People of Peace

Introduction:

7 - Humility, the foundation of peace.

Re-cap from last week.

Beatitudes are the qualities of Kingdom-Minded People.

The Word Blessed means happy is… The Happiness is not in the situation, but in the result. You are in a happy place not because you mourn, but because you mourn Christ will comfort you.

Begins with Poor in Spirit - Full of the Holy Spirit.

Then moving beyond anger/blame at conflict or the way the world is we move beyond to mourning the situation., mourn our own sin...

This puts us in a place where we are able to learn. And so we are meeked, we learn to by God who brings our power under control in order to accomplish his purpose. When we stop learning we stop leading.

And it is when we are full of the spirit, in a place of sadness, and willing to learn and grow when we seek what is right. - In terms of our relationship with Jesus we receive his righteousness, and we are guided by the Spirit to do what is right.

When we are conflict with someone else this is the point in which you navigate what is the right way foreword in our rleationship. How will we treat eachother different?

But this is great, defining what is the right way forward, but then you have to live into it, how do Disciple’s or Kingdom Agents live into the this right reality towards true lasting peace.

8 - Jesus gives us qualities to be people of peace.

Matthew 5:7 NIV

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

V. Mercy – Allowing Second Chances

A. It brings Joy, because you will be shown Mercy. - Having to offer Mercy is not always a happy situation - examples.

B. Doing the right thing may be hard for some people, but none of us are perfect.

C. https://www.npr.org/2019/10/03/766866875/brandt-jeans-act-of-grace-toward-his-brother-s-killer-sparks-a-debate-over-forgi

- Even though we are merciful, we must stick to what is right

Matthew 5:8 NIV

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

VI. Pure in Heart – Staying true to doing what is right,

A. It brings Joy, because you will see God.

B. We do what God wants, We see what God wants to show us.

1. This list of kingdom attitudes is a completely different approach to righteousness, both for the Jews and for us today. Our primary association, when it comes to righteousness, is with actions. This is because our real, physical, everyday world deals with people who can’t see our heart. We forget that God is very real and sees not only our actions but also our heart. For example, people might say, “I don’t support Hollywood or go to the movies; I tell people about Christ, instead.” This person must be righteous, right? But in Jesus’s list of attitudes, he’s dealing primarily with righteous attitudes that produce righteous actions. Christ is trying to grow us. So, instead of living the previous example, we should instead say, “I desire to have a pure heart, so I will be careful what I watch. I am a peacemaker, so I will share the gospel with people around me.” When you put the emphasis where Christ wants it, there will be a natural outflow to produce the right actions.

1. Christ gives excellent examples of external versus internal righteousness. Remember, Jesus did not come to get rid of the law, but rather, to bring a mature and complete understanding of it. According to Matthew 5:21–26, sin is more than murder; it’s the anger that produced the murder. In 5:27–32, sin is more than adultery; it’s the lust that produced the adultery. In 5:33–37, sin is more than breaking oaths but the lack of integrity that causes the oath to be broken. In 5:38–48, sin is more than improper retribution but the lack of love and concern for others that prompted the retribution. These are the definitions of sin. The important truth that Christ was trying to get across was that sin is just not something that we do. It’s the nature that we have and were born with. We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. It’s the hatred that produces murder, it’s the lust that produces adultery, and so on. Jesus said in Matthew 7:17 that a bad tree can’t help but produce bad fruit. The tree is rotten to the core, and so are we without Christ. A bad tree can fake producing good fruit, but it can’t actually produce it. The test is in what the tree is, not the fruit. So, likewise Christ truly tests us by our heart.

1. How does this play out practically in everyday living? How many times have we apologized to our spouse for the angry words we muttered, but ignored the attitude of anger in our hearts that produced the words? Or how many times have we looked a picture or movie we shouldn’t see and repented of our action without dealing with the lust that produced the action? Here’s the point: we, like the Pharisees, become doctors who treat symptoms, but Christ wants to treat the disease—otherwise we’ll never become better.

- This brings us to the Climax of the Beatitudes

Matthew 5:9 NIV

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

VII. Peacemakers – Ministry of Reconciliation

A. It brings Joy – This is our identity as sons of God, Kingdom people.

B. Reconciling people to God, and to each other.

C. The other beatitudes are steps to peace, can not make it without them. – But there is inner peace when you know you Did God’s will they way God would want you to do it.

E. Story of Couple in God Guides of Couple who was re-united.

Read Page 12....

D. People may get offended in the process, we must continuously work towards conflict resolution, and reconciliation. - Boy Scout Leadership at New Hope - They gave up.

12 - People of Peace experience Persecution.

Matthew 5:10–12 NIV

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

VIII. Persecution – Reality Check

https://www.npr.org/2019/10/03/766866875/brandt-jeans-act-of-grace-toward-his-brother-s-killer-sparks-a-debate-over-forgi

- There were many people who were angry at brandt jeans because it absolves white people of guilt.

1. Let’s be cautious that we not fall into the trap of equating persecution with righteous living, however. Some people are persecuted because they have objectionable personalities—this type of person is self-righteous. The first seven attitudes address self-righteousness. Being “persecuted because of righteousness” means that we’re being persecuted because we’re so much like the Lord Jesus, and Jesus experienced persecution people because of his message and lifestyle, not because of an abrasive personality.

A. Brings Joy, because we are still a part of the Kingdom.

16 - People of Peace cause Praise.

You are the Light of the World, You are the SALT of the Earth, So let your light so that people may see your good works and praise your Father who is in heaven.

In other words, People will see this radically different way of life and see that it is only the power of God that can empower people to live this way and experience the Joy of God while living this radically different way in the world.

Conclusion:

Which of these is God prompting you to expand in? How can you apply these first to specific conversation? A conflict or difficult conversation you have coming up. How can you apply these as a way of life?