The Ruling Disposition of Heart

The Holy Spirit's Work and the Call to Prayer

0:01 The following message was delivered on Sunday evening, March 19, 1995, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. I wonder if you grasp some of the marvelous, biblical, Trinitarian theology in the hymn we have just sung, particularly in that last stanza. God from eternity hath willed all flesh shall his salvation see, so be the Father's love fulfilled, the Savior's sufferings crowned through thee. In terms of saving benefits, the Holy Spirit is present in this world, in this age, to accomplish the purposes of the Father's love, and to bring to pass the fruit of the Savior's suffering. And anything that the Father's love has not purposed, and the Savior's sufferings have not purchased, has no place in the workings of the Holy Spirit.

1:16 So mindless giggling and falling on the floor in the name of the Holy Ghost is at best silly nonsense and at worst wretched blasphemy. And dear people, we are the people of God. We will increasingly see all kinds of aberrations in the name of the work of the Holy Spirit. But if you can grasp the simple principle embodied in this hymn, God is one in will and purpose, God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and what the Father in love has purposed, the Son has purchased, and the Spirit is present.

2:00 to apply. That is, by grace, take a people out from the dominion and bondage and defilement and guilt of sin, bring them into the orbit of all of the gracious blessings described in the Bible as regeneration and justification and sanctification and adoption, and then one day glorify them and bring them all home to heaven, made into the likeness of his own dear son, and his grand instrument in accomplishing that is the truth of his own word, brought by the power of the Spirit, first of all to the theater of the understanding, and then laying hold of the affections and the will and the whole man, but never by mindless, by mindless, by mindless, by mindless gibberish, by silly giggling, and by all the other foolishness that is attributed to the work of the Holy Spirit. So may we be emboldened to pray together that through the simple reading and explanation and proclamation of the written word of God, the Holy Spirit will indeed accomplish what the Father's love has purposed and what the Son's purchase has procured, and may we be able to do that.

3:25 May we see that come to fruition here in our midst together. Let us pray.

3:39 Our glorious, triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we do worship and magnify you for all that you are in yourself and for all that you have purposed to do in the redemption of hell-deserving sinners, and believing that you have purposed through the preaching, and teaching of the word of God, to perfect your people and to call out your people unto yourself. We would be bold to plead for copious measures of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, not to give us exotic feelings, not to give us bizarre experiences, but to take away the dullness from our minds, to take away the blindness from our minds, to take away the blindness from our minds, to take away the blindness from our eyes, to take away the unbelief and the coldness of our hearts. O Holy Spirit, come and give us light through the word, and by your presence warm our affections and enlarge our faith, and produce in us those things that are the fruit of the Savior's sufferings. We plead in his worthy name. Amen.

The Prominence of Peacemaking and the Two Dimensions of its Practice

5:02 Now for those who are with us this evening and were not with us this morning, let me state that we announced this morning our intention in the near future to begin two concurrent series of studies in the word of God, but as we prepare for those studies to bring several messages on some pressing pastoral concerns and all of this in great detail. And so this morning, I set before you as the first installment of what will be three messages, the theme or the subject of being a peacemaker in the household of God. And in that initial study this morning, I attempted to accomplish, basically one major goal, namely to persuade your judgment to convince your understanding

6:17 of the prominence given to the duty of being a peacemaker. Having seen from the scriptures that our Lord himself speaks of the relative importance of the various precepts of God, that the precepts pertaining to the matter of being a peacemaker are indeed given a prominent place, or to use the language of Jesus, being a peacemaker constitutes one of the weightier matters of the law. And then we consider together six major texts, Matthew 5 verse 9, Mark 9 and verse 50, Romans 12 and verse 18, 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 13, Hebrews 12 verse 14, and 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 11. And in setting out these six texts of scripture, I was not being exhaustive, but only selective and representative in the biblical materials. Now having established, I trust, in your judgment,

7:34 prominence given to the duty of being a peacemaker, this inevitably brings to us the burning question, how do I actually go about engaging in the activity of being a peacemaker? If God in grace has given me a fundamental disposition to be a peacemaker, and according to Matthew 5 verse 9, there is, that disposition in every Christian, and if God has commanded us, be at peace among yourselves, pursue peace, if God has given us those commands, and a heart inclined to obedience to them, then how do I actually go about in the work of being a peacemaker? Not just...

8:35 A peacemaker... Not just a peace lover, but a peacemaker. One who actually makes peace where there is discord. One who actually makes peace where there is the potential for discord. Well, as in all moral actions, there are two dimensions to my answer. The first is that there is a ruling disposition of heart, a disposition of conscience—a disposition of love—a disposition of trust—a disposition of love, a disposition of love, meets the heart of God, and that is my answer. And I want to go back to the book of Revelation. This book, I think, is in the to be sought and cultivated, a ruling disposition of heart to be sought and cultivated, and there are regulating directives of conduct to be understood and implemented. So a ruling disposition of the heart to be sought, that is, sought from God in prayer out of the fullness of grace in Christ, but not only sought, but actually cultivated. For the graces we seek by prayer, according to the Scriptures,

9:47 we are to cultivate by sanctified endeavor. But not only must there be a ruling disposition of heart, there must be a respect for the regulating directives of conduct, which must be understood and in the strength and grace of Christ implemented. Tonight we take the first of these two parts to the answer, how do I actually go about engaging in the activity of being a peacemaker? And I answer that there is a ruling disposition of heart to be sought and cultivated, and why do I begin with this matter of the heart? For the simple reason that we are told in Proverbs 4 and verse 23, guard your heart above all that you guard, for out of it are the issues of life. Out of the heart are the issues of life. Using different imagery, this is precisely what Jesus is emphasizing when dealing with the subject of certain forms of speech which are inconsistent with being in a state of grace.

11:14 He says in Matthew chapter 12, make the tree good and the fruit good. We must start with the internal. We must start with the state and the condition of the heart. And as we do, we must start with the internal.

Disposition of Christ-like Lowliness and Meekness

11:33 We must start with the state and the condition of the heart. And as we do, I want to set before you tonight four lines of biblical evidence with respect to what constitutes that ruling disposition of heart which we are to seek and to cultivate. And perhaps we might liken these to four streams that flow into a common meeting place and form a pool out of which we are to seek and to cultivate. We are able to legal the peacemaking activity.

12:10 And the first I'm describing as a disposition of Christ-like lowliness and meekness. We will never go very far in our endeavors to be peacemakers unless we know something of a disposition of Christ-like lowliness and meekness. Turn with me, please, to Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4.

12:41 I read in your hearing the first three verses.

12:46 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith you were called with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Now, the main exhortation of these verses is that the people of God are to walk in a manner worthy of their calling in Christ. Having set forth in the first three chapters a marvelous panorama of all of God's calling, of the redemptive mercies to which we are called in Jesus Christ, the apostle now turns to the Ephesians, the recipients of this letter, and says, I beseech you to walk in a manner worthily of the unusual grace and blessing connected with your calling. And if we skip over verse 2 for a moment, we see that walking in the name of God, walking worthily of that calling,

14:07 is a walk that tends toward a giving diligence. And a very strong word, that word spoudazo in a participial form, giving diligence, conscious endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. In a context, in a context, in a context, in which the Spirit of God is a part of us, in a context, in which the Spirit of God is a part of us, which peacemakers abound in the preservation of the peace that has been constituted by the gracious work of God. But according to verse 2, we will make little or no progress in this effort to give diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace unless we have the companionship of four graces that are identified in verse 2. And at the head of them set before us in couplet form are lowliness and meekness. With all lowliness, not with just a little meager measure

15:23 of lowliness and an equally meager measure of meekness, but with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering coming alongside and forbearing one another in love, giving diligence. These four graces are essential if our diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace is in any way to be effectual. If, therefore, we are to be in any sense truly peacemakers, then the ruling disposition of heart to be sought and cultivated is in the first place a disposition of Christ-like lowliness and meekness. And lowliness and meekness not in meager measures, but in abounding measures. One of the commentators has said with respect, to these two graces, lowliness found no place in heathen ethics since it was thought of as a form

16:43 of abject groveling. The word used here for lowliness is one that no self-respecting heathen would use with respect to himself. That it became a primary Christian virtue is entirely due to the existence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not a self-respecting heathen. The Holy Spirit is not a self-respecting heathen. The Holy Spirit is not a self-respecting heathen. The Holy Spirit is not a self-respecting heathen. The example and teaching of the Lord Jesus, the example John 13, 4 and following is cited by this commentator where Jesus girds himself with a towel and does the task of a menial house servant in washing the disciples' feet.

17:24 The teaching of Christ and example whose sinless humility consisted in taking the form of a servant and rendering a perfect obedience to God. Philippians chapter 2 verses 5 to 8. With us, lowliness also consists in taking our proper place before God, but because we are sinners as he was not. In our case, this means the esteeming of ourselves small in so much as we actually are so. The thinking truly and because truly lowly of ourselves. That's what lowliness is for us. For our Lord Jesus, it had nothing in the way of contributing to its essence from sin. He was meek and lowly in the heart. So he describes himself in a rare description of his own internal character. Matthew 11,

18:34 and verse 29. And though a different form of the word is used, it is synonymous. I am meek and lowly of heart. And our Lord Jesus manifested that lowliness in his deed of self-emptying.

18:54 Philippians chapter 2. And he manifested his meekness by his unquestioning embrace of the will of God. For him, he was not asserting himself and out to do his own thing. But he says, the words that I speak are not mine, but him that sent me. The works that I do are the works of my father. And in the agony of Gethsemane and the great mystery of the struggling of his holy human will, in the face of the impending outpouring of divine wrath upon him, The issue's resolved when he says, nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. Meekness, then, is the opposite of all self-assertiveness, for it is in submitting ourselves to God that we are given the strength to serve others. And so here, if we are to be peacemakers, there must be in our hearts, in ever-growing measures,

20:07 this disposition of Christ-like lowliness and meekness. And surely you can see why. No one can go far in being a peacemaker who has large pockets of unmortified, self-importance on the one hand, the opposite of lowliness, and self-will, the opposite of meekness, on the other hand. When there is a man, a woman, a boy or girl, with large pockets or a fundamentally never-mortified sense of self-importance and self-will, that individual is always on a collision course, causing dissonance, causing discord, wherever he or she goes. Because in every situation, his or her will, his or her desires, his or her plans must take the field, or there is petulance, there is anger, there is withdrawing with a sulking countenance, and a host of other wretched manifestations of that which no one in his right mind could ever designate, as a peaceful relationship between the people involved. And you kids, think for a minute.

21:35 Isn't that, generally speaking, the root of all of your basic conflicts with your parents? They've expressed their will. It may be in a very little thing that has to do with keeping your room neat, with when you're going to be in, when you're going to return from a certain activity. It may be with a very piddling little thing, such as taking out the garbage.

22:00 What destroys the climate of peace in the home when you, as a kid, think that your will, your plans, what you want to do right then and there, is more important than what your parents have expressed as their will for you? And because you are full of self-importance and self-will, there is tension and there is conflict. What produces that in homes is what produces it in churches, when people are not content to have a mutual submission to the will of God as revealed in the Scriptures, on matters that are clearly revealed in the Scriptures, and on matters of judgment, where those who are put in positions of leadership are responsible to make judgments and judgment decisions that are not matters of moral right or wrong, and others cannot. Abide that their perspectives on the issue were either not consulted or given a place of prominence. What happens? Peace and harmony go out the window.

23:11 Discord and friction and tension enter in to such a congregation. Why? Because the spirit of lowliness has left the hearts of some. The spirit of meekness, that gently and willingly bends to the will of God, as the will of God comes to expression in its various ways in any combination of human relationships.

23:38 And therefore, if we are to be peacemakers, if we are to live at peace with all men, if we are to take seriously the injunction, as much as in you lieth, live peaceably with all men, we must seek earnestly increasing measures of Christ-like lowliness. And meekness. And we must labor at cultivating those graces. And perhaps there is no better way to cultivate them than the way described in 2 Corinthians 3 and verse 18.

24:14 In 2 Corinthians 3 and verse 18, the apostle says, But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. As we behold the Lord Jesus set forth in the scriptures, when we behold him in such passages as we've already alluded to Philippians chapter 2, where Paul is underscoring this very disposition among the Philippians. He says, Take full my joy, Philippians 2, 2, that you be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind, that is, live together in a context of peace, nothing through faction or through vain glory, but notice, in lowliness of mind, each counting other better than himself, not each one thinking my perspective must prevail, my ideas must take the field, my reactions must be considered by all. No, no, he said, each counting other better than himself,

25:42 not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you to the things of others. Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus, the only one who ever had inherent rights. What did he do with them? What did he do with them?

26:00 Who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, a bondservant, a slave, being made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death. Yea, the death of the cross, nakedness, shame, pain, ignominy, the outpouring of the wrath of God, the mockery of men, all of this, why, why? So thirsty was he for your salvation and mine, that he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. How in God's name can anyone claim to be gazing in his soul as part of his daily or his ordinary experience of communion with Christ? How can we be gazing with the mind's eye upon the Christ of Scripture, the Christ of voluntary relinquishment of rights in pursuit of our salvation,

27:27 and live in such a way that we create discord and disharmony and drive out peace because we have got to assert ourselves? Our thinking, our desires, our perspectives are so important that they must rule. Or else, and the or else for some is temper tantrums, the or else for others is withdrawal into a punitive silence. You see, whichever it is, if you're one of these that never has a temper tantrum, but you withdraw in a spirit that is contrary to the spirit of peace because of the absence of lowliness and meekness, it is as much a fracturing of the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace as it is for those who blurt out in a fit of anger and rage their frustration, that they couldn't have their own way. You and I are to be peacemakers. The ruling disposition of heart to be sought and cultivated is first of all a disposition of Christ-like lowliness and meekness. But then secondly, and more briefly,

Disposition of God-like Forgiveness

28:54 not because there's not more Biblical material on it, but it's so self-evident, we must, by the grace of God, cultivate, seek and cultivate, a disposition of God-like forgiveness. A disposition of God-like forgiveness. And here I ask you to turn to Philippians chapter 4 again, Ephesians chapter 4 again, I'm sorry, but to the latter part of the chapter. Ephesians chapter 4, verses 31 and 32.

29:30 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and railing be put away from you with all malice. You see how every one of these things is a death blow to a climate of peace? There is no peace where there's bitterness, no peace where there is wrath, no peace where there is carnal anger and clamor and abusive speech and malice. Those things are all utterly antithetical to a climate of peace.

30:12 And he says, let all of these things be utterly put away, all bitterness, all wrath, all anger, all clamor, railing be put away from you with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted. Now notice, forgiving each other even as, God also in Christ forgave you. You see, Paul is a realist.

30:46 He knows that with remaining sins still present in the hearts of the Ephesians, in spite of all of the marvelous privileges connected with their calling, described in the first three chapters, chosen in him before the foundation of the world, predestined unto sonship, redeemed by blood, sealed by the Spirit, quickened from death, new creatures created in Christ under good works, part of the new humanity in which the middle wall of partition has been broken down, all of the marvelous redemptive realities of Ephesians 1 to 3, notwithstanding, Paul is the realist who knows remaining sin is still active in the hearts of God's people, and it will break out in ways in which they offend and wrong one another, and he's assuming that they will have the moral sensitivity when made aware that they've wronged one another to seek forgiveness of each other. And once they seek that forgiveness, he says, be kind one to another, tenderhearted. When anyone touches your heart with the slightest intimation of seeking your forgiveness, let him not touch something that is like granite, that has to be broken up with a sledgehammer, let him touch something

32:14 that is soft and warm and responsive, as soft and warm as responsive as a baby's cheek. Be tenderhearted, notice now, forgiving each other. Here's the manifestation of the disposition of kindness and tenderheartedness upon which he focuses, forgiving each other by what standard? Even as God who in Christ forgave you.

32:53 If we are to be true peacemakers, we must have, by the grace of God, a disposition of God-like forgiveness. And when God initially received us in Christ and forgave us, what was the nature of his forgiveness? Was it grudging? Was it partial?

33:20 Was it tentative? Those of you who heard our brother preach on the prodigal son a few weeks ago, you know the answer to that. I hope you know it without having heard that sermon, but that certainly exemplified it so powerfully. When the father saw the son a great way off, he didn't stand there squinty-eyed and cynical and say, what's he want?

33:48 Run out of money? Come home for some more? Jesus is answering the accusation of those who said, this man eats with sinners and receives sinners. They were offended at the outgoing aggressiveness with which Christ receives sinners.

34:08 Jesus is telling them that in so doing the son of God who when he sees the returning prodigal he runs to him, throws his arms about him, smothers him with kisses and then he doesn't put him in a halfway house and say, now behave yourself for six months and we just might let you come and spend the night in the house. And then you'll be on probation for another? No, no, no, no. He threw his arms about him, called for the robe and the ring and he was singing and dancing and feasting and rejoicing.

34:51 The squint-eyed one was not the receiving father. It was the self-righteous elder brother. He's the one that couldn't hack the way daddy received home the wandering son. Look at our text, forgiving each other as God and Christ forgive.

35:09 God's forgiveness is unfettered, it is lavish, it is free, it is profuse. Now God says, you and I will forgive one another even as He in Christ forgave us. And His ongoing forgiveness to us as the people of God according to such passages as 1 John 1-9, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy unto all that call upon thee. Psalm 85 I believe, verse 5. God stands eager and ready to forgive His erring sinning children and upon the first intimations of their true honest heartfelt confession, He stands ready to forgive, plenteous in mercy. How beautifully that's illustrated in the case of David, that amazing word from the prophet. You remember

36:21 David had committed the horrible sins of adultery and murder by proxy and approximately a year of living in hypocrisy before the people in his kingdom in spiritual barrenness and dullness. But when the prophet comes to him as recorded in 2 Samuel chapter 12, no sooner does the parable get to David's emotions and then the application gets to his conscience and David cries out, I have sinned. The very next word is this, the Lord has put away thy sin. The very next word.

37:00 I have sinned. And the prophet doesn't say now David, if you'll go off and mourn for three months and seek and shed seven buckets of tears for another three months then God just might consent. No, no. He didn't say one month of mourning for every month of backsliding and six months of six buckets of tears for the murder and another six for the adultery. No!

37:27 God does not forgive that way. No sooner does David say I have sinned the prophet says in the name of God the Lord has put away thy sin. In the trauma of the soul and in the psyche of dealing with the wounds and the scars and all the rest out of that soul came the language of Psalm 51 and Psalm 32. I'm aware of that but I'm also aware that 2 Samuel 12 is bringing us a marvelous and much needed truth that God in Christ forgives not only initially, lavishly, boundlessly but in the ongoing forgiveness which we his children need and seek from him he continues to forgive in the same way. Dear people if we are to make any progress in being peacemakers we must both seek and cultivate a disposition of God like forgiveness. You see what that means kids? No holding grudges for

38:53 one minute. Did she wrong you? Yes she did. Did your sister come and say I sinned will you forgive me?

39:05 But she done that. No, no. No holding grudges. You see there's no place for grudge holding when you forgive as God forgives you. No place for holding grudges. You say but you don't. It's nothing whether I understand your situation or not. I know what the Bible says. And God who wrote the Bible knows all about your situation and he says you're to be kind, tender hearted, forgiving each other even as God in Christ forgave you. No place for grudge holding. No place for tit for tat getting even. No vengeance venting. No

39:54 withdrawing and sulking. That's what some of you do. You treated me ill? Alright.

40:01 I'm not going to cut you up with words. I'll torture you with silence. Is that what God does? God revealed in Christ God revealed in such parables as that of the father and the returning prodigal.

40:17 The father didn't stand there mute. By word and deed. Dear people if we are to obey the injunctions we studied this morning be at peace among ourselves. As much as in us lies we're to live peaceably with all men then we must both seek and cultivate not only a Christ like disposition of lowliness and meekness but a disposition of God like forgiveness.

The Necessity of a Forgiving Spirit for True Christianity

40:57 You see this is why it's utterly impossible to have as a prevailing disposition of the heart an unforgiving spirit and to be a true Christian. You remember in the sermon on the mount when Jesus gives us what we commonly call the Lord's prayer he made this abundantly evident. For he said one of the parts one of the ingredients of our daily prayers is what after this manner therefore pray Matthew 6 9 our father who art in the heavens hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done as in heaven so on earth give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors and do not bring us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one now what's the only petition Jesus goes back and amplifies and clinches with further explanation just one of them forgive us our debts see only one verse 14 for if you forgive men their trespasses your heavenly father will forgive you but if you forgive not men their trespasses neither will your father forgive your trespasses

42:25 now does that mean that my forgiveness earns God's no it means that if I have a truly penitent believing spirit in seeking God's forgiveness when I the finite creature have sinned against the infinite God and made myself guilty with infinite crimes and exposed myself to infinite punishment in hell surely if the creature the finite creature has received the forgiveness of the infinite God he's not going to withhold forgiveness from a fellow finite creature and Jesus puts this as a quality control upon your professed forgiveness of sin if you say you've come from the closet forgiven of your daily sins and you will not forgive your wife when she does that she's done so many times only ten angels could keep a record of it but she says honey I'm sorry will you forgive me Jesus said they come seventy times seven times in one day seventy times seven you're to forgive I didn't say that Jesus did why because you see a forgiven sinner is under moral

Disposition of Heaven-born Wisdom

43:53 compulsion to be a forgiving but then we hasten to touch the third component to the third stream that flows into the pool of that disposition that we must both seek and cultivate if we're to be peacemakers not only must we seek the Christ like lowliness and meekness the disposition of God like forgiveness but a disposition of heaven born wisdom a disposition of heaven born wisdom and here I ask you to turn with me to James chapter 3 I've tried to locate these matters in one pivotal passage rather than quoting many verses out of many places so that you can go back to these passages meditate upon them pray them in James chapter 3 verse 13 who is wise and understanding among you good question who among you in this congregation are wise and understanding who among you are endowed with true heavenly wisdom and understanding let him show by his good light his works now notice in meekness

45:20 of wisdom true wisdom will be found in the company of a disposition of meekness but if you have bitter jealousy and that should be better rendered bitter zeal the Greek word zelos is translated in some contexts jealousy and other contexts zeal should be translated here zeal if you have a bitter zeal and faction in your heart glory not and lie not against the truth this wisdom is not a wisdom that comes down from above but is earthly sensual and literally demonic you see here's this person who says oh yes I have great spiritual wisdom but you see his wisdom is such that he always wants to force the fruits of it on everyone else and in every situation he wants his wisdom his insights to rule in those situations and as a result what does his so called wisdom produce it produces a bitter zeal and factious for where jealousy or where this kind of zeal and faction are there is confusion and every vile deed

46:49 wisdom that is not joined to meekness that defers to its brethren that is clothed with humility that wisdom is not a wisdom that comes from above but is earthly sensual and devilish verse 17 but the wisdom that is from above is first pure now notice then peaceable gentle easy to be entreated full of mercy and good fruits without variance or doubtfulness without hypocrisy and notice the conclusion of the whole matter and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by them that make peace now without trying to sort out all the lines of truth in the passage basically James contrasts two kinds of wisdom one is from above one is from beneath one is the wisdom of God the other is the pseudo wisdom that is demoniacal earthly and sensual and what is the fundamental difference heaven born wisdom contributes

48:16 to a climate earth born devil born wisdom creates and foments a climate of division confusion and all of the vile deeds that flow out of those dispositions so if you say well I know better in this situation listen to what he says if you have bitter zeal and faction in your heart don't glory and lie against the truth you're lying against the truth the truth is you don't have wisdom you have pseudo wisdom that is an effusion of unmortified pride it is devilish it is earthly it is sensual it is not that wisdom that comes down from above that is marked by purity peaceableness gentleness easy to be entreated full of mercy and good peacemakers then we need to say oh god give me heaven born wisdom not wisdom that is born out of unmortified carnal pride and the very thing that made the demons what they are they would ascend

49:44 to a place that god never marked out for them we are prepared in the disposition of meekness that god would teach us wisdom that on matters of truth will not compromise on matters of principle will be like daniel and the three hebrew young men there in babylon they would capitulate on learning babylonian language and culture and ways and all the rest but in the things pertaining to their god they would not compromise as we said this morning we're not speaking of a peacemaking disposition that is willing to give up either righteousness or truth but we are talking about a disposition in the many areas where neither righteousness nor truth are involved but matters of judgment and taste and personal desire and inclination are involved if we are given a wisdom that is heaven born it will be a wisdom that contributes to the making and preserving of peace then the fourth stream that flows into the heart that is the heart of one growing in the holy skill of being a peacemaker

Disposition of Love-Impelled Forgetfulness

51:12 there will be found not only a disposition of christ like meekness and humility a god like disposition of forgiveness a disposition of heaven born wisdom but fourthly a disposition of love impelled forgetfulness that's a hyphenated word it will be a disposition of love hyphen impelled love impelled forgetfulness pastor i've got enough problem with my forgettery without asking god for more well let's locate what kind of forgettery we're talking about turn to first peter chapter 4 and verse 8 and of all things is at hand be ye therefore of a sound mind and sober unto prayer above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves for love covers a multitude of sin now as we shall see god willing next in the next message where we deal with understanding and implementing

52:39 divine directives or creation of peace where the peace has been broken by certain offenses not all sins and offenses among brethren are to be covered with the blanket of love and we'll address that but we're looking at this passage now and peter exhorts the saints above all things to be fervent in their love among themselves and he is thinking in particular of this one activity of love in this context its ability to cover a multitude of sins now you see here's the realism of the biblical writers they know that among the people of god there will not just be a sin here and a sin here and a sin here and a sin there there will be a multitude of sins if the standard of what is non-sin or righteousness is the law of god in all of its length and breadth and depth in all of its spirituality of demands touching the affections the motives the desires the looks the intents as well as the words and the deeds and the actions then surely amongst any group of god's people on any given day there will be a multitude of sins and he says have fervent love among yourselves for love will give you a built in blanket

54:06 factory that will be constantly churning out blankets with which to cover those sins not the kinds of sins that warrant reproof the kinds of sins that warrant admonition or exhortation they might be destructive to the soul of your brother or sister if you do not deal with them not the kinds of sins that have raised a barrier your brother has sinned against you and the only way to get the barrier down is to confront him we'll look at those passages but those multitude of sins which are no threat to the well being of the soul of my brother and if my heart is suffused with fervent love would certainly never be a barrier to our fellowship i can do one of two things i can either take a magnifying glass and continue to look at those sins and see them more and more blown out of their own size and shape and proportion until they become big issues in my mind because lovelessness is operating in the heart or i can have the blanket factory at work 24 hours a day churning out the blankets to throw over the multitude of the sins now how can we ever be peacemakers without the blanket factory that delights

55:34 to produce the coverings for the multitudes of sins that do not come into the category of that which warrants reproof rebuke confrontation this is why first Corinthians 13 5 a parallel passage says concerning love it keeps no record of wrong it keeps no record of wrong love doesn't have a ledger into which it puts every little wrong that i behold in another every little wrong that another has done to me or one of mine no love takes no account of evil that is it keeps no record of wrong it delights to throw the blanket of love over the multitude of sins the opposite of that proverbs 17 9 he that harpeth on a matter separated chief friends instead of covering a sin you can harp on it and harp on it as i was trying to think of an illustration i said i might gross out some of the older folks but the teenagers can relate to it it's like that little zit you got right on the end of your nose nobody else would see it unless they got within six inches but for you it was as big as a pumpkin so you started picking at it and pushing it and squeezing it

57:04 until you got it infected and then your nose did look like Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer by picking on the issue you aggravated till it was a big problem he that harps on a matter there's that little sin that ought to be covered with the blanket of love but you harp upon it you dwell upon it you speak about it to others until it becomes a festering sore why you didn't have the fervent love that made a blanket to cover dear people we can't be peacemakers if we're going to agitate if we're going to harp upon matters we are to be more efficient in our commitments to being peacemakers i say we must first of all both seek and cultivate that disposition without which we will never make much progress in being peacemakers a disposition that has flowing into it these four streams christ-like lowliness and meekness god-like forgiveness heaven-born wisdom and love impelled forgiveness but someone sits there and says mr. that standard sounds all very well and good but i can't live that way

The Divine Source of Peacemaking Disposition

58:31 that's right you can't left to yourselves you can't and you won't left to yourself you'll be like the people we saw in galatians 5 19-21 this morning you'll go right on being the agitator in your family the one who knows just how to push the buttons in your older brother and your younger sister or whatever the sibling relation and get them in a stew of frustration and anger and you've even learned how to cleverly walk away so that nobody even knows you push the buttons kids but god knows you go on being a disturber of the peace in your home kids god almighty will hold you to account you say for me to change all of that i have to be changed that's right and that's exactly the business god is in of changing you at the depths of your being that's what the bible means when it speaks about a new birth that's what it means when it speaks about becoming a new creation in christ jesus not merely adjusting a few surface actions and shifting around and shuffling a little bit of the mental furniture to be a christian is to be thoroughly radically changed from the inside out

60:00 to be what the bible calls a new creation to be raised from the dead to be born from above to be given what peter calls to be made what peter calls a partaker of the divine nature that's why the lord jesus could make such promises as these if any man thirsts let him come unto me and drink as the scripture says he that believes on me out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water this spake he of the spirit and by the grace and power of the holy spirit we can be peacemakers because the holy spirit can become that well of the water of life within us imparting to us christ like lowliness and meekness god like forgiveness heaven born wisdom love impelled forgetfulness and in the strength of christ and in the virtue of union with christ then you can say with paul i can do i can do all through him who strengthens me dear people this is not some noble ideal this is god's norm for us his people that we be

61:27 peacemakers and that we increasingly seek and cultivate that internal disposition that pool out of which will be ladled those deeds of making peace that pool comprised of those four streams is that your heart by the grace of god not an unmixed pool yes the capacity for all kinds of sins that would disrupt the peace of your marriage the peace of your family the peace of this assembly all their longing and waiting to find their horrible expressions by the grace of god we do not need to have them conquer us ye are not in the flesh but in the spirit if so be that the spirit of god have his home in you and if any man have not the spirit of god he is none of his if you by the spirit do put to death the deeds of the flesh you shall live the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace long suffering gentleness meekness self control oh may god help us to seek

Conclusion and Prayer for Transformation

62:55 and to cultivate bones this dispositional complex without which we simply will make little or no progress in being peacemakers it's one thing to have the precepts before us we contemplated them this morning convinced it is our duty as the people of god to be peacemakers but when we ask the question how do i go about it i answer by seeking and cultivating that disposition out of which the peacemaking deeds will flow out of the heart in which there is more and more of the meekness and lowliness of christ and the heart in which there is more and more of the spirit of godlike forgiveness more and more of the disposition of heaven born wisdom and love impelled forgetfulness let us pray our father we stand amazed that you the infinitely holy god heaven and earth god before whom those mysterious creatures who have never known sin

64:25 will face and feet and fly about your throne and cry one to another holy holy holy is the lord god the almighty oh to think that you the holy one would through christ forgive us and go on forgiving us cleansing us from all unrighteousness gracious god we pray that by the work of your holy spirit you will apply your word with power that as a people in this place we may more and more be committed to live at peace one with another that we may know more and more of this fourfold disposition wrought in us who do not possess the spirit who are yet wedded to their sins who have never been united to christ oh god in mercy deal with them until turning from the sins of their heart as well as their outward life they cast themselves upon the lord jesus christ pleading that for his sake you would cleanse

65:54 them impart your spirit to them and with his gracious presence create in them the disposition of a peacemaker hear our cry forgive us for our many sins where we have not been peacemakers but peace takers and peace destroyers and peace underminers gracious god have mercy upon us and make us more like yourself the god of peace we ask in jesus name amen