Recompense to no man evil for evil.
Non-retaliation
I. What evils are we not to recompense?
1. Not to hate others because they hate us (Matthew 5:44).
2. Not to curse others because they curse us (2 Samuel 16:10; Matthew 5:44).
3. Not to defraud others because they defraud us (Leviticus 19:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:6).
4. Not to speak evil of others because they speak evil of us (Titus 3:2; 1 Peter 3:9).
5. Not to neglect our duty to them because they do it to us.
(1) Praying for them (1 Timothy 2:1).
(2) Pitying their miseries (Romans 12:15).
(3) Helping them in their necessities (Galatians 6:10).
II. Why not?
1. It is contrary to the rule (Matthew 7:12).
2. Hereby we do ourselves more injury than they did.
3. Yea, and more than we can do them.
Conclusion: Consider--
1. None can hinder us without God (Isaiah 45:7).
2. Injuries patiently borne are both occasions of virtue.
3. It is better to bear an injury than to cause one.
4. We must follow the Saviour’s example (1 Peter 2:23).
5. It is one of the noblest virtues of a Christian to live above injuries. (Bp. Beveridge.)
Retaliation
is--
I. Natural.
II. Foolish. It--
1. Fails to accomplish its own end.
2. Makes matters worse.
III. Unjustifiable. Because it is--
1. To take the law into our own hands.
2. To assume the prerogative of God.
IV. Unchristian. Because--
1. Opposed to the Spirit of Christ.
2. Inimical to our own moral development.
3. Utterly forbidden. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
I. How provide?
1. Think of them (1 Timothy 4:15).
2. Intend them (Psalms 17:3).
3. Endeavour them (2 Peter 1:5).
4. Practise them (1 John 3:18).
5. Continue the practice of them (1 Corinthians 15:58; Revelation 2:25-26).
II. What honest things?
1. Towards God.
(1) Love to His person (Deuteronomy 6:5).
(2) Faith in His words (1 John 5:10).
(3) Trust on His promises (Hebrews 13:5-6).
(4) Fear of His threatenings (Amos 3:8).
(5) Obedience to His precepts.
2. Towards men.
(1) To our superiors, subjection (Romans 13:1).
(2) To our inferiors, humility.
3. To all:
(1) Truth (Leviticus 19:11).
(2) Equity (Leviticus 19:35-36).
(3) Love (Matthew 5:45).
(4) Honour (1 Peter 2:17).
(5) Prayers (1 Timothy 2:1).
III. How in the sight of all men.
1. So as to make open profession of our religion (Romans 1:16).
2. To manifest our integrity in it unto all (2 Corinthians 8:21).
IV. Why in the sight of all men?
1. Negatively. Not to gain credit for them (Matthew 6:1).
2. Positively.
(1) To stop others false accusing us (1 Peter 3:16).
(2) To be an example to others (1 Corinthians 11:1).
(3) For the glory of God (Matthew 5:16; 1 Peter 2:12).
V. Use. Provide things honest, etc. Hereby you will--
1. Keep your conscience void of offence towards God and men (Acts 24:16).
2. Excite others to virtue (James 5:20.)
3. Be an honour to religion.
4. Be certain of God’s blessing here (Psalms 39:12).
5. Be entitled to heaven hereafter. (Bp. Beveridge.)
Providing things honest in the sight of all men
I. The import of this precept.
1. Not merely live honestly.
2. But pay attention to things approved and beautiful in the estimation of men.
3. This implies a regard not only for general consistency, but a respect for the amenities of life.
II. Its importance,
1. The Christian is the highest style of man.
2. Should be inferior to none in moral and social excellence.
3. Should recommend his profession. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Getting an honest living
I. Provide. Such is the message of the whole Bible. Right through industry is commended, idleness anathematised. Need we remind you of Solomon? Paul is quite as good in his way. “If any man will not work, neither shall he eat.” Starve them out! Summary procedure, but salutary. Again, “if any provide not for his own, especially of his own house, he hath denied the faith,” etc. Yes; for it is part of “the faith once delivered unto the saints” that we should “provide.”
1. It is well that we have to do so. No man is to be pitied on account of it. A fine thing is work. It braces the soul like iron, quinine, or water, the body. An experienced African traveller says, “ We sicken more from inactivity than from malaria.”
2. Provide. What? “Things”--
(1) Necessary. Our absolute wants are to be met.
(2) But luxuries come under the phrase before us. Used in moderation they are not sinful. If they were, God would not set us so bad an example as to give them to us. What is the blush on the apple and the bloom on the peach, the fragrance of the rose and the music of the falling wave? Luxury. The oak not only affords us wood, but adorns the landscape; nor does it yield an inch less wood because it is a thing of beauty. Even so, we shall not be worse, but better, if we have a few good pictures on our walls and ornaments on our tables, if we enjoy the last tale or the newest poem. The infinite Father gives His children toys as well as tools.
3. Don’t expect others to provide for you; do it yourself. We should cultivate a manly spirit of independence and self-help. According to a certain gage, every man has three fortunes, a head and a pair of hands; would that all made a diligent use of these fortunes. “God helps those that help themselves,” and we should refuse to aid any others.
II. Provide. Things honest. How may we do that? Nobody will have much difficulty in finding out, if he wishes to make the discovery. There are sundry practices which may well be looked at in the light of the text.
1. It is not an uncommon thing for men to get into debt when they know they have small chance of paying. We are well aware of the mode in which this is palliated. When a mob of rioters were about to attack a flour-mill, Luther stood between it and them. “Master, we must live,” they cried. “I don’t see that: you ‘must’ be honest,” answered the brave reformer. Existence, precious though it be, is not to be bought at any price. But men are seldom, indeed, called to make such a desperate sacrifice. “Trust in the Lord, and do good, so shalt thou dwell in the land, and, verily, thou shalt be fed.” “Seek ye first the kingdom of God,” etc. Encouraged by these assurances, let none of us compromise his integrity. “Owe no man anything.” Rather than involve himself in debt Lord Macaulay sold the gold medals which he had won at Cambridge.
2. Sometimes goods are sold for what they are not. We occasionally speak about “getting goods under false pretences,” but are they never got rid of under false pretences? What is the meaning of the common caution, “Beware of spurious imitations”? Think, also, of adulteration. How shamefully is the public sometimes imposed on in what it eats and drinks.
3. It is possible for persons in situations to be lax in their notions of their duty to their employers. If I engage to serve another for a given amount of remuneration for a certain period, I thereby sell him my time, my energy, my talent, and if I withhold it I am not honest.
III. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. Not only be honest, but let your honesty be seen. As Bengel remarks in connection with our text: “A gem should not merely be a gem; it should be properly set in a ring, that its splendour may meet the eye.” “In the sight of all men.”
1. For our own sakes. In the long run he is trusted who is trustworthy; integrity wins confidence. If I deal with a man and he deceives me, I mentally put a black mark against his name, and warn others of him. Thus his unrighteousness injures him, as, indeed, it ought to do. More money is to be made by going straight than by going crooked.
2. For the Church’s sake. Nothing is so prejudicial to the interests of religion as lack of uprightness in men professing to be godly. Such monstrosities remind one of what a traveller saw in a Russian church--to wit, a fellow devoutly counting his rosary with one hand and picking a pocket with the other. Robert Burns wrote, “An honest man’s the noblest work of God.” He was right. (T. R. Stevenson.)
Honourable dealing
A young man in a dry-goods store in Boston was endeavouring to sell a customer some goods. He had a quantity on hand which he much desired to dispose of, as they were not of the freshest style; and the man seemed inclined to take them. When the goods had been examined, and the bargain was about to be concluded, the customer inquired: “Are these goods the latest style?” The young man hesitated. He wanted to sell the goods, and it appeared evident that if he said they were the latest style, the man would take them. But he could not tell a lie, and he replied: “They are not the latest style of goods, but they are a very good style.” The man looked at him, examined some other goods of later style, and said: “I will take those of the older style, and some of the new also. Your honesty in stating the facts will fasten me to this place.” The man not only sold his goods, and kept a good conscience, but he also retained a customer, whom he might never have seen again if he had not spoken to him the exact truth. There is no permanent gain in falsehood and deception. Righteousness and truth are a sure foundation. (“The Christian,” Boston, U.S.A.)
An honest man
Robert Burns wrote, “An honest man’s the noblest work of God.” He was right. A man who is honest all round, honest towards God, and honest towards his fellow-creatures, is the noblest work of God, When urged by his wife not to allow his conscience to stand in the way of fortunes Milton said, “I am resolved to live and die an honest man,” Let us say the same, “Come gain or loss, come evil report or good report, come weal or woe, I am resolved to live and die an honest man.”
Verses 18. If it Be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.--
Live peaceably with all men
I. If possible. By maintaining a spirit--
1. Upright.
2. Meek.
3. Peaceable.
II. If not possible.
1. Leave your cause in God’s hands.
2. Show kindness to your enemies.
3. So shall you secure a noble conquest. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
How to live at peace with all men
I. Watch over yourself.
1. Do not retaliate.
2. Be honest.
3. Cultivate a peaceable spirit.
II. Commit yourself to God.
1. Instead of avenging yourself let Him undertake your cause.
2. Retribution is His prerogative.
3. He will certainly defend the right.
III. Conciliate your enemies. By kindness. You will thus achieve a noble conquest over evil in yourself, and subdue enmity by love. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Peace with all men
I. Is not always possible.
1. Some are unreasonable.
2. Others contentious.
3. With many it is impossible to be at peace without sacrificing conscience.
II. Should be maintained as far as possible--by
1. Patience.
2. Prudence.
3. Conciliation.
III. If impossible, cannot be sought without advantage. The attempt secures--
1. Peace of conscience.
2. The approbation of God.
3. And consequently Divine interposition in our favour. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Peaceableness
I. The general import of the exhortation.
1. That we should have a hearty love and value for peace as far as it may be obtained.
2. That we studiously direct our conduct so as may be most likely to reach this end.
II. What is implied in the qualifications added.
1. It is evidently intimated that it is not always possible or in our power to reach the desirable end of peace. Those who “seek peace and pursue it,” according to the exhortation (Psa 36:14) yet sometimes find that it flies from them.
(1) Sometimes this falls out in common life, through the perverse humours and unreasonable obstinacy of those with whom we have to do. There are people in this world so captious as to take offence without any foundation.
(2) Sometimes it is not morally possible to be at peace with men, because they will not be at peace with us, unless we will violate a good conscience. Peace, though so desirable a blessing, is not to be purchased at any rate. For instance--
(a) Neither truth nor holiness are to be sacrificed to peace. That would be to sacrifice our peace with God and with our own consciences for the sake of peace with men, which for certain would be much too dear a bargain.
(b) Nor should we decline any service we are capable of, to the interest of Christ or of our country, for fear of some people’s offence. Christian courage should extinguish such fears.
2. This addition greatly enforces the precept, when it may consist with higher obligations. We must not venture everything for peace, but we should esteem it worth a great deal of pains and self-denial. If we can compass it by any means that are fit for us to use, we should endeavour it.
3. It is implied, farther, that we shall have reason to be content, though we should miss our aim, if we have performed our part. Then the breach of peace may be your affliction, but it will not be your sin.
III. The extent prescribed for our aim in this matter: “Live peaceably with all men.”
1. We should endeavour to live peaceably with all men at large, as far as we have any concern with them. Setting aside the consideration of their religion or their virtuous character, we are obliged by the dictates of nature, and of Christianity too, to study peace with them as our fellow-creatures; and to this end--
(1) We should be careful to behave inoffensively to all--to “give no offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God” (1 Corinthians 10:32), that, if possible, we may prevent any difference from arising.
(2) We are equally concerned, in order to peace, not to be quick in taking offence. Many people might soon have received proper satisfaction for an injury done them if they had not themselves overrated it and carried their resentment beyond all regular bounds, till they made a small breach wide and most difficult to be healed.
(3) We should be desirous to regain peace as soon as possible whenever a difference actually arises. The implacable are reckoned among the greatest sinners (Romans 1:31).
2. We should endeavour to cultivate a more peculiar peace and harmony with all our fellow Christians as such.
IV. The importance of a peaceable spirit in Christianity. It is many ways recommended in the gospel; as--
1. By showing us the great evil of an unpeaceable spirit. It is the fruit of carnality, or of an undue ascendant which some fleshly motive or other hath over us (1 Corinthians 3:3).
2. By representing a peaceable disposition in a very advantageous light. It is one of “the fruits of the blessed Spirit” (Galatians 5:22). It is mentioned as one principal thing wherein the spiritual kingdom of God, or true religion in the hearts of men, consists (Romans 14:17). Christ saw fit to make it the subject of one of His beatitudes (Matthew 5:9).
3. By the lively expressions of such a temper in the example of Christ. He was, on the one hand, a pattern for observing the proper limitations to be attended to in all pursuits after peace; He ever preferred truth and duty to it, an obedience to His Father to the pleasing of men; and so must we. But, on the other hand, as far as was consistent with His higher engagements He ever showed a strong disposition to peace.
4. By the account it gives us of the heavenly world, as a state of perfect love and harmony, where there are no jarring notes and affections. When a good man dies he “enters into peace” (Isaiah 57:2).
By way of reflection, then--
1. This may be sufficient to vindicate Christianity from the reproaches which have been cast upon it for the animosities that have abounded among Christians. The precepts, the patterns, the principles of Christianity, all lead another way; they directly lead to peaceableness.
2. This may be a proper subject of trial and self-examination. If we make no conscience of this duty of peaceableness, we have not yet entered into the spirit of true Christianity.
3. Let us all, as we are exhorted in the text, cultivate and exercise a peaceable and healing disposition. This is the likeliest way to dispose others to be at peace with us. (J. Evans, D.D.)
The duty of living peaceably
I. Live peaceably when possible. All that disturbance of man’s peace which springs from our lower nature we are bound everywhere to restrain. Let me mention some provocatives from which we may and should abstain.
1. Offensive language. Many that have great power of speech do not feel that God’s law is to regulate the use of their tongues. There are Christian heads of families who shoot across the table from day to day words which stir up the worst feelings which men can have. Many and many a household has no chimney which carries away the smoke of these conflicts, and the smoke falls down, leaving harm where it rests. As much as lieth in your tongue, then, live peaceably with your wife, your children, your servants, and your fellow-men.
2. Provoking carriage. A man can look as well as speak speech. A nod of the head, a lifting up of the eyes, a shrug of the shoulder, the whole manner, is as powerful as speech. We have no right to be provoking in our attitudes.
3. An unconscious, and still more, an intended, insolent conduct of pride toward men. Frequently the very presence of a man who is filled with a spirit of self-importance is an insult. The duty of humility is not simply a duty of the closet.
4. Selfishness. The ten thousand jealousies and envies which are current in business circles arise from inconsiderate selfishness.
5. The untrained disposition of jocosity. I mean all forms of teasing, jesting, irony, sarcasm, wit, which are indulged in at another’s expense, and which are not “convenient.” Ordinarily, this is practised where the victim has no power of resistance. You often see persons pulling little children’s hair, saying things that stir up little children’s feelings; exposing things that they do not want to have known, in order to see the flush on their cheeks; or creating a laugh at their expense. Saying disagreeable things in a calm and ironical way is inexcusable There is a teasing which is pleasant, and causes nobody suffering; but teasing for the sake of making other people uncomfortable is fiendish.
6. The habit of contradiction and argument. We know what it is to be a “bully.” We see men boasting of their strength, and saying provoking things in the hope of getting into a quarrel with their fellow-men. There are men who may be called logical bullies. If you say anything, they dispute it. Argument leads to disputation speedily, and disputation to quarrelling, and quarrelling to ill-will.
7. Scandalmongering. There are men who have an intuition for discovering faults in others. They see them as quick as lightning; and they tell of them wherever they go. There are men who are vampires, feeding on their fellow-men in this way. And the amount of ill-will that is created in a neighbourhood by tale-bearers is astounding. The only excuse which men give for thus reporting things that are evil in regard to others is that they are true. But you have no right to report anything evil of a man, even if it is true, unless you have a benevolent purpose. Every man has his train of infelicities. But as they sprung from him they ought not to be carried far away from him. A scandal-monger is like one who carries contraband goods; and the partaker is as bad as the thief.
8. Indiscreet frankness. Telling men unpleasant truths about themselves, telling them what other people have said about them--this is generally unwise. Blurting out the truth about people into their faces is impolite. There is an impression that if a man has a truth he should let it fly, hit where it may. A doctor might as well scatter his drugs through the community, as a man tell all he knows about people indiscriminately. Truth, being a medicine, instead of being thrown about heedlessly, and with brutal barbarity, is to be administered with care and discretion.
9. Indiscreet urgency in religious teaching. There are many religious persons who go about with an incisiveness and pertinacity which annoy and vex people, and introduce an element of disquiet by which more harm than good is done.
II. There are times in which you cannot live peaceably.
1. There are cases in which, when you are commanded by the law to do evil, you will be obliged to resist, and make great disturbance. And there are a great many other cases where, in your business relations and social connections, you will be placed in circumstances in which the interest of others pushes you toward the commission of evil, but in which you must not do it. A river complains to the rock on its bank of the noise which it is making. Why does the rock make the noise? Because it will not budge, and the water will. So that it is the water, and not the rock, that makes the noise. The rock stood there, and had a right to stand there; and if the water would beat against it and make a noise, it was not the rock’s fault. The man who is free from wickedness is accused by wicked men of making all the turmoil and excitement, but he does not. You recollect that when the tyrant had vexed and annoyed Israel through years of misrule, and the prophet had attempted to see that the laws were obeyed, and that the welfare of the people was maintained, the king said to him, “Art thou he that troubleth Israel?”
2. Christian virtue sometimes stands in the way of men’s pleasure. Sometimes it happens that an individual is solicited to taste wine which conscientiously he cannot touch, and he stirs up great resistance by refusing.
3. Those who are called to teach unwelcome truths must make up their minds not to live peaceably. No man can preach the truth faithfully without offending men. Our Master could not do it. The apostles could not.
4. You cannot attempt to oppose men’s worldly interests for the sake of public morality, for the reformation of the community, for the purification of the ballot, without rousing up an immense amount of anger. But somebody must do these things. No Christian man has a right to see the city in which he lives go down like Sodom and Gomorrah and put out no hand or voice to save it. Christian men are bound to be “lights” and “salt.” (H. W. Beecher.)
Christians exhorted to live peaceably
I. The duty here enjoined. The expression may be taken--
1. For the actual enjoyment of peace with all men: in which sense he only lives peaceably, whom no man molests. This cannot be here intended, because--
(1) So to live peaceably is impossible in consequence of--
(a) The contentious, unreasonable humour of many men. There are some that, like so many salamanders, cannot live but in the fire, and so long as there be such, how can there be undisturbed quietness? God must first weed the world of all ill dispositions before a universal peace can grow in it.
(b) The contrary and inconsistent interests of many men. There is nothing which men prosecute with so much vigour as their interest, and the prosecution of contrary interests must needs be carried on by contrary ways, which will be sure to thwart one another.
(2) What is the matter of duty ought to be in the power of him to whom it is enjoined. But it is not in my power to enjoy peace with all men, since this depends upon their behaviour towards me. If a man will be my enemy, I cannot prevent him.
2. Wherefore it is clear that the text is to be understood for a peaceable behaviour towards all men; in which case he lives peaceably by whom no man is molested. It consists therefore in--
(1) A forbearance of hostile actions. In a way of--
(a) Prevention, i.e., abstinence from an injurious invasion upon the rights of another, whether as to his person or estate.
(b) Non-retaliation (1 Corinthians 13:7). Fire sometimes goes out as much for want of being stirred up as for want of fuel. He who affronts his brother breaks the peace; but he who repays the ill turn perpetuates the breach. And perhaps the greatest unquietness is not so much chargeable upon the injurious as the revengeful. A storm ruins nowhere but where it is withstood and repelled.
(2) A forbearance of injurious, provoking words. Rabshakeh broke the peace with Hezekiah as much by his railing as by his army. Men resent ugly words with more acrimony than they would stabs. And the reason is, because a wound directs an evil only to a man’s person, but an ill word renders him miserable as far as he is known. Besides, it hurts him so as to put the reparation absolutely out of his power; for it lodges his infamy in other men’s thoughts, which he cannot come at so as to rectify them.
II. What are the measures and proportions by which it is to be determined. “If it be possible,” i.e., morally, lawfully possible (Genesis 39:9; 2 Corinthians 13:8). Where, then, the breaking of the peace is not unlawful, there the maintaining of it ceases, to be a necessary duty. Apply this to--
1. War.
(1) Is it lawful? Yes, if in a good cause, viz.--
(a) Defensive; in order to repel an evil designed to the public; and therefore is an act of self-preservation.
(b) Offensive; for revenging a public injury done to a community, and so is an act of justice. And further, the Baptist, Christ, and the apostles judged the employment of a soldier lawful.
(2) When and where ought it to be judged so? When those with whom we are at peace--
(a) Declare that they will annoy us unless we mangle our bodies (1 Samuel 11:2).
(b) Declare war with us, unless we renounce our religion, as in the case of the Armada.
(c) Injure us as a nation so as to blast our honour, which honour is as necessary to the welfare and support of a nation as its commerce.
(d) Declare war with us unless we will quit our civil rights.
2. Self-defence.
(1) If a man has no other means of escape it is lawful from--
(a) The great natural right of self-preservation, which is as full in individuals as in public bodies.
(b) That place where Christ commands His disciples to provide themselves swords. To have allowed them the instruments of defence, and at the same time to have forbid the use of them as unlawful, had been irrational.
(c) The suffrage of the civil law.
(2) What are those things which may be thus defended.
(a) Life. For where it is lawful to live, it is lawful to do all those things without which life cannot be preserved.
(b) Limbs. For who knows but the loss of a part may bring the destruction of the whole?
(c) Chastity. For this is as irreparable as life itself; and to lose one’s life is indeed a misery, but it is no dishonour.
(d) Estate or goods. Before I pass on I shall add that whatsoever is lawful for a man to do for himself, is lawful for him to do for his neighbour; for we are commanded to “love our neighbour as ourselves.”
(3) The conditions required to legalise such a defence of ourselves and fortunes.
(a) That the violence offered be so apparent, so great and pressing, that there can be no other means of escape.
(b) That all possibility of recourse to the magistrate for a legal protection be taken away. In which case the law leaves every man to his own natural defence.
(c) That a man designs merely his own defence, without any revenge towards the person who thus invades him.
3. Litigation. This is allowable when it is to secure the execution of justice in the proper acts of it between man and man. If Christianity prohibits all pursuit of a man’s right at law, then its observance unavoidably draws after it the utter dissolution of all government and society. He that has the strongest arm, the sharpest sword, the boldest front, and the falsest heart, must possess the world. Yet since men are too prone to stretch their just allowances beyond their bounds, note those conditions that are required to warrant men in their law contentions.
(a) That a man takes not this course but upon a very great and urgent cause. Every little wrong and trespass is not a sufficient warrant for me to disturb my neighbour’s peace.
(b) That a man be willing, upon any tolerable and just terms, to agree with his adversary, rather than to proceed to a suit.
(c) Supposing great cause and no satisfaction, that the injured person manage his suit by the rule of charity, and not with any purpose to revenge himself upon his adversary.
III. The means conducible to our performance of this excellent duty.
1. A careful suppression of all distasteful, aggravating apprehensions of any ill turn or unkind behaviour from men. It is the morose dwelling of the thoughts upon an injury that incorporates and rivets it into the mind.
2. The forbearing of all pragmatical or malicious informations. “He that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.” The reporting what such a one said or did is the way to kindle such heart-burnings between persons, as oftentimes break forth and flame to the consumption of families, courts, and perhaps at length of cities and kingdoms.
3. That men would be willing in some cases to waive the prosecution of their rights. As--
(1) When the recovery of a right seems impossible: prudence and duty then call upon a man to surcease the prosecution of that, and rather to follow peace.
(2) When that right is but trivial, but the recovery of it troublesome and contentious. That which being lost makes a man not much the poorer, nor recovered, much the richer, cannot authorise him to enter into the din of a long contest.
(3) When a recompense is offered.
(4) To reflect upon the great example of Christ, and the strict injunction lying upon us to follow it. We shall find that his whole life went in constant recession from his own rights, in order to the peace of the public.
4. Not to adhere too pertinaciously to our own judgments of things doubtful in themselves in opposition to the judgment of those who are more skilful in those things.
IV. The motives and arguments by which this duty may be enforced.
1. The excellency of the thing itself. “Peace” is a Divine title (Romans 15:33; Isaiah 9:6). The first message that was sent from heaven upon Christ’s nativity was message of peace (Luke 2:14). His whole doctrine is called “the gospel of peace,” and “the word of peace” (Romans 10:15). The last legacy that He bequeathed to His disciples was peace (John 14:27). Peace is the work of the Holy Ghost in the hearts of believers (Galatians 5:22), and both the effect and reward of piety is peace (Romans 15:13).
2. The excellency of the principle from which it proceeds. It is from a pious, generous, and great mind. Little things are querulous; and the wasp much more angry and troublesome than the eagle.
3. The blessing entailed upon it by a peculiar promise (Matthew 5:9). Note two instances of this blessing that attend the peaceable in this world.
(1) An easy, undisturbed, and quiet enjoyment of themselves.
(2) Honour and reputation. Their report survives them, and their memory is blessed. (R. South, D.D.)
Peaceable living not always possible
The wisest men, the best men, the most thoughtful men, the men who are most studious of peace, may have contention forced upon them. Lot could not live peaceably with the inhabitants of Sodom--to his great credit. Moses could not live at peace with Egypt, when he saw his people oppressed. It would have been a shame if he could. Samuel could not live at peace when the king, despotic, arrogant, fractious, was misleading the people. David could not live at peace with Saul--Saul would not let him. The prophets could not live at peace with the idolatrous people whom they were sent to instruct and rebuke, and who would not be corrected nor reformed. Jesus could not live at peace. The most genial, and gentle, and meek, and merciful, and loving of all beings was He; and yet it was impossible that He should live at peace with His own countrymen, in His own time. Therefore you find it said, “If it be possible.” In this great quarrelsome world it is not made obligatory on a man to be at peace with his fellow-men anyhow. The command begins with the implication that it is not always possible. The qualification is, “as much as lieth in you.” You may be at discords; but see to it that you do not produce them. Let them be the result of other men’s misconduct, and not of yours. (H. W. Beecher.)
Peaceableness
Here is--
I. The preface--“If it be possible.” Which words may be looked on--
1. As limiting the command.
(1) “If it be possible”; for it may be impossible (Matthew 18:7). Because of--
(a) other’s malice (James 4:1).
(b) Our own conscience (Acts 24:16) in reproving others; in standing for the truth.
(2) “As much as in you lies.”
(a) That we do not disturb the peace ourselves.
(b) Nor give occasion to others to do it.
2. As strengthening the command, so that we are to perform it to the utmost of our power.
II. The command. “Live peaceably with all men.” Here is--
1. The command. What is it to live peaceably?
(1) Give offence to none (Matthew 18:7).
(2) Pass by others’ offences to you (1 Corinthians 13:7).
(3) Construe things in their best sense (1 Corinthians 13:5).
(4) Part with something of your own right (Genesis 13:8-9).
(5) Have a care of those passions that cause strife (James 4:1).
(a) Anger (Ephesians 4:26; Ephesians 4:31).
(b) Envy (James 3:14).
(c) Pride (Proverbs 13:10).
(d) Hatred and malice (1 John 3:15).
(e) Implacableness (Romans 1:31; Psalms 130:5-7).
2. The extent--“To all men” (Hebrews 12:14).
1. To superiors (Romans 13:1; Matthew 17:27).
2. Inferiors.
3. Equals. Conclusion: Consider--
1. Ye know not where the least strife may end.
2. It disturbs you as much as others (Luke 21:19).
3. If you live in peace, God will be with you (1 Kings 11:1-43; 1 Kings 12:1-33; 1 Kings 13:1-34; 2 Corinthians 13:11). (Bp. Beveridge.)
Irascible persons not to be provoked
In the Jardin des Plantes we saw a hooded snake in a most unamiable condition of temper. There was a thick glass and a stout wire between us, and we did nothing but look at him, yet he persisted in darting at us with the utmost vehemence of malice, until the keeper requested us to move away, with the advice that it was not well to irritate such creatures. When one meets with an irascible person, on the look out to pick a quarrel, ill-conditioned, and out of elbows with the whole world, it is best to move on, and let him alone. Even if he can do you no harm, and if his irritation be utterly unreasonable, it is best to remove all exciting causes of provocation, for it is never wise to irritate vipers. You do not on purpose walk heavily across the floor to teach a gouty man.that you have no respect for his tender feelings since he ought not to be so susceptible; neither should you vex those afflicted with a bad temper, and then plead that they have no right to be so excitable. If our neighbours’ tempers are gunpowder, let us not play with fire. (C. H. Spurgeon.)