Blessed are the Peacemakers

Want to be Happy? Be Peaceful.

Matthew 5:9 KJV 1900

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

This is our verse. What, may I ask, is a peacemaker?

There are some who would say a peacemaker is one who avoids confrontation, a pacifist. The trouble with pacifists is that they desire peace at any cost.

This is what led to World War 2, Neville Chamberlain placated to Adolph Hitler's demands and weakened Britain leaving them open to attack. He declared upon his return to Britain "…peace for our time".

A better question to ask would be perhaps, why is there so much unrest in our day? The answer is sin.

The first sin separated man from God. The second sin, the murder of Abel, separated man from man. The reason we "all just can't get along" is sin.

We are at war with God, with ourselves, and with one another. There is no silver bullet that can/will change our social differences, but there is hope. That hope is in Jesus Christ.

Do you want to be happy? Then be peaceful.

How do we achieve peace?

Notice the following truths...

Peace must start with your relationship with God.

Formerly: Ephesians 2:1-3 “1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”

Presently: Ephesians 2:4-7 “4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

Before trusting Christ, we were dead in sin

Now we are alive and given more spiritual blessing than we can honestly imagine

Romans 5:6-10 “6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 “17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Clearly the Word of God shows us that we are born apart from God spiritually and we are by birth enemies with Him. An enemy is one who is not at peace with someone. But by God's grace and through His love for us we can be reconciled, or brought on the same side as God, through faith in Christ Jesus. To have peace we must first be in a relationship with God through Christ. This is where peace begins but…

Peace continues when we share the message of peace with others.

There is a lot of talk in our country today about hate.

I hate "hate" because God hates "hate"

The question has been asked "how do we get past this?"

Some say we need to tear down monuments and statues of our past because it represents a dark time in our nation's history and leads to hate. This leads to riot, chaos, and destruction of property…God's not in that.

Some say we should do nothing, just let this play out…God's not in that either.

How do we get past this?

We pray.

WE pray for our countrymen, our leaders, our children

WE seek God's protection, His guidance, His love, His wisdom

Love one another

We continue to gather to encourage each other

We let others know that we care about them regardless of the color of their skin, what language they speak, we simply love them because God loves them

We share the gospel with anyone and everyone who will listen

We are separated from God and one another by sin

The only hope we have is to fix that broken relationship with God

Only by spreading the gospel do we have any hope of survival

The only way to truly be a peacemaker is to constantly share the gospel with others.

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

Are you saved? Then you have signed a peace treaty with God. Now go and tell someone else the good news. Be a good ambassador of Jesus Christ.