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The
Beatitudes: The Prince of Peace and the Peacemakers
Matthew 5:1-12: Seeing
the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples
came to 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 those who mourn, for they shall be
comforted. 5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth. 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 "Blessed are
the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 "Blessed are
the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 "Blessed are
the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 "Blessed
are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when others revile
you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my
account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in
heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
“Glory to God in
the Highest, and on earth, peace, good-will toward those on whom his favor
rests!”
The seventh
beatitude, or characteristic of Christ and His people, is being those
who are peacemakers.
During the Christmas
season we are often reminded of Scriptures from Isaiah 9 and Luke 2 that
Jesus is the Prince of Peace who has come to offer salvation to those on
whom His favor rests! We are reminded during the Christmas season
that we have One who has come to save us so that we can be at peace with
God our Creator.
In a world turned
upside down by constant "wars and rumors of war" around the
world, we are reminded by the seventh beatitude that in this age there will
be times of war, but that we are to be peacemakers as sons of
God. Being a peacemaker in no way means that we are to be
passive in times of war when our country needs us to stand up for
our nation's rights or the rights of our family.
What being a peacemaker
means is to be reminded that our citizenship is ultimately in heaven (Phil.
3:20-21), and because we know the time is short
before Christ returns, we offer the Gospel of peace to all men!
When Christ came, he
offered peace. He came to offer "comfort" and peace to Jerusalem and then to the Gentiles who would believe (Isa. 40; Eph. 2:14-17).
Ephesians
2:14-17: For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one
and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15
by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create
in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16
and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby
killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you
who were far off and peace to those who were near.
However, Jesus
always reminded his disciples that this peace would also divide and bring
wars and persecution upon his people. The world cries for
"peace" but the only peace they will ever find is in the Prince
of Peace Jesus Christ, who has reconciled us to God our Creator by his
death on behalf of sinners.
God has extended peace
to those who would believe in Christ. We should remember that God is
a consuming fire (Heb. 12:14), a wrathful God (Nahum 1), who will not pardon the guilty (Exo. 34:6-8), yet he will extend peace and
reconciliation to those who look to Christ, the Prince of Peace by faith
(Romans 5:8-10). In fact, those who believe will be called "sons
of the Living God".
Christ will return soon
to war against those who do not believe. On that terrible Day of the
Lamb (Rev. 6;19), the unbelievers who have sought
peace in everything and everyone BUT the Living Christ, will find a
terrible judgment and wrath. The Lamb will war against those who have
falsely cried "peace, peace" when there was no true peace with
God!
We as peacemakers want
to be constantly reminded of our evangelistic opportunities all around
us. We want to be reminded of the hope and the peace we can truly
offer to those who war within their own souls, against our God and against
other men! Right now, we offer peace as the sons of God, but one day
there will be a war to end all wars. Now is the time of salvation and
hope, the time of peace extended through the gracious message of the Gospel
of the Prince of Peace! Remember how Paul describes the feet of those
who bring the good news of the gospel of peace in Romans 10 (cf. Ephesians 6:13-18):
"For
"everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." 14
But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are
they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to
hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach
unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of
those who preach the good news!" 16 But they have not all
obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he
has heard from us?" 17 So faith comes from hearing, and
hearing through the word of Christ."
The Prince of Peace has come!
Pauline greeting of
“Grace to you and peace…”
Illustration of being
“picked on” by other boys and girls
I.
Who are the Peacemakers?
A.
Not
“peaceful” people necessarily, but “peacemakers” in
relation to others. Not passive people, but those who known their ultimate
citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20-21).
B.
Not merely
diplomatic people, but those whose primary goal in life is to see a
reconciliation of people with the Living God and Creator.
C.
Jesus’
context of Roman rule and violent oppression. Revolutionaries, bandits, and zealots who
wanted to overthrow Gentile rule by force, rather than to wait upon the
LORD. Jesus tells them that they
are to be peacemakers, not warriors!
D.
The day of
war will come (Rev. 19).
II.
Why are they making peace?
We
live in an upside down hateful world at war with God and fellow men, yet it
was in this context Jesus came to die for sinners…to make reconcile
us to our God and Creator!
A.
Peace has
been offered to us in Christ while we were enemies of God.
B.
Illustration:
We must remember that “while we were enemies of God” Jesus died
for us. Augustine one time said that
in some mysterious way, God both loved us and hated us at the same time!
C.
Once we were
at war with God and others; once we were at war within ourselves!
D.
We must see
enemies of God, our enemies, at this point in time before Jesus returns, as
the object of our evangelism, not the object of our scorn and ridicule.
E.
Romans 5:
Romans 5:1-10: Therefore,
since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained
access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope
of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our
sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and
endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and
hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our
hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 6 For
while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For one will scarcely die for
a righteous person- though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to
die- 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now
been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the
wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are
reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
F.
But, Peace
divides….
A. Illustration of
sin in our culture…speaking out of how men must repent of certain
sins against God…in order to return and be reconciled…This will
bring war from others who do not believe.
B. Matthew
10:24-40:
24 "A disciple is not above
his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for
the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If
they have called the master of the house Beelzebul,
how much more will they malign those of his household.
26 "So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that
will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What
I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered,
proclaim on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the
body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul
and body in hell.
29 Are not two sparrows sold for
a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your
Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31
Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32
So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge
before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me
before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
34 "Do not think that I
have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but
a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and
a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his
own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is
not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not
worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow
me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it,
and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 40 "Whoever
receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.
III.
Sons of the Living God
A.
Beyond
belief!
B.
Jesus has
made us sons because we have been represented by THE SON.
C. Romans
8:14 For
all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you
did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have
received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba!
Father!" 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our
spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then
heirs- heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with
him in order that we may also be glorified with him. 18 For I
consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing
with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation
waits with eager longing for the revealing of the
sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not
willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that
the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain
the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know
that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of
childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we
ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the
Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the
redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now
hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But
if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
D.
Revelation
19:11-19: Peacemakers, no longer, but warriors with the Son as sons!
Scriptures for
Further Reflection: Psalm 85;
120; 122; Isaiah 9:6-7; 26:1-12; 48:20-22; 57; 59; Jeremiah 6-8; Ezekiel
13; Nahum 1; Matthew 10; Luke 2:14; 12:49-53; John 14:27ff; 16:33; Romans
3; 5:8-11; 14:17-19; 16:20; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Phil. 4:7-9; Hebrews
12:14; Revelation 6; 17-19
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