Matthew 5:9
Notes
Transcript
Blessed are the Peacemakers
Blessed are the Peacemakers
As we come to this next Beatitude, there is a great awareness of the need for this. Peace. Peace is what we are going to talk about tonight. Peace is something that man has been searching for since the fall of man in the garden of Eden.
Our world is full of conflict and it seems like every where we turn, we can’t escape from the conflict. I see conflict and an absence of peace everywhere I go. You think you can get away from it even in your car when you are driving down the highway, but then you realize that you didn’t drive the way someone wanted you to and you get to see road rage first hand.
An article a friend sent me this week said that there were some bright spots in churches during this pandemic. One of those bright spots was the fact that they had to cancel all their church business meetings and that meant that they had a reprieve from the fighting and bickering.
Isn’t that sad? But it’s true. There is a lack of peace in the world, even in churches where it should be most prevalent.
The Bible starts in the garden of Eden in peace, and it ends in Revelation in peace with a new heaven and a new Earth. - But until then, we have an assignment to bring peace.
Christians are called to be peacemakers. Who else can we expect to bring peace to a world of conflict?
Tonight we will talk primarily about peace as it relates to each other.
But before we do, it’s a given that you can’t have the peace OF GOD until you have peace WITH GOD. You can’t expect to have peace with someone else if you haven’t been changed by the peace of God in your heart.
The Source of Peace
The Source of Peace
To begin with, where do we begin with peace? How do we get real peace?
Well, first of all the source of peace is God. God is the source of true peace. He is the author of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33).
In order for us to understand peace we have to understand where the source of peace begins - and again - the source of real peace is God and God alone.
So many verses speak about the God of peace in the Bible.
Someone at this point may say - “but look at all of the war and the fighting in the Old Testament, you can’t tell me that God is a peaceful God with all of that fighting”
Well - God is a God who desires peace first, but in those cases of war in the OT, God gave them every chance to repent and turn from their sin and only after that chance did He make war. God always starts with peace.
And we know that God is the author and creator of peace because He is the one who created the way for us to be saved right?
He is the one who sent Jesus to this Earth so that we could be reconciled to Him through Jesus’ death and resurrection. And that word “reconciliation” is another word for bringing peace.
Why don’t we have peace?
Why don’t we have peace?
I’m going to pick on a songwriter for a minute. Some of you may love this band or this person and that’s ok, but I’m going to use this for an example here.
I heard some celebrities singing this song a couple of weeks ago. And this song has been the mantra for the world to be at peace with one another lately.
I want to share with you the lyrics. You all know it I’m sure.
Imagine - John Lennon
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky
Imagine all the people
Livin' for today
Ah
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Livin' life in peace
You
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
If you know much about Lennon, you’ll know that he didn’t have any peace despite describing this utopia world that everybody could just “all get along, and live in harmony”
But he didn’t have peace with himself, his failed marriages, his break up with the Beatles, or the government who was trying to deport him.
Why couldn’t Lennon find the peace in himself that he was describing in the songs he wrote? BECAUSE HE WAS A SINNER IN NEED OF GRACE. AND HE WOULDN’T REPENT OF HIS SIN AND ACCEPT GOD’S FORGIVENESS.
Listen - Sin is the reason we don’t have peace in the world.
Sin is the block in our lives that doesn’t allow us to have peace with God or each other.
Selfishness in the human condition, pride in the human condition is the reason we have no peace among ourselves in this world.
Can’t you see that in your own life?
I’ve done a small amount of marriage counseling in my pastoral ministry, and I can tell you that almost 100% of all marriages that are in trouble have one thing in common - selfishness and pride.
The reason people can’t get along in this world is because their hearts are sinful. It isn’t the environment, or education, or the government, or anything else that keeps people in conflict!
The reason for all of the trouble in the world is that the condition of the human heart is wicked!
Until the human heart is changed, you can do all you want to fix a person up with education and philosophy and manners and politics, but it is only scratching the surface of the problem.
The heart of the problem is the problem of the heart.
We talked about that last time.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
Until the heart condition is dealt with - we shouldn’t expect peace.
Why this Beatitude falls in this order
Why this Beatitude falls in this order
Again, I want to show you that these Beatitudes weren’t just thrown into a random order. They were put in this order for a reason and they follow a natural progression.
17 And the effect of righteousness will be peace,
and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.
The effect of righteousness will be peace. That’s a great verse right there. If your life is filled with the righteousness of Christ - you’ll have peace for the most part.
It’s only natural that peacemaking would fall after we address the purity of heart.
You can only be a peacemaker after you’ve let God transform your heart.
You can’t make peace with others until you have peace in your own heart right??
This isn’t “peace at any price”
This isn’t “peace at any price”
This doesn’t mean that we should appease everyone if their opinion is different than what the Bible says. There will be people that we are naturally in opposition to because they live opposed to what the Bible says! This doesn’t mean we “get along to go along”.
It is a peace that is guarded by the truth of God’s Word.
This is practical for us!
This is practical for us!
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
This peacemaking is something that we are called to do! We are called to be peacemakers! How do we achieve that? How do we go about being peacemakers? Well, the Bible gives us some practical advice how to live peacefully with each other.
Wouldn’t you know that this isn’t just theoretical for us? It’s practical! We play a part in it! We are part of the peacemaking process on this Earth until Jesus returns.
Quick to Hear
Now, how many of you would be better off in your relationships if you used your mouth and your ears in the order that they were given? You were given 2 ears and one mouth for a reason.
So many times this gets me in trouble with my wife. She will tell me something that is bothering her or something that is wrong and immediately I chime in to try and offer a solution to the problem. I come up with 12 ways we can fix it or how I can explain it to her.
What does she really want me to do? Shut up and listen. JUST LISTEN!
I’m telling you right now, our relationships with each other would be FAR better off if we would learn to listen more. Listen. Listen. Listen.
Slow to Speak
Here we go. This naturally follows. If we would listen more, guess what? We would speak less. So many people want to hear themselves talk. They want their opinion heard above all others.
And when you are having a conversation with someone else and they start talking louder, then you start talking louder to be heard over them - the next thing you know you are shouting and only to make yourself heard!
“Better to be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt”
I have stuck my foot in my mouth so many times, it’s ridiculous. I don’t think before I speak and it gets me in trouble.
Slow to Anger
GO SLOW when it comes to getting mad.
Are you creating peace with others around you or are you breaking the peace?
Not just peacekeepers, but peaceMAKERS
Not just peacekeepers, but peaceMAKERS
This is an active process, not a passive thing.
Will we have peace with everyone, all the time?
Will we have peace with everyone, all the time?
18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
This gives us the answer. We won’t ultimately have peace with everyone, all the time - but peace should be
Blessed Peacemakers
Blessed Peacemakers
Why are peacemakers blessed here?
Because they are “children of God’
Why do we see peacemakers as “children of God”?
Have you ever had somebody tell you - “You look so much like your father, or your mother?” You look just like them!
What they are saying is that you resemble them in appearance and in many ways - their attitudes and mannerisms. I find myself saying and acting the same way my dad does. And most of the time that’s a good thing.
But - listen - the goal here is that we would be more like our Heavenly Father. We are to be more like our Father.
The reason peacemakers are going to be blessed - is that they are going to be MORE LIKE JESUS!
That’s what being a child of God is all about! Being more like your Heavenly Father!
My prayer today for you and for me is that we would be peacemakers and be more like our Heavenly Father.
Be a peacemaker to those around you. Be like your Heavenly Father.