore his name. The friend remarked, "I guess you wish you had the money back you gave to build this building." The now-poor businessman immediately replied, "Oh no! What I gave away is all I still have. What I kept, I lost."

I fear we USA Christians, having long lived in a soft low-risk atmosphere, too often have amnesia when it comes to remembering our "wasteful" legacy. Our best forbears include a seemingly infinite number who so sacrificed to carry out the Great Commission that most of us would look at their lives and say, "Why this waste?"

In 1935 John and Betty Stam, in their twenties, laid down their lives as missionaries in China. Why this waste? Their martyrdom sent scores to the mission field.

I will never forget reading the biography of Bill Wallace. I already knew he died a martyr's death in China after the Communist takeover, but I was totally unprepared for the book. As I read it, I grew very fond of this gentle, brilliant medical doctor who fell totally in love with the Chinese.

As the Communists began brutalizing him in prison, and beat him into unconsciousness, I was appalled. Nearing the end of the book, knowing the moment of death was near, I fell off the couch at the parsonage of First Baptist St. John. Lying on the floor I read the account of his death. Why this waste? Was it a waste? My life was totally rededicated to God due to it.

In 1956 the world was mesmerized by a Life Magazine front page feature on Auca Indians in Ecuador killing five missionaries: Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint, and Roger Youderian. The world collectively grieved with their widows and children. I'm sure some thought, "Why this waste?" But their death sent hundreds of missionaries to the field.

In the early years of Africa missions, missionary graves outnumbered converts. Most Western believers were baffled at the staggering number of missionary deaths in Africa—"Why this waste?"—but some understood. In those hard days, Spurgeon foretold, "By heroic sacrifice the foundation of the African church should be laid." Livingstone also believed the rigors of his day were a prelude to a huge harvest of souls in Africa. Both were right. If they could see Africa now! "Why this waste?" Africa began the twentieth century with four million believers, and ended it with four hundred million.

Many missionaries have launched out for the cross, only to find a shore to die on. Disease has wiped out thousands, cruelty has killed hundreds. The record of "Go" is written in blood. Many have died that missions might live. We may wonder why God allows it, but submit to Him. This we know—"Why this waste?"—God lets no consecrated life be wasted.

Spurgeon once grieved especially over a young man he had nurtured for three years, preparing him for the mission field. The "beloved Hartley" left, landed, and died. Out of his sadness Spurgeon drew this conclusion, "Surely the Lord means to make further use of him; if He did not make him a preacher to the natives, He must intend that he should preach to us."

Of every fallen missionary, it can be said, "They being dead yet speak." Dying without regret in the cause, they challenge us to follow.

They went forth, looking forward to unbelievers; they went down, looking backward to believers. Their deaths are heroic fingers pointing onward. They fell, assuming others were coming behind them.

         Can we pray to the point of being considered wasteful by some? Can we give and go till some might think we are wasting our time and resources?

 

Why this Waste?

Matthew 26:7b-8

Why This Waste?

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Matt. 26:7b (Holman)  She poured it on His head as He was reclining at

the table.

 

This lady found what we seek; she drew near to God's heart. What lessons can we learn from her to help us in our quest to know Jesus better?

One, she was bold, unashamed of Jesus. The religious establishment turned on Him, but she didn't. We never have any valid reasons whatsoever to be ashamed of Jesus. His people may disappoint us, but He never will.

We cannot draw close to anyone we are ashamed of, or embarrassed to be identified with. Ask the Holy Spirit to give us supernatural courage toward Jesus in a culture slipping ever farther away from His influence.

Two, she was focused on Jesus, not herself. She could tell He was preoccupied. She was perceptive enough to sense a foreboding in Him. Others were distracted with everyone else, but she focused on Him. Sensing the weight on His shoulders, she wanted to encourage her sad, weary friend.

Jesus needed to know someone understood and cared. She looked into His soul and saw in His eyes a shadow being cast by a cross.

Our prayers are too often solely about us. When did we last express concern to Jesus about His pain over the suffering caused by a world run amok, and by multitudes entering a Christless eternity? We are not the only ones sorry about our sins; He is too. Ask Him to help us make Him less sad.

Three, she was generous. This socially awkward moment reminds us nothing is too precious to be poured out for Him who poured out His blood for us. We know this, but too often falter at the attempt to live up to it.

The event in our text is incredibly memorable because deeds like it are rare. This should not be the case. I wonder why we don't do this more often.

By pouring out her expensive perfume, this lady gave Jesus her best. She poured out her everything, nothing held back. True worship is generous.

 

Matt. 26:8   When the disciples saw it, they were indignant, "Why this

 waste?" They asked.

 

This was not a great moment for the Twelve. Love's actions always seem absurd to selfishness. Had we been in this room I fear we might have shared the disciples' incredulity. The disciples had forgotten, as we too often do, sometimes love has to do something wild to adequately express itself.

Affection sometimes needs to be so strong that it entirely forgets self, disregards what others think, and lavishes itself on the beloved. Occasionally we all need to give or do something that causes cooler hearts to ask, "Why this waste?" Our God deserves unexplainable expressions of love.

This lady showed the potential we have for showing love to Jesus. It is possible to do for Jesus a loving act so selfless that only He can appreciate it. We can give to the point that not even John the Beloved could understand.

When did you or I last give Jesus a gift so generous that it prompted someone to gasp out loud, "Why this waste?" We cannot do this all the time. The emphasis is spontaneous generosity. When did love last overwhelm us?

By failing here we find one cause of our spiritual listlessness. By not letting there be any moments when we lavish on God we develop a habit of ho-hum devotion. When a young preacher, as I was entering the auditorium one evening, our church treasurer told me our people had given more money in the previous month than we had ever given in any month in the fifty-year history of the church. Thrilled, I shared this with the people. We all rejoiced.

I then on a whim asked who had made a conscious choice to sacrifice anything to help us achieve this remarkable victory. Only one person raised a hand. Young and immature, I blurted out, "Then why don't we give that much every month?" It was a bad question; I regret I did it, but the event has stayed with me, reminding me we often let our giving become perfunctory. Somewhere in life it becomes routine, rather than an outflowing of love.

By not letting white-hot lava flow sometimes, the heart stays cold always. Is mediocrity acceptable in our giving to God? Is moderation a plus when showing love? Some highly value dull, thinking a yawn is better than a wild gift.

It's been a long time since Ruth and I gave a "wasteful" offering to God. When we were young, we gave everything we had to buy all the buses for our bus ministry in Gosnell one at a time. People would reimburse us after each purchase; Ruth and I would go buy another bus. At what age do our hearts begin to cool? When does giving become duty rather than delight?

Don't try to stop our children if they want to give a lot; they will become like us soon enough. Leave them alone; let them give recklessly. Let them create their own high standards to strive to reach again later in life.

When did we last do or give more than was expected of us? Shall we be content with giving God what we deem His due, and nothing more? Extravagant love ought to break out in all of us from time to time.

Abundant generosity has long marked the best among us. When Jacob was told his son Joseph was still alive, the old patriarch did not believe it, until he saw extravagant gifts loaded on the wagons sent to retrieve him.

In the wilderness, the Israelites gave so much for construction of the tabernacle that Moses had to make them stop giving. In Paul's day, the poor Macedonians, whose land was repeatedly ravaged by wars between Greece and Persia, gave beyond their ability to give. When the Prodigal Son came home, the father was lavish, so lavish the elder brother could not understand.

In each of these cases we could ask, "Why this waste?" But before we ask it about these examples or about the woman in our text, ask it about God.

We certainly don't learn miserliness from God. He never gave to us with hesitation or a cold heart. As we scan the works of creation, we readily see ours is a God of power and wisdom. We also see more. God is lavish.

God pours His love on us. He does not merely calculate His benefits or weigh His favors on scales. God is not only practical in His creation. He built extravagances into it. He gives each flower far more than barely enough seeds to reproduce its beautiful self. The sun shines far more light than our planet needs. Rain falls on rocks as well as soil. Incredibly beautiful sunset scenes are everyday unseen by human eyes. "Why this waste?"

Sometimes we need to respond to God's love with extravagant waste. When did any of us last lavish one act or gift of love on Him who is love?

Love for God is not ruling us if the minimum is all we want to eke out for Him. For instance, if we can talk ourselves out of tithing, our hearts are going the wrong direction. Love seeks no loopholes to crawl through, but floodgates to give through. Selfish love is a contradiction, an oxymoron. As a furnace melts ice, even so love melts selfishness.

When we capture the truth "God is love", we no longer ask of our giving, "Why this waste?" But always wonder "Is there any way I can give more?" When was the last time any of us labored over a checkbook or checked our savings accounts and wondered, "Is there more we can give?"

Dr. Larry Reesor, founder of Global Focus, tells of an African village where everyone became a believer. As they studied Scripture, they decided to send out a missionary. In three successive attempts, they tried to sell enough of their possessions to fund a missionary. Once they ran out of items to sell, and still fell short of their goal, they sat down as a group and wept.

Jesus taught us; the first command is to love God, and true love never coldly calculates, or thinks how little it can give. Love gives to the uttermost limit, and after giving all, is disappointed it cannot give more.

 

Peace That Passes Understanding

Philippians 4:6-7

Peace That Passes Understanding

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

We have begun our New Year (2016) by looking at the first two fruits of the Spirit: love and joy. This message will look at the third fruit: peace.

 

Phil. 4:6-7 (Holman) "Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through

prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known

to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will

guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

 

Many of us grew up knowing and memorizing the King James Version rendering, "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding." Of all words ever coined, few are more soothing than peace. Conjuring up images of contentment, peace is pictured by the satisfaction of a baby nestling in its mother's arms.

The word "peace" occurs in 26 of 27 New Testament books (not I John), yet we too little experience it. Neither common nor ordinary, peace is rare.

History, written in ink blood red, records much of war, little of peace. The most written about period in USA history is the Civil War, which cost 700,000 lives. Even when a war ends, what follows can rarely be called peace. "Cease-fire" is usually more accurate. Too often the guns are silenced so we can stockpile bigger and better weapons to fight with. The years between World War I and World War II proved to be merely a temporary quietus in one huge war. Nations honed materials and methods while raising a new generation to do the fighting.

Into this discouraging melee of a world, Christians are sent as peacemakers.  Our Lord said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God" (Matthew 5:9). Christians should strive to foster peace in at least four areas. One, in personal relationships.  In all our dealings with others, peace must be a priority. 

The Bible word for peace is based on the Hebrew greeting "Shalom," which is a prayer asking God to secure another person's well being.  Peace involves trying to help other people enjoy life's best benefits.

Peace is not cease-fire, armed neutrality, freedom from trouble, tall fences between houses, or "you go your way, I'll go mine."  Peace entails desire and effort to work actively toward achieving the highest good for others.

Some Christians enjoy conflict. They delight in watching others squabble or fight.  Our Lord condones none of this. Neither should we. In every situation dealing with relationships, Christians must be healing agents. At work, at home, in social life, believers should help people have peace with us and with one another.

Two, Christians should pursue peace with God. In seeking peace with others, we will never have our best success until we are at peace with God. Always seeking the highest and best good for others takes a miracle. We are by nature so selfish that a Power above us must wield repeated control over us for us to always be promoting peace. Human peace with others must flow from God's peace in us.

Peace between nations is rare because God's peace is rare in the hearts of individuals. World War II started for us not at Pearl Harbor, but in Hitler's heart.

Until God's peace reigns in our hearts, strife and trouble will disturb our relationships with others. "What is the source of the wars and the fights among you? Don't they come from the cravings that are at war within you?" (James 4:1).

In Paul's commonly used salutation, "grace and peace", grace always precedes peace. We must have God's grace before we can have His peace.

In whatever way the word peace is used in Scripture, God is always implied in the background. Jesus is "our peace" (Ephesians 2:13-17), for He has reconciled us to God and to each other. Believers, be careful to keep our spiritual peace strong. Stay close to Jesus. Christ's peace is inseparable from His sensed presence.

Peace is an atmosphere surrounding and accompanying Jesus. Sin diminishes it. Learn to hate evil. Peace of heart is too valuable to be without.

Three, Christians should promote peace in their local church. God wants His children to live in harmony. Peace between believers is especially important because the world is watching us like a hawk.

We have to work extremely hard at maintaining peace in a local church because the unity we seek has to be preserved in a context of diversity. A local church is a hodgepodge, consisting of different types and classes of people, having various tastes, attitudes, and mind-sets. Differences are a church's earmark, for Christianity extends its invitation to all kinds of people.

Few organizations give a blanket welcome and say, "All come". Civic groups usually target adults only, making no provision for preschoolers. Most secular groups usually deal only with people of common interests, desires, or ages.

But churches say, "All come". Newborns are provided for, preschoolers taught, children trained, and teens wanted. College students matter, single adults aren't neglected, married adults are welcome, and senior adults are cared for. Rich and poor, employer and employee, immigrant and citizen, Cardinals fan or Royals fan, Democrat and Republican, male and female, Jew and Gentile, "All come".

The Holy Spirit takes people who are vastly different and mixes them into one organization. He then works a miracle. He enables them to live together in peace.  This oneness amidst profound diversity brings huge honor to God and attracts the world's attention. When we don't get along, this dishonors God and unfortunately also attracts the world's attention.

We have to be vigilant in the face of many attempts from inside and outside a local church to take away its God-given, God-intended peace. Ever endeavor to keep peace because many factors ever endanger it. Envy, jealousy, and anger still lurk in our old natures and surface when we neglect our prayer closets.

Pride ever stalks our heart corridors; Diotrephes still "loves to have first place" (3 John 9). Cowardice abides; Demas yet deserts us (2 TM 4:10). Meanness haunts us; Alexander the coppersmith still does us much harm (2 TM 4:14).

Error remains; Hymenaeus and Alexander still blaspheme (I Timothy 1:20). We sometimes have to deal with people who mistakenly treat their own opinions with the reverence due only to absolute truth found in Scripture. 

Be careful when dealing with troubles in the fellowship. Hold a rein on our passions. Keep our emotions under control. Think and pray before speaking.

Do not fight the Lord's battles with Satan's weapons. Do not hold the Bible in our hands while having the look and sound of Satan on our faces and lips.

If others wish to quarrel with us, do not quarrel in return. If others revile us, do not respond in kind. Our calling is not to win debates. We are to win people, not arguments. In everything we do, stress the importance of peace in a local church.

Four, believers should bring peace between unbelievers and God. Jesus told His followers, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you" (John 20:21). In this, the fourth of five times Jesus gave the Great Commission, peace was conferred on His followers as a trust to be transmitted to others.

God the Father delegated a worldwide peace responsibility to His Son, who in turn conveyed to us the same task. The peace of this whole lost world has been placed by the Father on Jesus, and by Jesus on us. We continue His work.

Jesus substituted His body for our bodies at Calvary. Now our bodies need to be substituted for His. In Galilee He spoke peace through His vocal cords. Now He speaks peace through ours. He walked on His feet to spread peace, now He uses our feet to run His tasks of peace. The only hands He has to do His work are ours.

We believers are not to be selfish with the peace God has given us to enjoy.  We are to take His peace house to house (Luke 10:5). The King of kings sends us as ambassadors throughout the earth to plead for peace, to urge people to end their hostility against God. In a world opposed to Jesus, we are to go forth to erect outposts of His kingdom, embassies of refuge, lighthouses of peace. We must tell sinners; because of what Jesus has done, the war is over. They are welcome to come home to their Heavenly Father in peace.