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Blessed Are Series, Part 7: The Peacemakers
December 10, 2006
This sermon was presented before the Load, Kentucky, church of Christ, on December 10, 2006. Peace is an integral part of the Christian life. God has always told His people to live in peace. There is an inward peace that comes from obeying God, but we also have a responsibility to live at peace with our fellow man. Bernie Parsons
Blessed Are…The Peacemakers, for They Shall Be Called the Children of God
by Bernie Parsons
Presented to the Load church of Christ 12/10/2006
Matthew 5:1: “And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto 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 they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5: Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6: Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7: Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8: Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9: Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10: Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
We have previously studied the blessings that Jesus pronounced upon the poor in spirit, the mournful, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, and the pure in heart. We now study Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
God has desired that His people be peaceable, even of old. David sang that we are to seek peace, and pursue it.
Psalms 34:11: “Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12: What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?
13: Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
14: Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
15: The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
16: The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17: The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
18: The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
19: Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.”
Psalms 85:8: “I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.
9: Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.
10: Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”
Psalms 119:162: “I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.
163: I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.
164: Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.
165: Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
166: LORD, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments.
167: My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly.
168: I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee.”
By David’s words, we see that peace comes from loving and serving God. There are two meanings to the word peace in the Bible. On the one hand, peace comes to those who love the Lord, and keep His will. That is, even when things around them are in chaos and conflict, the people of God have an inner peace that everything to work out as God desires, and as it should be. On the other hand, there is a peace that comes when we work toward getting along with our neighbors, friends, and acquaintances. It is a fruit of righteousness.
Proverbs 12:20: “Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellers of peace is joy.”
Isaiah 9:6: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
7: Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”
Isaiah 32:5: “Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
16: Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
17: And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
18: And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;”
Isaiah 57:19: “I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.
20: But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
21: There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.”
Zechariah 8:16: “These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
17: And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.”
The message of peace continues under the New Testament.
Mark 9:50: “Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.”
Matthew 5:13: “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”
We are the salt of the earth. We are the peacemakers. We make a difference in how life goes. When we do things to make peace, we make a change in our lives, and the lives of others.
Luke 1:75: “In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
76: And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
77: To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
78: Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
79: To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Jesus came to guide us into the way of peace. In fact, when He was born, the angelic multitude spoke of peace on earth.
Luke 2:13: “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
Jesus instructed His disciples in the inward peace that we are to achieve.
John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
John 16:33: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
The apostle Paul also spoke of this inward peace.
Romans 5:1: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”
Romans 8:6: “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”
Philippians 4:7: “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
2 Thessalonians 3:16: “Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.”
But there is a working component to peace—the kind of peace that we are to engender among our fellow humans.
Romans 12:18: “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”
1 Timothy 2:1: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
2: For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
3: For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;”
Hebrews 12:14: “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
15: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;”
1 Peter 3:10: “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
11: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.”
Although we sometimes encounter folks who do not wish peace, that does not discharge our responsibility to attempt a peaceable relationship with them any way. If peace fails, the burden should be upon the other person, rather than upon us.
Peace within the body of Christ, the ekklesia, is of utmost importance.
1 Corinthians 6:1: “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
2: Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
3: Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
4: If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.
5: I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?
6: But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
7: Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?
8: Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.”
Romans 14:19: “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.”
2 Corinthians 13:11: “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.”
Peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, the fruit of righteousness.
James 3:17: “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18: And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.”
Matthew 5:9: “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”
