The Peacemakers
Notes
Transcript
Recap:
Matthew 5:3–9 “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.”
Being a peace maker requires a few things.
To bring peace to the people around you you must:
Have a pure heart because then your heart will desire to be an agent of peace to those around you
You must be merciful because people will do you wrong, and holding a grudge will not bring anyone peace
Hunger and thirst for righteousness, because God’s righteousness is a reconciliatory righteousness
You must be meek because you will need to humble yourself and think more highly of others than yourself
You will have to mourn over your sin in order to seek peaceful resolutions with the people you’ve wronged
And you will need to be poor in spirit so that you will recognize you are not perfect
In the Old Testament, the word is “Shalom”
It carries with it an idea of “wholeness, heath, security, well-being and salvation”
along with the more typical idea of a relation ship between people or nations
A lack of conflict
In prophecy peace is often related to mans relationship to God.
Salvation is being at peace with God
This is both in a covenantal sense on earth
They will have peace with the nations because they kept the covenant made with God
And in an eternal, salvific, sense a future peace that would be experienced by all.
This idea is carried into the New Testament when peace is now seen as being brought by Jesus
Luke 1:79 “79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.””
It is not an end of an end of conflict or tension. Its not the absence of warfare, but reconciliation with God
This has huge implications on our life.
As the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible puts it, “This gift of peace or reconciliation with God, made available through Christ, places an ethical demand on the Christian; it calls for the exercises of “peace” (as reconciliation between persons) within the church. Peace, as a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22), is to be the goal of the Christian’s dealings with others (Rom 12:18; 14:19; Heb 12:14, etc.), that which marks one’s identity as a “child of God” (Mt 5:9).”
The first demand placed up on is to bring peace to others
Be at Peace With Others
Be at Peace With Others
When it comes to interpersonal conflict, there is one passage I always turn to.
Romans 12:18 “18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”
This passage tells us that, we are not to worry about what other people do, but instead do our part to be at peace.
But this doesn’t mean, try and if they wont be peaceful, intstead it is in the middle of a passage discussing how to handle the most difficult of people
Here’s what Paul says:
Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse (14)
Never be wise in your own site (16)
Do not repay evil for evil (17)
Do what is honorable in the sight of all (17)
Never avenge yourself (19)
Vengeance is mine (19)
If they are hungry, feed them
Thirst, give them a drink(20)
Do not overcome evil with evil, but overcome evil with Good (21)
Heap burning coals (20)
This does is not a reference to Hell, but probably to an Egyptian ritual:
The coals on the head may refer to a ritual in Egypt in which a person showed his repentance by carrying a pan of burning charcoal on his head. Helping rather than cursing an enemy may cause him to be ashamed and penitent”
John A. Witmer, “Romans,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 490.
To follow this line of teaching, would put you at peace with all people
Bring Peace to Others
Bring Peace to Others
Being at peace with others will have a very positive side effect, others will see us and see God
When Jesus says “they will be called the sons of God” we often thing of that as God calling us His son, but it may also reference others around us seeing that we are the sons of God
Rosaria Butterfield
I’ve said before, we do not have to earn the right to share Christ
Christ earned that right for us on the Cross
We should not be afraid or ashamed to share Christ at any moment
That being said, the most effective way is to show people Christ is to be a peacemaker
To invite them into your life, be at peace with them, care for them
When we disagree, disagree peaceably
When someone offends us, forgive
When someone wrongs us, treate them well
When someone hates us, love them
When we carry the name of Christ, we are unable to hide from the world
Matthew 5:14–16 “14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”