WWUTT 203 Live Peaceably With All?

If you knew anything about Muhammad Ali, you knew he was full of himself. As much as has been said of him as a civil rights pioneer, he did far more to divide than unify.

But when it comes to the ways that we interact with the world, we can't do it like Ali did when we understand the text.

You're listening to When We Understand The Text, committed to the sound teaching of the Word of God. For questions and comments, email

WhenWeUnderstandTheText at gmail .com Here's our host, Pastor Gabe. Thank you,

Becky. Muhammad Ali died this past Friday. Surely you know that. I don't know how you could be on the internet and not have heard that Muhammad Ali passed away.

I don't know how many of you are up past midnight. For me, it's every single night. But on Friday after Ali's passing,

I was on Twitter and every single trending topic was about Muhammad Ali.

Some variation of Ali, whether it was Ali died, R .I .P. Ali, Cassius Clay, 10 trending topics on the left side of the page and every one of them having to do with Ali.

I don't know that I've ever seen that before. If it has happened, I haven't paid attention. The funeral is this coming

Friday and every aspect of the funeral has already been planned by Muhammad Ali 10 years ago.

So the people who are going to be speaking there, former President Bill Clinton, Billy Crystal, a couple of the pallbearers include boxer

Lennox Lewis and actor Will Smith. The memorials are going to be conducted in the Muslim tradition.

There's going to be a giant wall that Muhammad Ali wants little kids to come right on what they want to be the greatest at.

And you might hear that and go, oh, that's that's so sweet. That's that's very generous of him. No, it's all about Muhammad Ali.

Ali is in death exactly as he was in life, all about himself, so about himself that he planned his own funeral and wants as many people to be there as possible to give tribute to Muhammad Ali, the self -proclaimed greatest.

He called himself that I am the greatest. All kinds of eulogies have been written about Muhammad Ali in the past several days, most of them having to do with how polarizing a figure he was, the kinds of accomplishments that he made in boxing.

Most of these eulogies also mentioning how much of a pioneer he was in the civil rights movement.

Let me tell you, Muhammad Ali, at least as far as his efforts are concerned, did nothing to unify blacks and whites together.

As a matter of fact, he did more to divide than he did to unify. Listen to this clip from Muhammad Ali.

This was back in the 70s in an interview that he did talking about racial tensions between blacks and whites.

There are many white people who mean right and in heart want to do right. But there are so few. If 10 ,000 rattlesnakes was coming down that aisle now and I had a door here

I could shut and in that 10 ,000, 1 ,000 meant right. 1 ,000 rattlesnakes didn't want to bite me.

I knew they were good. Should I let all these rattlesnakes come down hoping that that thousand get together and form a shield?

Or should I just close the door and stay safe? I think that - You understand? I do understand. The Viet Cong are not all bad, but America's still dropping bombs.

In Hiroshima, Japan wasn't bad, but she still dropped a bomb. In Korea, they weren't bad, but they still dropped a bomb.

So now I'm going to forget the 400 years of lynching and killing and raping and depriving my people of freedom, justice, equality, the first fire, last heart, the lowest of low, last respected.

And I'm going to look at two or three white people who are trying to do right and don't see the other million trying to kill me. I'm not that big of a fool.

You hear the audience laughing with him there, but Ali wasn't being a comedian. He was dead serious.

And that was on Michael Parkinson's program. Michael Parkinson, who was a talk show host in Great Britain.

So most of that audience would have been white. And yet here's Ali talking about how only 10 % of white people could actually even be good.

When a person is as self -absorbed as Muhammad Ali was, they can only be divisive.

They will not be unifying. Now, why did I bring this up? Because here's the point that I want to make.

I talked yesterday about how we are to honor everyone, according to Peter, 1 Peter 2, 17.

And we have the Apostle Paul saying in the passage that we looked at yesterday that we need to do what is honorable in the sight of all

Romans 12, 17. And so here's the point that I mean to make. Most of the world is going to act like Muhammad Ali was acting like in that clip.

That's the way most of the world is going to act. And we can't be that way. If we could say that only 10 % of the world was in our favor, but the other 90 % were trying to kill us, we are still called by God to give honor to everybody, to do what is honorable in the sight of all, to live in harmony with one another, to not be haughty and think highly of ourselves as Ali was doing there, but to associate with the lowly, to never be wise in our own sight, to repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all, like actively thinking about how can

I show honor to another person instead of putting them down, but lifting them up if possible, so far as it depends on you live peaceably with all these instructions that the

Apostle Paul gives here on how we interact with a world that is going to be largely hostile against us.

We cannot act the way that Ali was acting in that particular clip. We must do what is, we must give thought to doing what is honorable in the sight of all.

I mentioned Titus chapter three yesterday. We read in Titus three, three, we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

That's who we were before we came to Christ. That's everybody in the world without Christ. But then we read in verse four, but when the goodness and loving kindness of God, our savior appeared, he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the

Holy spirit. So there's no reason for us to boast in ourselves about anything, nor can we be looking down on the rest of the world saying, ha, look,

I found the way to eternal life. You guys are still wallowing in your misery. Look at you hating, hated by others and hating one another.

Okay. We can't look down on people that way because we were like that until God and his mercy pulled us out of that.

We had no way of getting out of that because we were dead in those sins and trespasses as it talks about in Ephesians two one, it is by God and his great mercy that he pulled us out.

And so because of God's mercy toward us while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

He showed his great love for us. So we must show mercy and grace and love to others who still in the state that they are in are hated by others and hating one another.

But we cannot act like the rest of the world. Even if 90 % of the world is trying to come up against us, we can't be like Ali was in that clip closing the door on everybody to keep ourselves safe.

That is not our calling. Instead, we have been called to suffer with Christ as we had read in first Peter chapter two yesterday to rejoice in those sufferings, knowing that we have been considered worthy to suffer for the name of Christ.

So we come back to our section of Romans chapter 12 today, starting in verse 17, repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with everyone, beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God for it is written.

Vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him.

If he is thirsty, give him something to drink for by so doing, you will heat burning coals on his head.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. So I mentioned again, verse 17, repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.

That's point number one. According to the three points I said, we were going to outline this week. Point number one is doing honorable. Do what is honorable in the sight of all.

Point number two is what we read in verse 18, living peaceably with all. If possible, so far as it depends on you live peaceably with everyone.

So we don't go out looking for quarrels. We are not trying to stir up division or, or stir up controversy.

We're not actively trying to do that. Our goal is ultimately to give glory to God in preaching his gospel and his message.

We do this not to cause division, but to bring peace. As Jesus said in the

Beatitudes, blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God.

And as I talked about this last week, being a peacemaker means that we bring the gospel that brings peace into a person's life by speaking the gospel to a person.

If they repent of their sins and come to believe in Christ as savior, we have brought them peace because now through Christ, they have peace with God where previously they were in enmity with God.

They were enemies of God because they heard the gospel and turned from their sin and sought

God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength. They now have peace with God. And so we must go out with the gospel in an effort of being peacemakers.

We're not trying to create controversy. God's word will do that anyway, but that's not our goal.

That's not our aim. We're not trying to divide, but let me say again, God's word will do that anyway.

Because as Jesus said, I came not to bring peace, but a sword for father will be divided against son, brother against brother, mother against daughter.

This is what the gospel does. We by hearing the gospel and accepting that message and repenting of our sin no longer walk in the ways of this world, but instead we are walking in the righteousness of Christ.

Peter says in 1 Peter 4, since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.

So as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, but for the will of God for the time that has passed suffices for doing what the

Gentiles want to do or the pagans want to do living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.

With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery and so they malign you, meaning they make fun of you because you don't want to live like the rest of the world.

Verse five, but they will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, talking about being dead in our sins and trespasses, as I mentioned before in Ephesians 2, 1, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way that God does.

So this time that we were once in being hated by others and hating one another before God came, before God rescued us out of that and transformed us in Christ Jesus, we were so self -absorbed that everything that we did was for ourselves.

We did nothing in selflessness. We were hated by everybody else around us because they were all trying to do their own selfish thing and we hated everybody else because we're trying to do our own selfish thing.

But in Christ, we have been reconciled to God, we've been reconciled to God's people, and so we are to love in a genuine way, not in a way that builds up the self or stores things up for ourselves or fulfills our own selfish ambitions.

Rather, we need to do what is honorable in the sight of all, and if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Using Muhammad Ali as that contrast there, everything that he did for himself in life, he's trying to do for himself again in death.

But he is standing before the judge of the universe, a man that declared himself a

Muslim, not a Christian, and he has been judged. Let us labor all the more to bring the gospel of peace to this world.

God, as we are coming away from these scriptures today, I pray that our minds and our hearts are being disciplined to stand courageously in the face of those who would mean to hate us or even do us harm because of this gospel that we believe in.

But this is for a cause that is greater than ourselves, and we are doing nothing for ourselves but to give glory to our

God. So help us to give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all and live at peace with everyone, bringing the gospel of peace into a world of chaos.

Give us wisdom to know how to do this and to be open to the opportunities that are before us in the name of Jesus that we pray,

Amen. You can find a complete list of videos, books, devotionals, and other resources online at www .tt