Lay Down Arms
“This is what the Lord says: You are not to march up and fight against your brothers. Each of you return home, for this incident has come from me.” 2 Chronicles 11:4
No one ever wins when brethren go to war with one another. Rehoboam stayed in Jerusalem and worked on the cities he was charged with as King to defend. He was not right in his actions by listening to his friends rather than his father's advisors. Rehoboam’s decisions are the reason the nation split in two: Judah in the south, and Israel in the north.
Despite his lack of wisdom and bad decisions, he was still rightfully the heir to his grandfather David and the nation should not have gone into a civil war and rebelled. The Lord would use it and we see God's sovereignty in the verse. As much as Rehoboam wanted to fight, wanted to get even, wanted to have the last word, God said, “Go home.”
There are many different divisions within the church today that have caused the world to mock Christianity. I dare say, many of the reasons people won’t step foot within the church is because they have seen the fighting within. The list of divisions is long, from doctrine to creed to worship much has divided the body of Christ. The enemy loves to divide the church, he loves to see us quarrel amongst ourselves. It renders us ineffective in the world that the enemy controls.
Paul the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians very sternly because of the disputes they were having and the shame it was bringing: “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers! Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren!” 1 Corinthians 6:1-8
Those are very strong words used in the verse above, Paul says it is a “failure” when we enter the courts of law against each other. Instead of being humble, and “accept wrong” or accept being wrong, we are fighting. Its a disgrace to the name of the Lord when we cannot settle disputes with humility and love. The Lord Jesus gave us Matthew 18 to help us deal with disputes. He wanted us to be able to handle arguments with grace, love and humility.
Galatians 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
We need more humility, grace, and love so that the name of our Lord is not slandered because of our conduct within the family of Christ. Let us consider our Lord Jesus when He was slandered, mocked, when they spoke falsley against Him:
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent
Isaiah 53:7
Let us do what the Lord said to Rehoboam, “You are not to march up and fight against your brothers. Each of you return home.” Lets lay down arms and return home in peace. Lets trust the Lord with the matters at hand and know that He is in it with us. Leave the things burdening you with Him to sort out, and He will have the victory.
Agape,
Pastor Frank
