David W Palmer
(Luke 6:12–16 NKJV) Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. {13} And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: {14} Simon … and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.
Jesus is in the process of filling gaps in their revelation as he prepares his apprentices to multiply the work he has been doing. After explaining that he is Lord of the Sabbath, he healed on the Sabbath day (Luke 6:6–11). This made his religious opponents even more furious, so he went to prayer. This is always a wise idea.
After prayer, Jesus returned with a proactive plan to expand and move forward—not to shrink back into darkness and despair (See: Heb. 10:38–39). He was filled with wisdom from God and revelation fresh from heaven:
First, he received a clear understanding of who to appoint as his apostles—the ones he could [eventually] "send" on assignments with a clear commission, and know that with the Holy Spirit's help they could fulfill it.
Second, after the disturbing encounter with the Pharisees, he was filled with revelation about how to protect your peace. We note that anything that steals your peace is an enemy. Before we look at the teaching that overflowed from Jesus's heart, let's look at what he says to us about his peace:
(John 14:27 NKJV) "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
Peace is his promise; but his instruction is: "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." In other words, "Don't let your heart lose the peace I've given you because of trouble or fear." This part is not a promise. If it were, it would sound like this: "I won't let your heart be troubled." No, it's a directive: "do not let your heart be troubled." To help us do this effectively, Jesus—the Lord of the Sabbath/rest—returned from his all-night encounter with God overflowing with fresh revelation of how to protect his peace in your heart. I call his insights, The Thirteen Peace Protectors:
(Luke 6:20 NKJV) Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God."
We note that after ministering to the crowds in verses 17–19, what he says from verse 20 onwards is directed towards "his disciples."
"Blessed are you poor." That is, those who have not enriched their own lives in the world system at the expense of others. When God blesses and increases us through our faith in his kingdom system, the effect on other believers is also blessing and provision, not decrease.
(Luke 6:21 NKJV) Blessed are you who hunger now, For you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh.
The principle behind these two peace protectors is the same: If you trust God for provision and joy instead of the world and its selfish system, you will share in the provision and joy of all those God blesses in his kingdom.
(Luke 6:22–23 NKJV) "Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man's sake. {23} Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets."
"For the Son of Man's sake." Jesus is not talking about the trouble we bring on ourselves through bad behavior; he is talking about persecution that comes because we follow him, love him, submit to him, and operate in his kingdom system by faith. This shines overwhelming light into the dark hearts of those who love the world and its system. They hate the pure light so much that they will do anything to stop it. When they turn this on you, Jesus says to "Rejoice." This will not only make you an overcomer, it will fully protect the peace he has placed in your heart. Remember: if you do things Jesus's way, you will get his results—including continuing peace.
(Luke 6:24–26 NKJV) "But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation. {25} Woe to you who are full, For you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, For you shall mourn and weep. {26} Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets."
This paragraph is directed to those who have temporary pleasure through the selfish world system. It is more or less repeating the same ideas he directed to us— "blessed are you poor, etc."—but this time the other way around.
(Luke 6:27–28 NKJV) "But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, {28} bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you."
Now we are getting to the real meat of Jesus's revelationary peace-protectors. This is where we are really differentiated from the selfish world and the devil's system. Note how this is addressed to "you who hear"; to keep our hearts from being fearful and troubled, we need to take what Jesus is saying here to heart; really take it in, let it take root, and most of all, do it:
- Love your enemies
- Do good to those who hate you
- Bless those who curse you
- Pray for those who spitefully use you
This may appear to be a very challenging list of instructions; and without doubt, they would be impossible to keep if not for his amazing grace. Yes, his indomitable power to live at this level of holiness is available to us—but only if we come boldly to his throne of grace and find it (See: Heb. 4:16). To do that, you have to really want it.
God is a complete genius; he knows how to find those who qualify for his eternal holy kingdom. He gives us a challenge that we simply cannot do without his gracious holy power operating in and through us. Then he watches to see who wants this so fervently that they will come to his throne to find it.
God can then so easily distinguish them from the people who simply want the blessing and eternal life, but who don't really love him and all he stands for. Instead of putting up with hatred, exclusion, and reviling; and instead of desperately seeking Jesus's ability to be holy, they justify their actions, and spend their effort looking for loopholes in Scripture—ultimately saying that what Jesus said here doesn't apply to them … especially in their situation.
We will look at the remainder of the peace protectors tomorrow.
Today, let's challenge ourselves over whether his holiness is what we really want. Do you really want to stay in his peace, living with him as "Lord" over your rest? In other words, are you willing to allow Jesus the right to tell you what to do, so you can protect the peace he has poured into your heart? Will you humbly obey Jesus's peace protectors?
In particular today, do you have any enemies that you haven't loved? Is there someone who hates you for Jesus's sake to whom you haven't yet done good?
What about those who curse you? Even while driving, sometimes we don't need much imagination to know other drivers might be directing words in our direction that aren't really a blessing; perhaps it's coworkers, employers, employees, or friends and family that are saying things behind your back that are not a blessing. If so (and even if you are not sure anyone has actually said anything), I encourage you today: bless them, pray blessing over them. Do it sincerely and enthusiastically.
I love this because I have seen it work amazing miracles. For example, a friend had a landowner opposing the development of a ministry property, and would not allow my friend access across his neighboring property. (This was the only way to access it.) After spending a fortune trying to fight him in court, my friend finally turned to Jesus's method; he simply prayed that his opponent would be blessed.
What happened? God absolutely blessed the man with a way to make a fortune; he subdivided his property and sold it off as acreage allotments. In doing so, he made a sealed road right to my friend's gate, and called it Lauderdale road. Thus, not only did he allow him access, but he also built a road to his gate, the name of which when translated to modern English means praise valley. This was providentially in line with the original scripture God had given my friend.
God can do this for you and more. He may bless those blocking your promotion so much that they get promoted right out of your way, etc. Let's begin to apply Jesus thirteen peace protectors today.
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