Matthew 5:9 "Peacemakers"

1:03On December 3rd, 1793, President George Washington gave his State of the Union address to Congress. At the time, the newly formed United States of America had a decision to make whether to aid France in their civil war against the monarchy or to remain neutral. And Washington, being the great leader that he was, recognized: number one, that It just wasn't smart to get involved in a country's civil war. Number two, the United States still had some growing up to do. And there were many threats against the U.S. that needed our attention before we reached out and gave aid to foreign wars. There was still lots of hostility among the indigenous tribes in the West and the South.

1:54And the U.S. Constitution was only five years old, so our government was new, and there were a lot of questions as to how the checks and balances within the newly formed republic would work. There was still a pervasive attitude that leaned towards the Confederation of States, which meant that each state would be its own country of sorts. So as you can imagine, the confusion was there. And finally, and probably the most important thing, was that the United States was absolutely broke.

2:26The states had accrued massive amounts of debts during the Revolutionary War, and it wasn't until 1790 that there was an idea put forth by Alexander Hamilton to create a central bank which would pay all of the debts from the Revolutionary War. And the U.S. was not out of debt by any means. So Washington addressed the Congress and he stated: if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times ready for peace. For war. See, Washington believed that if peace would prevail, the U.S. should concentrate on shoring up our strength, shoring up our strength in our military and our finances, in our government processes to maintain threats against peace that we had won against Britain.

3:19And this idea of peace through strength has been woven within the DNA of Western culture. Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy was walk softly and carry a big stick. Ronald Reagan said, We know only too well that war comes not when the forces of freedom are strong, but when they are weak. And even at the time of Jesus, when he went up on the mountain to taught the crowds and the disciples, beginning with Beatitudes, the Romans were at the height of what we call the Pax Romana, or the Roman peace. In fact, it was very dangerous to disturb the peace in the Roman Empire. It was disturbing the peace that led to Barabbas' arrest.

4:08Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned in Philippi for casting out a demon and a fortune-teller, and the charge brought before the magistrates was they were disturbing the city. So when Jesus gets up and says, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God, this may have been the one thing that. The disciples might have thought they understood. And I would put forth that most of us think we know what Jesus was saying here.

4:40But I think it's one of the most misunderstood of the Beatitudes. As I was researching for this sermon, I looked through many commentaries, and they tended to skip over this verse. They didn't really go into depth, which tells me that we as readers and students of God's Word have a pretty good handle of what it means to be a peacemaker. But I don't believe we do. And I don't think the disciples did either. I believe that we confuse the idea of peacemaking with peacekeeping.

5:23We believe the idea of peacemaking with total annihilation of our enemies. So, my hope for you today is to understand that when Jesus talks about being a peacemaker, he's talking about bringing the end of hostility between God and man, between you and God. And he's talking about a peace that comes through reconciliation rather than a peace that we think about in our culture or in our world. So, we'll learn today that Jesus is our peacemaker, so that we might. Be able to make peace and be glorified with Him for eternity.

6:06Now, we're more than halfway through this series, and I think a bit of review would be somewhat helpful. The Beatitudes are the beginning of a sermon known as the Sermon on the Mount. This sermon continues for three chapters in the book of Matthew. And I think what is important to point out is how the sermon is developed. Jesus starts with the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are like an ingredient list or a material list. And the rest of the sermon is what life is like when these ingredients are mixed together.

6:43So, some of you might have bought a piece of quality furniture from that Swedish multi-conglomerate IKEA. And when you open up that box that will later be a bookshelf 40 hours later, it'll give you a list of screws and dowels and these cute little tools that you need to accomplish the job. Then it will go into a step-by-step instruction on how to put it together. It might leave out a few very important steps, but it's there.

7:13But that list of materials that you're going to use to build that bookshelf, that's what the Beatitudes are. Without these tools and building blocks, you cannot possibly live out life as a follower of Christ. That is important because if you are thinking of this as a to-do list, you'll quickly realize that these are not to-dos, but they're ways of beings. That didn't sound right, they're a way of being. They become who we are, they become our personality.

7:52But if you notice, that not even the disciples really live up to these perfectly. Only one person did. And that's why starting off with the Beatitudes was so misunderstood by the disciples and sometimes us. Because when Jesus opens up his mouth and he says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted, the reviled, he's pointing to himself.

8:27Just earlier in chapter 4, in verse 17, Jesus preaches, Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. The very next time he preaches, he points to himself, saying, This is what the kingdom of heaven is. The beatitudes. It's me. Jesus had been going throughout all of Galilee, and people from all over Galilee watched as Jesus did miracle after miracle, sign after sign. So crowds gathered, and the disciples are there with him, and the crowds. Expecting another show of miracles.

9:03What they got, though, they didn't understand it, was the great miracle of God in the flesh standing before them, revealing to them who he was. At the end of this sermon in Matthew 7, 28 and 29, it says, The crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, not as one of their scribes. Jesus was not what the world expected him to be. The world wanted a Messiah who would come in power.

9:40They expected a government overthrow, a military coup, a mighty leader who would come and throw off their Roman oppressors and all other enemies that surrounded them. What they got was this fellow born out of wedlock to a teenage mother from a tiny town with no money, no power, no education, nothing that said, I'm here to deliver you. When they expected to see miracles, they got a sermon. And they were amazed because he talked to them as if he had some kind of authority.

10:23We know he did. But when Jesus says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, Philippians 2 tells us that Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Jesus was poor in spirit. When Jesus says, Blessed are those who mourn, Luke tells us that when Jesus came to Jerusalem, when he drew near the city and he saw it, he wept over it. Jesus mourned over what sin had done to the world.

11:03When Jesus said, Blessed are the meek, he said this to John, as John says, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was the beginning with God. And all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. The creator of the universe, who willingly died on the cross for us, Jesus was meek. When Jesus says, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, this is coming from a man who looked the devil in the eye and he said, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

11:43And when he hung from the cross, as he sacrificed himself for us to bring us into righteousness, he said, I thirst. So Jesus hunger and thirst after righteousness. And Jesus said, Blessed are the merciful. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus had to be made like his brothers in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of his people. So Jesus was merciful.

12:19When Jesus said, Blessed are the pure in heart, David says, Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand holy in his place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He was prophesying about Jesus. So naturally, when Jesus says, Blessed are the peacemakers, we should understand that Jesus is the peacemaker. So the Greek word for peacemaker is Erein o poios.

12:58It's a compound word made from Arena or Irene. That's where we get the name Irene, which means peace, and poy, which means to make. And the only place this compound is found in the Bible is in this verse. And that's important because this word is an adjective. An adjective modifies a noun, modifies a noun or a pronoun. And in this case, it modifies the pronoun. They. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. They, meaning first, Jesus and all believers.

13:43Peacemaker refers to the original peacemaker. Those who are peacemakers are peacemakers because they believe in Jesus, the OE. Areanopoase is, it starts with an E, so instead of OG. I know most of you did not expect a lesson in rhetoric, and I'm sorry that you had to set to that, but I thought it was important because of the uniqueness of the word. So, what does it mean to be a peacemaker? The simplest answer is one who makes peace.

14:24But I think it's important to make a distinction on what Jesus did as a peacemaker and what we do as peacemakers. So, first, Jesus as a peacemaker. As I mentioned before, we often misunderstand what peace means. Most of us think that peace is an end to war, an end to hostility. Going back to the example I mentioned at the beginning, the peace we acquired in the Revolutionary War resulted in a separation and an independence from an oppressive government.

15:00If we look at a modern-day example, the war between Israel and Hamas, peace would mean that one side loses and submits to the other. The same with Ukraine and Russia. An end to hostility or fighting or war is definitely part of peace. Don't get me wrong. But the biblical way of peace, or the peace that Jesus brings to us, is reconciliation. See, in order to have biblical peace, you need an end to hostility and reconciliation. If you would, look at the screen behind me at Ephesians 2, verses 13 through 19.

15:49It says, But now in Christ Jesus, you once who were far off have been brought near by the blood of Jesus. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of the commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

16:26And he came and preached peace to you who were far off. And peace to those who are near. For through him, we both have access in one spirit to the Father. So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and the members of the household of God. So, in this peace, there would be a victor between Israel and Hamas, but the victory would result in Israel and Hamas being brought together as brothers and sisters and reconciled to one another.

17:03So often we talk about peace, we think of it in a physical and worldly term. But Jesus did not humble himself and take on flesh to fight a physical war. He came to fight a spiritual war, a war not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places, as it says in Ephesians 6. In our terms, Jesus was not a powerful man.

17:40I mean, for just a second, put yourself in the shoes of the crowds and the disciples. Just a second. They had been oppressed for centuries. And here is a man who's performing miracles and signs. Don't you think it would be easy to think that the promised Messiah would be someone who would come? In and throw off that oppressive government. One who would establish a kingdom like the one of David and Solomon, a kingdom with military might and wealth beyond measure.

18:15Don't we do that now? Every four years, we hope for the same thing: that someone would step in and have all the answers, that someone would bring prosperity and grandeur to our country, our own circumstances. This really shouldn't be hard for us to understand why it was so hard to picture Jesus as the Messiah. Isaiah 53 says he was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men would hide their faces and was despised, and we esteemed him not.

19:02Jesus came in humility to die for our sin, take our sin upon himself. So when Jesus stands up as he says, Blessed are the peacemakers, he's fully aware of what that means: that he will be going to the cross as a man who walked perfectly without sin. He would be a ransom for us. For those who believe in Jesus and that he is Lord, our sins, past, present, and future, were placed upon his head. He was crucified on the cross.

19:48He died. He was buried, and he rose again on the third day, defeating sin and death, making peace for us, reconciling us to God. Again, look at the screen behind me. Colossians 1:18 through 20 says, And he is the head of the body of the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross.

20:31So Jesus made peace not by violence or show of force, but by laying down his life for us. Martin Luther said, Christ brings also peace, but not as the apostles brought it, through preaching. He gives it as creator, as his own proper creature. He probably said that in John. German, though. And if he did say it in English, it was with a very thick German accent. But what Martin Luther points out is that there cannot be peacemakers without the work of Christ on the cross.

21:17Jesus is a peacemaker by making a way for peace. And it's through Jesus' work on the cross that we can enter into reconciliation with God. The hostility is ended, the price has been paid. We can't be reconciled to God on our own. There's no amount of sacrifice we can make. There's no amount of good we can do. No amount of money we can throw at it. We can't do it for ourselves, and we sure can't do it for anyone else.

21:53So, kids, it does not matter if mom and dad are faithful believers in your home. That doesn't make you a faithful believer. Some of you have come here to study, and you grew up in Christian homes. Praise God. But that doesn't make you a believer. No one can reconcile you to God except Jesus. So, the way that we make peace or become peaceful. Looks much different than what Jesus did as a peacemaker. So, what does being a peacemaker look like for us? Well, first, you have to believe in the person and work of the original peacemaker, Jesus. Romans 5:1 says, Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

23:00Our faith in Jesus and the work on the cross justifies us and makes peace for us. If we do not have peace with God ourselves, we cannot be peacemakers in a world that is either openly at odds with God or apathetic to God at best. Going back to Isaiah 53 and verse 5, it says, But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. And with his wounds, we are healed.

23:34The sick cannot tell the sick how to be healed. But those who believe in Jesus are healed from the sickness and death that sin brings. So, we have to believe in Jesus. Second, just as Martin Luther pointed out regarding the apostles, we are to preach the gospel. I mean, we, not just your pastors. Every believer is commanded to preach the gospel because it is the gospel that brings reconciliation or peace to those who are lost in sin and death.

24:12Paul tells young Timothy, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing in the kingdom, preach the word. Be ready, in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. This is not just for the fellow at the pulpit. This is for all believers. Every believer should have the gospel at the ready. It should be on your lips.

24:47Romans 10, 14, and 15 says, How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 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. We are to preach the good news of reconciliation, the good news of peace with God to those who do not believe.

25:24And remember that Jesus said, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. Peacemakers will be known as sons of God, having all the rights and privileges of a son, receiving an inheritance of eternal life, forever reconciled to God. So, peacemakers preach the gospel, which reconciles us to God. Third, peacemakers continue to walk in faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. I think it's interesting that there are nine Beatitudes and nine fruits of the Spirit.

26:08I think they're intertwined with each other. Pastor Robert Smith Jr. said: The Beatitudes represent the attitudes that have been implanted within us, whereas the fruits of the Spirit represent the power that has been released within us in order for us to reflect the service or the attitudes that God has called us to. The Beatitudes, being a peacemaker, the Beatitudes and being a peacemaker is literally impossible without the Holy Spirit. It's like trying to use a flashlight with no bulb or trying to start a fire without heat. It can't be done. Not all of the ingredients are there.

26:56Peacemakers walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. And lastly, peacemakers are people of prayer. Later in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us: You have heard that it was said to you, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his Son rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

27:39I think it's fitting. Some of you don't know this, but we plan these sermons out way ahead of time. Who's going to preach over what, what passage we're going to cover. And I'm struck today with this is what we're going over with what happened yesterday. I'm thankful. This morning, as I was watching the news, Alveda King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, came on as a commentator. And she began listing those who had been killed in her family, assassinated, or shot. Her uncle, her father, mother was shot. Their homes were bombed.

28:31And in the middle of that, she came to a full stop. And she began to pray on national television. She gave thanks to God the Father in the name of Jesus for those who were not hurt during the shooting. And then she said, We need to take this fear. We need to take this anger and turn to God in prayer. Her immediate response to a situation that would have put her in a space mentally and one of fear and anger and dread because she had lived it.

29:09And it became one of peace, of hope, and of repentance. She became a peacemaker. I have to admit to you that I was grateful for my sister in Christ, who showed me on a news telegram, news, news television show, that I should have turned to God in prayer rather than be there in shock and in horror. One of the big buzz terms within our Christian circles is that we should be countercultural. But what Alvida did was not countercultural, it was other.

29:57Nothing about this had anything to do with our culture. Or its influence. You cannot love an enemy or pray for their good and truly mean it unless the Holy Spirit has done a supernatural work in your heart. I mean, I've prayed things like, Lord, I ask that your will be done to this person. I ask that you defend me. I ask that your justice be done. But in my heart, I'm just like Jonah when Nineveh repented.

30:27When he said, God, I knew you were going to be merciful. That's why I didn't want to go. I am exceedingly displeased and angry. But peacemakers, sons of God, love and pray for their enemies. And they also pray for themselves. I love how Pastor Allen mentioned those who are at war within themselves. Paul tells the Philippians: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication. With thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

31:15It sounds so simple, but it's so hard, isn't it? In those times of fear and anxiety, the times when we're most prone to experience turmoil within our hearts and minds, Paul tells us that prayer will usher. In peace that surpasses all understanding. And it will set a guard on our hearts and minds. So, peacemakers are people of prayer. So, brothers and sisters, we live in a time that's full of hate, bitterness, pride, anger, and violence. Yesterday was evidence of that.

31:59And I know we think we're living in historical times, but we really aren't. Remember, Cain killed Abel in hate and bitterness. Throughout history, we've fought and killed one another, and so often we've done it in the name of God. The rhetoric we use, and I say we because Christians are incredibly guilty of this, especially during political seasons. We'll use scripture to validate our political beliefs. We'll use scripture to validate our actions that are not loving. How many times do we talk about our community or our society, and there is just no concern for lost souls?

32:56No thought to making peace through reconciliation. James tells us, what causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and you do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions. Isn't it crazy that James is talking to Christians here?

33:41It is really easy to look at the world around us and feel as if we're being surrounded on all sides. Then we have to fight for our beliefs and we have to fight for what is right. But that's not what Jesus calls us to do. He calls us to be peacemakers. He's already defeated the enemy. He's already won the war. So we fight against our enemies in different ways. We do not fight to destroy. We fight to be reconciled. We fight to forgive and to love those who would mean us harm.

34:27We fight with hope. And if you're not a believer and you want that peace in your life, Jesus said it best when he said, Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent of your sins and cast them on the cross, where Jesus made peace for you. Believe in him, and you'll see. The psalmist said, Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

35:13Let's pray. Father, you are the God of peace. You made a way for us to be reconciled while we were still your enemies. You planned our inheritance while we reviled you and scoffed at your ways. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross, made peace for us and reconciled us to you. We thank you. For our peace, we thank you for the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in us and helps us to be peacemakers.

36:11We thank you that you hear our prayers and that you have heard our prayers. And we ask that you continue to change us and make us into peacemakers. When we fail, Father, give us the humility and the wisdom to repent and come to you as children who need comfort. For you are our comfort, and you are our peace. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas.

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