Happy Are the Peace Makers

Happy Are the Peace Makers

Text: Matthew 5:1–11 (KJV 1900)

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Introduction:

* We have come now to the 7th beatitude that Jesus preached to the people in the Sermon on the Mount.

This beatitude was contrary to the mindset of Jesus’ hearers:

* The Jews, in general, regarded the Gentile nations with bitter contempt and hatred.

* These who had gathered that day on the side of the mountain to hear Jesus preach about making war with the Gentile Romans that were occupying their land, not peace!

* If Jesus was truly the Messiah that would deliver them from the Romans, then Jesus should preach about attacking the Romans and overthrowing their Gentile persecutors!

* In their synagogues they were taught by the Rabbis from the Talmud about how Joshua, whose name is Jesus, by the way, attacked and conquered all the nations that stood in the way of Israel!

* Surely Jesus had come to lead them into war against the evil Romans that ruled over them!

* These people wanted to hear Jesus say that happiness would come from destroying the Gentile nations, but instead Jesus taught them that they were to bring the Gentiles to peace with God!

* This was the thinking behind the story that Jesus told of the Good Samaritan.

* According to the prevailing thinking of Jesus day, this was radical teaching, and unacceptable! And this kind of preaching eventually got Him crucified.

* But none the less, Jesus died so that those who persecuted Him could have peace with God.

* With is very life, Jesus modeled the truth that we have presented before us this morning in the 7th beatitude:

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

* Jesus was here on a mission from God as a peacemaker, to bring Men to peach with God, and so are we called to carry on His mission bringing men to make peace with God also.

* The angels declared this truth at the birth of Jesus when they to the Shepherds in the fields “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!”

* How different was the teaching of this strange prophet called Jesus, yet no one could do the miracles that Jesus did!

* If you look back over the Beatitudes, you’ll find a very simple but logical order to them.

* The first four beatitudes have to do with our conduct as believers in the world. They deal with some of the negative things we are not to be:

Happy is the person who is not self-promoting but is humble.

Happy is the person who is not self-righteous but is sorrowful because of his sin.

Happy is the person who is not self-centered but in control of his selfishness.

Happy is the person who is not seeking self-satisfaction but who is hungry for God.

* Doesn’t that describe the man without God today?

self-promoting- self-righteous- self-centered- seeking self-satisfaction

The next three Beatitudes have more to do with our character than with our conduct- they tell us what we ought to be as believers:

Those who have received mercy from God will themselves be merciful to others.

Those who have been made pure by faith in God will strive to live pure in heart like God.

Those who have received peace With God, and have the peace of God, and are continually given peace from God, will be peacemakers bringing other men to peace with God also.

* The Lord gave these beatitudes in a very specific order; they also fit together as couplets:

1 and 2- Poverty of spirit causes a person to mourn over his sin.

3 and 4- Meekness causes a person not to focus his life on himself, but to be hungry for God.

5 and 5- Mercy toward other men is born out of a pure heart toward God.

6 and 7- The peacemakers will make peace between God and their persecutors.

* With the relationship of the beatitudes in mind, let’s consider this morning how being a peacemaker is linked to the next week’s Beatitude.

* Next week’s beatitude deals with being persecuted. This week’s beatitude deals with being peacemakers.

* When you put them together we see the truth that Jesus was trying to get across:

“You will be persecuted because men hate the rule of God. Your mission is to make peace between God and those who hate Him.

Colossians 1:19–20 (KJV 1900)

19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself;

by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

* Having entered into the peace that Christ made by the blood of His cross, Jesus is teaching that those who believe in Him should be engaged in bringing others into that same peace with God.

* That would make us Peace Makers!

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

* Where are peacemakers found? In war zones!

* Jesus deals with Persecution in the next beatitude because these new believers will be taking the heat for what they believe in the very near future as they follow Him.

* In that environment hatred and persecution, we are called to be peacemakers.

* If these new Christians are going to be persecuted for following Jesus, then Jesus taught that they will need to become peacemakers, bringing their persecutors to peace with God.

* Mankind is incapable of peace on His own. He needs to be brought to God by a peacemaker.

* According to the Apostle Paul, in Ephesians 6:15, our feet are “shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace” and by the knowing the Gospel and the Bible, we are equipped to be peacemakers.

I. The need for Peacemakers

* The prophet Isaiah said “There is no peace to the wicked, for the wicked are like the troubled sea whose waves dredge up mire and dirt.”

* As long as mankind determines in his heart to have nothing to do with God, mankind will never have peace.

* He cannot have it individually, corporately, in his family, or in his country.

* No man can ever truly know peace until things are straightened out in his heart with God.

* As a result of this fact, we fight at home, at work, at church, and among nations—all because we don’t have peace outside of God.

* We live in a day when every relationship is fragile, ready to fail.

* In our day more people have been identified with mental and emotional illnesses than ever before.

* The family is disintegrating and our educational systems are breaking down.

* All around us People are participating in marches, sit-ins, rallies, protests, and demonstrations without end!

* All because man has no peace within himself!

* And the world man lives in is a projection of himself--it is riddled with chaos.

* With all the unhappiness and violence in American homes, we need peacemakers.

* I believe many Christian counselors are serving exactly that function, bringing peace to a troubled family.

* Too many Christian marriages are falling apart, and we need godly men and women who can sit down with couples and help them reconcile and find peace.

* We need peacemakers in our communities, bringing reconciliation between races.

* We need peacemakers in the international community, bringing peace to warring nations.

* We even need peacemakers in the Church, bringing reconciliation between churches and denominations, and sometimes even among church members.

* I’ve seen people get into serious disputes over the church organ, the carpet, the elders, the choir, and the pastor.

Colossians 3:15 encourages us to let the peace of God “rule” in our hearts.

* The word rule is actually the term we use as “umpire.”

* In other words, people cannot have the peace of God until we allow the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit to be the umpire of our lives!

* We have never needed peacemakers more that we do now in the day in which we live!

* Our text here in Matthew 5:9 tells us that through Christ God will bless those who are true peacemakers with happiness.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

* In Romans 5:1, Paul says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

* Even though God is not my enemy, I’ve been at war with Him since I was born.

* My old depraved nature is at war with God.

* We are not born good and then go bad, as some think.

* Scripture is clear that man is born in sin.

* Children come into this world screaming for their own way, at war with God.

* But while we were at war with Him, He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, into this world. He paid the penalty for all our sins when He died on the cross; so now the war is over.

* This old world desperately needs peacemakers to bring it the peace that can only come from God!

II. Those who have believed on Jesus are the only ones qualified to bring peace to this world.

* What makes us qualified to be peace makers as believers?

* We are qualified to be peacemakers because we have experienced three kinds of peace:

1). Peace with God

* Many Christians have peace with God but don’t have the peace of God.

* That’s why Christian bookstores are filled with so many self-help books.

* When I go into a bookstore, I see all these books about how we can straighten out our lives.

* In Romans 5:1, Paul says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

* God is not my enemy, though I’ve been at war with Him since I was born.

* Our old depraved nature is at war with God.

* But while we were at war with Him, He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, into this world.

* He paid the penalty for all our sins when He died on the cross; so now the war is over.

* We can have peace with God through Jesus Christ.

* Without peace with God, we can never be peacemakers. We have no peace, so we cannot share it with anyone else.

* We can’t give away what we don’t have.

*In order to become peacemakers, we must have peace with God.

* That means coming to terms with what Christ has done on the Cross, taking away our sins and creating a relationship between us and God.

* When we became Christians, we were given peace with God.

2). Peace of God

* Many Christians have peace with God but don’t have the peace of God.

* That’s why Christian bookstores are filled with so many self-help books. When I go into a bookstore, I see all these books about how we can straighten out our lives, and it makes me wonder what message they send to non-Christians.

* By looking at the books in the bookstore, It would seem we believers really don’t have our lives together.

* Why is it that so many Christians who have peace with God never get to the place of having the peace of God in their lives?

* In John 14:27, the Lord Jesus said to His disciples, “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.” Christ wanted His people to have peace in their lives, no matter what they were facing.

* Without His peace, we’re a troubled lot. Jesus wants to give us the very peace of God.

* Do you have the inner calmness, the quiet assurance within you that all is well?

* Can you say with the Psalmist, “I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord make me dwell in safety”?

* Can you remain peaceful in the face of chaotic circumstances?

* We all live in a war zone.

* Our neighborhoods face terrible troubles, there is great financial strain, and we struggle with job-related tensions.

* But if you have the peace of God, you can rest in peace.

3). Peace from God

* There is a third kind of peace that we experience when facing a major decision.

* God doesn’t have a magic instruction book, where you can turn to a particular page to discover His answer to your question.

* Instead, His book offers timeless principles that draw His people to Himself.

* As we begin to fill our minds with His principles, things become clear.

* He has already given us several clear “thou shalt not’s” and some “thou shalt’s,” so where we sometimes get stumped is in the gray areas where we must judge between what is good and what is best.

* The choices may look equally acceptable, so we need the peace of God to guide us.

* Colossians 3:15 reads, “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts,” and that verse offers some great advice for deciding a course of action.

* After we have read our Bible and talked to Christian friends about our choices, we can ask the Lord to give us peace about our decision.

* It’s okay to pray, “Lord, I don’t know what to do in this situation, so I’m going to go this way. Please give me your peace.”

* God can give us His peace in the major decisions of our lives after we’ve exhausted our ability to study the principles.

* Sometimes we just know in our hearts which choice is correct.

II. The blessedness of the peacemakers.

* All such peacemakers are pronounced blessed by our Lord in our text this morning:

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Isaiah 52:6–7 (KJV 1900)

7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; That bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation;

Romans 10:11–15 (KJV 1900)

11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written,

How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

Philippians 2:13–16 (KJV 1900)

13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

16 Holding forth the word of life…

* Our text this morning says that those who bring men to peace with God will be known as the sons, or children of God:

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

* In this present life the world may despise them as fanatics, professors of religion may regard them as narrow-minded sectarians, and their relatives may look upon them as fools!

* But the great God identifies Himself with all those who reconcile men to God as His children!

1 John 3:1 (KJV 1900)

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God…

* Even right now, God has given us a token to declare to the world that we belong to Him by the witness of his Holy Spirit!

Romans 8:14 (KJV 1900)

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

* One day God will declare us to the entire universe as his sons!

Matthew 13:43 (KJV 1900)

43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Romans 8:18–19 (KJV 1900)

18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

* I want you to understand that this great glory that will be revealed in is because we will God’s instruments by which God will make peace with men. – This Glory is because we are peacemakers.

Daniel 12:1–3 (KJV 1900)

2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

Proverbs 11:30

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

*In other words, “Helping people to make peace with God is a “tree of life” What does that mean? It means that they are very, very, happy!

* In 1 Thessalonians 2:20 the apostle Paul said of those he had won to the lord “For ye are our glory and joy!”

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God

* The apostle John said in John 4:36 “And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.”

* Psalm 126:4–6 (KJV 1900)

5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

* Why is is being a soul winner so important to God?

James 5:19–20 (KJV 1900)

19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

* How important is it to God that His children bring men to make peace with Himself? It is just as important as rescuing a person that is on fire!

Jude 22–23 (KJV 1900)

22 And of some have compassion, making a difference: 23 and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

Conclusion:

* Christ says that those with peace will be happy—blissful, joy-filled, ecstatic people!

* They know in their hearts that they are at peace with God.

* They have a certainty that they are no longer under condemnation but have been set free from sin.

* They are righteous in the eyes of God, and that allows them to become peacemakers.

* The man or woman who has peace can help other people find peace with God.

* In one sense, a peacemaker is an evangelist, because he goes about finding people at war with God and sharing the peace of Christ with them.

* Whenever I preach the Gospel and tell people how to know Jesus Christ, I have functioned as a peacemaker.

* If you are sharing your faith with others, you have become a peacemaker, and the Bible says there is great joy in being a peacemaker.

* For me, the greatest joy I’ve ever known has been introducing other people to the Lord Jesus.

* It’s the most wonderful experience you can have. If you’re not sharing your faith, you are missing a great blessing.

* Peacemakers bring unity between men and God, and they also bring unity between men and other men.

* Bringing estranged people together is a blessing.

* That is when you discover who you really are and your place in God’s family.”

*That’s why Jesus warned us to reconcile with other people before coming to worship Him.

* We need to be at peace with men to really experience the blessing of peace with God.

* Whether or not we are the ones at fault, we are called by God to make peace before we can truly worship Him. Happy is the man who helps put things back together.

* That’s exactly what a peacemaker does. He sees through the eyes of the other person to bring them together.

* When we have peace with God, we can learn to see things from God’s perspective and become a peacemaker.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.