Blessed Are the Peacemakers
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Some of you would like to quote
Psalm 120:6–7 to me — 6 Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. 7 I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!
Here is my admonition to you - It’s your job to make peace - even with those who want war. Your job.
Turn to Galatians 5:22
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
What is the 3rd fruit of the spirit?
Galatians 5:22 (ESV) — 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
What if you lack number 4 which causes you to lose number 3?
And what if your lack of #4 makes you lose #5 so you stop doing #6 and commission doing part of #7.
Before you get any more confused, let me explain what matters.
It is the fruit of the spirit, if you don’t have it, it is because you have quenched the Spirit or don’t have the Spirit. Take your pick. Those are your options.
You want them to stop rioting, protesting, making you upset.
But what about your response?
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
James 1:19–20 (ESV) — 19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
These words lay waste to my poor attitude this last week.
My daughters were suffering. The weather went from deluge to hades. Twitter and Facebook almost made me lose my mind.
Then I realized I was spending more time worrying than praying for my girls.
I was spending more time complaining about the weather than giving the gospel to lost folks.
I was putting more Tweets and posts in my head than scripture.
My point is that I was my own worst enemy.
Would you like to stop being angry and frustrated?
Then be what you were called to be.
Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 5:9 and stand up.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Matthew 5:9 (ESV) — 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Pray
Blessed Are the Peacemakers
Concepts
Children of God are
Peacemakers (Mt 5:9)
Led by the Spirit of God(Rm 8:14)
Lovers of their enemies (Mt 5:43-45)
Sitting on our laurels
8 Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice.
Proverbs 16:8 (ESV) — 8 Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice.
We can’t turn our backs on injustice, and we can’t pretend it doesn’t exist.
We may not define the same as others, but we know it exists because sin exists.
12 What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
Psalm 34:12–14 (ESV) — 12 What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
More than “peaceable”. This is the peaceable character consciously exerted outside itself.
Blessed are the peacemakers—who not only study peace, but diffuse it.
This notion of being a peacemaker is active. It is not just an attitude, but something that must be pursued.
NO Virtue Signalling!
Turn to Matthew 6:1–6 (ESV) — 1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Showing your virtue online only divides.
It does not bring about peace.
It does not change policy.
You Can be salty and bring peace
50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
There are times when we have to be a little abrasive, when we have to say things that rub folks the wrong way.
Sometimes the truth hurts.
Mark 9:50 (ESV) — 50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
You can be salty, but you must be seeking peace.
You can’t be a raucous fighter and be a servant of God.
24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,
This is the anti-tweet!
Dr. John Rice said it best when he said “Peacemaking involves all the Christian virtues, brotherly love, unselfishness, humility, forgiveness.”
You can’t just be salty.
When we move towards a deeper faith, a stronger prayer life, and a willingness to go and do, we become the most powerful force for change known to man.
Peacemakers bring Unity even with their enemies
7 When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 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.” 20 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 heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Not convinced about the program yet?
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; 11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Or how about
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
You cannot run from it, you must run to it.
That is what Holy Warriors do.
Jesus is about Reconciliation
19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
We make peace when we share the Love of God with others.
Jesus lived a perfect life full of the Holy Spirit and sacrificed His life on the cross to pay the penalty for all of our sins so that we could be reconciled to God the Father.
If you have not repented of your sinfulness, your unloving ways, then you can expect no peace.
Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins!
The People who upset you and oppose you may be Christians
Which means the following applies to all of us.
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
Time for Worship
I have not been given a word about what you must do to make peace.
I am not here today to tell you what to do practically, because what I must do may not be what you must do.
But I promise you today that I will lead you.
I will be taking steps this week as the Lord leads, and I will be letting you know what I discover.
If you would like to pray with me about your role, I am glad to pray and visit with you.
Here is how our racial tensions end:
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Are you ready to bow before Almighty God and give your heart to him, to give all that you are and can do to Him?
Ask Him what you must do as you worship Him?