Sermon Tone Analysis

Announcements

Are there any announcements?

We found some water in the basement near the kitchen and carpet and are looking for someone that lives near the church, to come in throughout the week to double check to make sure we resolved the problem.

See Pastor John if interested.

Join us for Bible Study on Thursday July 14 at 6:30pm.

Introduction

Good morning and welcome to FCC where we worship God in Spirit and Truth, one verse at a time, one book at a time.

We are glad that you have joined us this morning has we are starting to close out the beatitudes.

We have come as far as Matthew 5:9, SO LET’S open our Bibles there.

Read Matthew 5:1-9

Prayer

Lord, thank you for this day and for the week that is behind us and for all the gifts, graces, and blessings, in our lives.

Thank you that you are our peace and that because you are peace, we can have peace too.

Lord God, we come to your Word today as humbly as we know how, so please teach us through your Spirit the truths that you desire us to have.

And may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Please Father heal our brothers and sisters that are not well and Lord for the person that has no peace, may they have peace by the end of this service.

In Jesus Name, we Love You!!! Amen and Amen

Are you enjoying going through the Words of our Great High Priest?

Review

In looking back over the past few weeks, I think it is clear that we can see a natural progression here in the beatitudes and I am reminded it is not about doing, but rather being.

And I say this because Jesus showed up in the middle of a politically and religiously charged culture that was caught in the trap of works.

And Jesus came at just the right time to speak truth to set the captives free.

But even though I share about the Jews be trapped in works based system and to Rome, I think it is always important to remember that works are a natural by-product of our salvation.

Show me some who is saved church and I will show you someone that has works for faith without works is dead.

Last week we learned that Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

And we discovered that scholars suggest that the word basically has two different meanings.

First, it means “to make pure by cleansing from dirt, filth, or contamination” and was most often used to describe metals that had been refined by fire until they were free from impurities.

It was also used for soiled clothes that had been washed clean, and of grain that had been carefully sifted to remove all impurities.

Second, it refers to being “unmixed, as having no double allegiance.”

In his commentary on this passage, Warren Weirsbe writes that the “basic idea is that of integrity, singleness of heart, as opposed to duplicity, or a divided heart.”

Jesus said it this way:

James said it like this:

It is crucial that we allow God to search our hearts about our own contamination and double-mindedness.

Are we trying to serve two masters or one?

Do we have a singleness of heart?

Or is our heart divided?

Because according to James, If we do not have singleness of heart, then guess what?

We are unstable in all our ways!!!

Church, when I am unstable, it is because my heart is divided and I cannot serve two masters.

When I am unstable mentally, emotionally, and even physically it is because my focus is wrong and I am tossed to and fro by anything and everything that comes my way.

Unstable- prone to change, fail, or give way; not stable.

Prone to psychiatric problems or sudden changes of mood.

I would challenge anyone here today that feels unstable to ask yourself the question:

How is my time with God? Am I spending time in prayer and in the Word?

Am I contaminating myself with the things of this world and feeding my flesh?

The bottom line church is that Jesus is not just teaching us how to enter His Kingdom, but how to stay in His Kingdom and share it with others.

He is teaching us over and over here that if you want to be blessed, if you want to be happy, if you want to be holy for He is Holy, then do these things.

But you know what is amazing?

We will try to make ourselves happy with everything else only to end up being empty.

So we have come to the seventh beatitude and one that we would think is the goal of every christian.

But what is this peace?

How do we obtain it?

Because if were brutally honest, we would all say that we want peace and that this world needs peace because it is clearly unsettled and restless.

God is described in the Book as the God of Peace:

Peace is part of God’s Character or one of his attributes if you may.

It is who God is.

And if you go all the way back to Genesis, we find peace until after the fall and then if you follow the Scarlet Thread throughout the Bible you will see in the end or in the book of Revelation there will finally be peace in eternity of in heaven.

Do you think we live is a confused society?

Could we say that we live in the most confused society of all time?

Confusion is the opposite of peace, therefore, is not from God, but of the wicked one and our own making.

Confusion- akatastasia(aka-tas-tasia) — instability, unsettled, a state of disorder, disturbance.

In looking at this definition, can you see how being double-minded will lead ultimately lead to confusion.

So the by-product of double-mindedness and contamination is confusion and therefore, no peace.

And when we are in this state, we try to find peace in everything but Jesus.

So, what is the definition of peace?

You know most people, even church people would say it the absence of conflict or war.

And there is some truth to this...

But I would suggest and even challenge our thinking on this one.

How about peace is not the absence of conflict, BUT rather the presence of Jesus who is the Prince of Peace:

The idea of peace dominates the Bible.

The Bible opens with peace in the garden; the Bible closes with peace in eternity.

` In fact, you could chart the course of history based on the theme of peace.

There was peace on earth in the garden.

Man sinned, peace was interrupted.

At the cross, peace became a reality again as He who died on the cross became our peace.

And since the Lord Jesus Christ has provided peace, there can be peace in the heart of a man or a woman who comes to know Him.

Where there is no peace, they do not know the prince of peace.

The world is unsettled, restless, and confused because Jesus is no longer Preeminent or central to everything we do.

In fact, if we were honest we could say that this great nation and many of its institutions have fallen from grace, therefore, we have lost peace.

And the sad thing is Jesus died for this peace.

He died for you and for me. he bridged the gap.

In fact, according to the Word we were enemies of God:

Again Jesus died so that we could make peace with God he bridged the gap for us, for without the shedding of blood there is not remission of sins.

So peace is a great way to see the theme of the Bible.

Peace in the garden, peace interrupted, peace returns in the hearts of men because of the cross.

The Prince of Peace comes again to bring a kingdom of peace that finally becomes an eternal peace.

Church, there are 400 references in the Bible to peace.

God is tremendously concerned with peace.

In fact, He Himself calls Himself the God of Peace.

as I already shared.

You say, “But there’s no peace.”

No, not in the world, not now, but there’s a reason.

The reason there’s no peace is because of two things:  

The opposition of Satan and the disobedience of men.

The fall of angels and the fall of man has caused a world without any peace.

It isn’t that God doesn’t want peace, it’s that man and Satan are at war with God.

You know, you can only have peace with someone as long as they want it, because it’s a two-way item.

And as long as they will have no peace, there will be none.

But the Good News is the God sent his only begotten Son, so that we can have peace.

But we cannot have this peace unless we are in right relationship with him and are pure in heart as beatitude number 6 states.