November 22, 2024 • 36 mins
Warren Weiersbe delivered this message on the Beattitudes from Matthew 5 many years ago. And it is so relevant today as PEACE is diminishing on all sides.
But Warren points us to the Prince of Peace-- and who He is perfect peace!
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Mark (00:00):
Welcome to another episode of Common Thoughts of Christ.
We have a message sermon fromMatthew chapter 5 from Warren
Wiersbe called"Blessed are thepeacemakers".
Warren Wiersbe passed into thepresence of his Saviour in 2019
just shy of his 90th birthday.
I dedicate this message to mylate father Phil Rogers who had
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this verse as one of his twofavorite verses he would quote
to me until the Lord took himhome at age 48.
"Blessed are the peacemakers".
Matthew chapter 5 and verse 9,our Lord Jesus says,"Blessed are
the peacemakers for they shallbe called the sons of God." If
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there's one thing that painsmost of us more than anything
else, it is this problem ofpersonal disagreements.
We come to God's house and weshake hands and we smile and we
sing, we talk to people.
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And yet deep down inside thereare discords and disagreements
and sometimes divisions amongGod's people.
The psalmist said,"Behold howgood and how pleasant it is for
brethren to dwell together inunity." Now, you expect brethren
to do this, but they don'talways do it.
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All of us are concerned aboutthis matter of peace, not just
on the international levelwepray for the peace of Jerusalem,
I hope you door on the nationallevel, but in our homes and in
our offices and our jobs, evenin places of Christian ministry,
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in the church.
Our heart's desire is thatpeople get along with each
other.
I think everybody here tonightsincerely wants to be a
peacemaker and not atroublemaker.
Now, the Bible has a great dealto say about peace.
I was amazed to discover thatthere are nearly 400 verses in
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the Bible directly related topeace.
Either international peace atthe coming of our Lord to this
earth, or church peace.
Or peace among brethren, orpeace among the tribes of
Israel.
The Bible has a great deal tosay about peace.
As when our Jewish friends meeteach other, they say"shalom."
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And shalom is the Jewish wordfor peace.
When they're going to leave eachother, they say"shalom".
A Hebrew Christian friend ofmine says this proves that we
don't know whether we're comingor going.
But that isn't the reason whythey do it.
In the Bible, the word peacemeans much more than the absence
of hostility.
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In the Bible, peace is a muchbigger word than just the
cessation of war.
When Jesus spoke these words,there was no war.
The Roman Empire had broughtpeace, but it was a peace that
was built on a clenched fist.
It was a peace that was built ona sword and the tramping of
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soldiers.
It was a peace that was built onexternal compulsion and fear.
The Bible word for peace doesn'tmean that.
The Bible word for peace,shalom, means total well being.
And so when a Jewish friend saysto his friend, shalom, he is
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saying much more than may yourmother in law not argue with
you.
He is saying much more than mayyour customers not disagree with
you.
He is saying may you in body andmind and soul and spirit have
health and being and may thewhole atmosphere of your life be
creative.
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In the Bible, peace is apositive thing.
It's a creative force.
You drive past the Lincoln ParkLagoon.
Sometime in the middle ofFebruary, there's peace.
The water's not moving.
It's frozen.
Or you drive up past a cemetery.
Perfect peace in the cemetery.
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Because the people there aredead.
That's not the kind of peace theBible's talking about.
The Bible's talking about thekind of peace that is creative,
that gives you an atmospherewhere you can grow and be what
God wants you to be.
It is a positive force, not justthe negative absence of
fighting.
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That's what Jesus meant when hesaid, Blessed are the
peacemakers.
He wasn't talking about deadpeople or frozen people.
He was talking about people whowere so possessed of the peace
of God that they could go outinto a troubled world and be
channels of a positive force.
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The kind of thing St.
Francis prayed when he prayed,Lord, make me an instrument of
thy peace.
Now I think each of us wants tobe a peacemaker.
I can't conceive of anybody inthis auditorium tonight saying
to himself, I wonder what kindof trouble I can cause this
week.
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I wonder what I can say that'llmess things up in the office.
I wonder what word I can drop atthe next committee meeting at
the church that'll really blowthings up.
I don't think anybody thinksthat way.
I think most of the time you andI cause trouble unconsciously,
not deliberately, because wedon't understand what the Word
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of God really has to say aboutpeace.
Now there are four very basicfacts that you and I must grasp
if we're going to bepeacemakers.
If beginning tonight you want todedicate yourself To the
ministry of peace.
It's a great ministry.
These four facts must beuppermost in your heart and
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mind.
Fact number one, the source ofpeace is God.
Man cannot generate peace.
Nature cannot generate peace.
The source of peace is God.
Now, I want to deal with that insome detail, because I think we
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need this kind of basictheology.
God's name is Peace.
Back in the Old Testament, oneof the Jehovah names is Jehovah
Shalom, the Lord our Peace.
Six times in the New Testament,he's called the God of Peace.
I preached on one of thosepassages this morning.
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Now the God of peace who broughtagain from the dead our Lord
Jesus, that great shepherd ofthe sheep.
God is the God of peace.
Now follow me in this.
He is the God of peace as far ashis name is concerned, and he's
the God of peace as far as hisnature is concerned.
God's nature is at peace.
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You say, Pastor, what in theworld do you mean by that?
Let's just talk about yournature.
Don't you have battles downinside?
Of course you do.
Each of us has characteristicsthat seem to conflict with each
other.
For example, we want to havefriends, but we also want to
please the Lord.
And there are some times when inorder to please the Lord, we
have to displease our friends,there's a conflict.
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We have appetites.
We enjoy eating.
For example, I doubt that anyonehere in this meeting doesn't
enjoy eating at some time oranother.
And yet the doctor says, youbetter be careful.
You're gaining weight or there'stoo much cholesterol in your
blood or something else.
And so there's a conflictbetween a natural instinct, the
desire to eat, and thediscipline of taking care of the
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body.
I think many of our problemsstem right from this conflict
that we have down inside.
Of course, then you get saved.
When you get saved, you get abrand new nature down inside.
Then you really start havingsome conflicts.
Because the flesh fights againstthe spirit, and the spirit
fights against the flesh.
This is not true of God.
There are no conflicts in thenature of God.
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God, if I may coin a phrase, Godis at perfect peace with
Himself.
Now, if He were not, thisuniverse would fall apart.
There's no conflict between Hisholiness and His love.
There's no conflict between Hismercy and His holiness.
There's no conflict between Hislove and His justice.
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Thanks to the work of JesusChrist on the cross, sin has
been dealt with.
But even before the advent ofsin, God, as to his nature, is
perfectly at peace.
There's no conflict.
Now, this peace, I would remindyou, is not the peace of
complacency.
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God is not asleep.
It's not the piece of the frozenlake.
Rather, His peace is thatcreative piece where all of His
attributes work together and allof His characteristics blend
together in perfection.
Thank God someday we're gonna belike that.
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Thank God when Jesus Christcomes and we get a brand new
body suited to a brand new home,our nature will be at perfect
peace.
And so our God is the God ofpeace as to his name and as to
his nature.
Thirdly, he's the God of peaceas to his will.
Now if there's one verse youought to mark in your Bible,
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it's Jeremiah chapter 29 andverse 11.
Someday you're going to getdiscouraged and you're going to
say, God has declared war on me.
No, He hasn't.
Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11.
God speaks to you and says,"ForI know the thoughts that I think
toward you, saith the Lord,thoughts of peace, not of evil,
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to give you an expected end."You know what this verse says?
It says this, that when Godthinks about you, He thinks
about peace.
And when God works for you andworks in you, He's working
toward an expected, planned endthat brings peace.
God's will for this world is notwar.
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Oh, if I could just get peopleto see that.
God's will for your life ispeace.
You say I haven't got very muchpeace in my life.
That can't be God's fault.
That has to be our fault.
God as to his name and God as tohis nature and God as to his
will is the God of peace.
Now, I want to go one stepfurther and illustrate it.
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God is a God of peace as to hisworking.
When God goes to work, He worksin peace.
Now right away someone says waitjust a minute.
I can't agree with that.
All right.
What's your disagreementpreacher?
Have you read the Old Testament?
Yes.
Why have you read the way theHebrew armies moved in upon the
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Canaanites?
You call that peace?
Why, they wrecked cities andthey killed people.
You call that peace?
Yes, because God's program, whenhe works, is first peace and
then war.
Not war then peace.
First peace and then war.
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Have you ever read in the bookof Deuteronomy God's law of war
for the Jewish people?
Maybe we better look at that.
Deuteronomy chapter 20, Moses istelling them how to fight their
battles when they go into thepromised land.
Deuteronomy chapter 20.
In the first nine verses, hetells them how to take care of
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their army.
If anybody's scared, send themhome.
Anybody's engaged or newlymarried, send them home.
Now, verse 10 of Deuteronomy 20.
When thou comest near unto acity to fight against it, then
proclaim peace unto it.
How about that?
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First peace.
And it shall be, if it make theean answer of peace, and open
unto thee, Then it shall be thatall the people who are found
therein shall be bound servantsunto thee, and they shall serve
thee.
And if it will make no peacewith thee, but will make war
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against thee, then, Thou shaltbesiege it.
Every city that declared war wasconquered.
Now, this is an interestingthing.
God said to his people, Proclaimpeace.
Proclaim peace.
If they won't believe you, thenwe have to have war.
Now, someone says, alright, I'llaccept that.
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You can blame the cities forthat.
But let's move over to the NewTestament.
Have you ever stopped to thinkof all the conflict that
Christianity has brought intothis world?
Yes.
Our Jehovah Witness friends havewritten a book that they give
away or sell telling how awfulChristianity is, especially the
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doctrine of the Trinity, inbringing all of this conflict
into the world.
Now, when you read history, youhave to admit that the Christian
faith has brought conflict intothe world.
May I remind you that not allUnity is good, and not all
division is bad.
Three times I read in the Gospelof John about the Lord Jesus,
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there was a division because ofHim.
There was a division because ofHim.
Paul went into a city, and therewas a division because of Him.
Look at the Gospel of Luke.
Let's talk about the Lord Jesus.
As the minister of peace, I'msaying this before God declares
war.
He always declares peace.
He did it in the old Testament.
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He did it in the gospels.
Look at Luke chapter two.
In Luke chapter two, we have theannouncement of the birth of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
And we read in verse 14, theangels, as they are praising God
and saying glory to God in thehighest.
And on earth peace, goodwilltoward men.
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So the gospel of Luke beginswith a declaration of peace.
The baby has been born.
This is God's declaration ofpeace on earth.
Turn to Luke chapter 12.
And our Lord says something inverse 51 that is just a little
bit devastating.
I'm going to start in verse 49.
Our Lord says, I am come to sendfire on the earth.
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The angel said he came to sendpeace on the earth.
And what will I if it already bekindled?
I have a baptism to be baptizedwith, and how I am constrained
till it be accomplished.
That, of course, was his baptismof suffering on the cross.
Suppose ye that I am come togive peace on earth?
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I tell you, no, but ratherdivision.
For from henceforth there shallbe five in one house divided.
Three against two, two againstthree, and he spells it out in
verse 53.
You see the Luke gospel of Lukebegins peace on earth.
Jesus said I didn't come tobring peace on earth Now why
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turn to Luke chapter 19 you seesomething happened between the
announcement of the angels andthe announcement of the Savior
Luke chapter 19 verse 41 Andwhen he was come near he beheld
the city and wept over it sayingif thou hadst known even thou At
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least in this thy day, thethings which belong unto thy
peace, but now they are hiddenfrom thine eyes.
And He talks about the coming ofthe armies to wreck the city of
Jerusalem.
Why?
Verse 44, the last sentence,because thou knewest not the
time of thy visitation.
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The angel said, peace on earth.
Jesus said, I'm not going tobring peace on earth.
Why?
You didn't know the day of yourvisitation.
You've rejected the things thatbelong to your peace.
Is there peace anywhere?
Yes, look at Luke chapter 19 andverse 38.
The crowd is praising the Lordas he comes into the city.
Blessed is the king who comethin the name of the Lord.
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Peace in heaven.
Isn't it good to know thatthough there's no peace on
earth, there's peace in heaven?
You know why there's no peace onearth?
Because a group of people oneday said, We will not have this
man to reign over us.
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Oh, but he's the prince ofpeace.
We will not have him to reignover us.
And so Jesus came and declaredpeace.
They said, we don't want You.
Then God had to declare war.
That's what Paul meant over in 2Corinthians 5.
He said, look, our ministry is aministry of reconciliation.
I can never forget a man comingin to see me when I was
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pastoring in Kentucky, verydistraught.
His wife was going to divorcehim and he was greatly concerned
and rightly he said to me,pastor, what my wife and I need
is a recancellation.
I said, you mean a"reconciliation"?
He said, I don't know what Imean, but that's what we need.
But the more I thought about it,the more sense it made.
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That's what they did need, a"recancellation".
If they just take all the sinsthey'd committed against each
other and cancel them.
The Lord Jesus Christ came toearth and men rejected his
peace, but there's peace up inheaven.
There is peace with God throughthe Lord Jesus Christ.
So in the Old Testament, firstpeace, then war.
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In the New Testament, firstpeace, then war.
Paul came into a city andpreached reconciliation, peace.
And they declared war.
God can't force anybody to be atpeace with him.
God is the source of all peace.
That's His nature, that's Hisname, that's the way He works,
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that's His plan toward us.
Jesus is the Prince of Peace.
He said to his disciples, Mypeace give I unto you.
When He arose from the dead, Hesaid,"peace be unto you." The
Holy Spirit of God generatespeace.
The fruit of the spirit is loveand joy and peace.
And so the source of peace.
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Now, if you're trying to havepeace, and you're leaving God
out, it won't work.
Which leads us to our secondfact.
The enemy of peace is sin.
Now, it's obvious why.
Sin is exactly opposite God.
God is light, and in Him is nodarkness at all.
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And if you try to mix the lightwith the darkness, it won't
work.
Wherever there's sin, there iswar.
Now we're going to turn to thewar chapter of the Bible.
James chapter 4.
I'm not going to expound thewhole chapter because that's not
necessary, but I want to showyou something very basic.
James chapter 4.
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From whence come wars andfightings among you?
And he's writing to Christians,not writing to the Israelis and
the Arabs.
He's not writing to nations.
He's writing to Christians.
But how is it that you believersare fighting each other?
Come they not hear even of yourpleasures, your lusts, that war
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in your members, in your body?
Ye lust and have not, ye killand desire to have and cannot
obtain, ye fight and war, yet yehave not because ye ask not, and
ye ask and receive not amiss,that you may consume it upon
your lusts, you adulterers andadulteresses.
He's speaking in spirituallanguage here.
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Know ye not that the friendshipof the world is enmity with God?
Whosoever therefore wills to bea friend of the world is the
enemy of God.
Now James says there are threewars going on.
Verse one, Christians are at warwith each other because they are
at war with themselves.
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You notice that?
He said, why are you fightingamong yourselves?
Because there's fighting goingon down inside.
There's a war down in yourmembers.
Oh, but why is there a war downinside?
Because you're at war with God.
Verse four.
So here are three wars going on.
People fighting each other atwar with each other because
they're at war with themselvesand they are at war with
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themselves because they're atwar with God.
And the thing that causes thiswar is selfishness.
Pride.
When you read the rest of Jameschapter 4, he talks about submit
yourselves, humble yourselves.
God resists the proud.
Satan is the incarnation ofpride.
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Jesus is the incarnation ofhumility.
The world is the expression ofpride.
The lust of the flesh, the lustof the eyes, the pride of life.
But the church ought to be theexpression of humility and
service.
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God has three enemies, theworld, the flesh, and the devil,
and they're all here.
The world, friendship with theworld is enmity with God.
The flesh, your desires that warin your members, verse 1.
The devil, down here in verse 7,resists the devil.
So here are the enemies of Godgetting a hold of the people of
God and making them selfish.
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Now, don't forget this.
Whether it's in the front seatof my car, or at my dinner
table, or in a committee meetingat Moody Church, or any place
else, if two saints are at warwith each other, I don't mean
they disagree lovingly, they'reat war with each other, somebody
is selfish.
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If a husband and wife are at warwith each other, somebody is
selfish.
And selfishness is born ofpride, and pride comes from the
world, The flesh and the devil.
So the source of all peace isGod and the enemy of all peace
is sin.
Want you to mark a verse back inthe book of Isaiah chapter 32.
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I didn't even know this versewas in the Bible.
I'd been reading the Bible somany times since I'd gotten
saved.
I went off to seminary.
Remember one evening, a fellacame knocking at my door.
I opened the door of theseminary my dormitory room.
Fellas said, I want to show youa verse.
What kind of a kook is this?
He interrupts my studying toshow me a verse, he said, have
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you ever seen Isaiah chapter 32,verse 17?
I said, sure.
He said, what's it say?
I said, I don't know.
So Ralph said, let me show it toyou.
Isaiah 32, 17.
And the work of righteousnessshall be peace.
And the effect of righteousness,quietness, and assurance
forever.
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If you want peace and quietnessand assurance, it comes from
righteousness.
So wherever there's sin, there'sgoing to be a fight.
Sin breeds pride.
Pride breeds sin.
Pride breeds selfishness.
Selfishness breeds more sin.
And there's a war on the insidebecause there's a war between me
and God.
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And if I'm fighting God andfighting myself, I'm not going
to be able to get along withyou.
And the only answer, of course,is cleansing, which leads us to
fact number three.
The source of all peace is God.
The enemy of all peace is sin.
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The minister of peace is theChristian.
Oh, how many times we've said,Oh, Holy Spirit, work in his
heart so he'll get along withme.
You ever pray like that?
Oh, Lord, change his mind.
I'm beginning to learn little bylittle, I'm so slow to learn
some things, but I'm beginningto learn little by little that
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when I pray about people, I needto pray about myself.
It's not enough for me to pray,Oh God, may this person agree
with me, change his mind.
I need to pray, Oh God, help meto be more patient.
And more loving and moreunderstanding.
Maybe if I really knew what he'sgoing through, I'd be more
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understanding of what he'ssaying.
It's hard to pray like that.
It's much easier to bounce yourprayers off the clouds and
ricochet and hit the guy, lord,take care of him! God doesn't do
it that way.
The minister of peace is theChristian.
That's what Jesus meant when hesaid, blessed are the
peacemakers, not the peacetalkers, but a lot of those, not
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the peace prayers, but thepeacemakers, the people who do
something blessed are thepeacemakers for they shall be
called the children of God.
Now, before I was saved, I wasnot a peacemaker.
You want to know what you werelike before you were saved?
If you ever get proud of yourancestry, just turn to Titus
chapter three.
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Here's what it says in versethree, For we ourselves also
were once foolish, disobedient,deceived, serving various lusts
and pleasures, living in maliceand envy, hateful and hating one
another.
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That's the unsaved person.
But he says, After the kindnessand love of God our Savior
toward man appeared, Not byworks of righteousness, but
according to his mercy, he savedus.
Before I was saved, I couldn'tbe a peacemaker.
My nature was such that Icouldn't make peace.
God is the source of peace.
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Unless I have God's nature, Ican't be a peacemaker.
And the only way to get God'snature is to be born into God's
family.
Now you say, but I'm in God'sfamily.
Does anybody call you a child ofGod?
Children are like their parents.
You go to see relatives youhaven't seen for a long time.
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This happened to me this pastweek.
I saw some children I hadn'tseen in years.
Cheers! I took one look at thegirl and I said, I know who you
belong to.
Sure enough, that's who it was.
Looks just like her mother.
Now, that should be true of us.
Out in the world, we should sobe making peace that people say,
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he must belong to God.
He must be in God's family.
God's a great peacemaker and hemust be in God's family.
He's a child of God by the wayhe acts and the way he lives.
The minister of peace is theChristian.
Now turn back to Matthew.
I want to show you how thisworks.
I'm not going to preachabstractions tonight.
I want to preach the concreteresponsibility that we have.
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Look at verse 21 of Matthewchapter 5.
He have heard that it was saidby them of old, Thou shalt not
kill, and whosoever shall killshall be in danger of judgment.
But I say unto you thatwhosoever is angry with his
brother without a cause shall bein danger of judgment.
whosoever Whoever shall say tohis brother"Racca", empty
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fellow, empty minded fellow,shall be in danger of the
council.
Whoever shall say thou foolshall be in danger of hell fire.
Therefore if thou bring thy giftto the altar, you're going to
church now, and there rememberthat thy brother hath anything
against thee, leave thy giftbefore the altar, don't try to
worship like that, and go thyway.
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First be reconciled to thybrother, then come and offer thy
gift.
Now, one of the greatest piecesof advice in the world is in
verse 25.
"Agree with thine adversaryquickly." Do it as soon as you
can.
If there's a disagreementbetween brother and brother,
husband and wife, parents andchildren, as soon as possible,
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settle it.
Be the peacemaker.
He doesn't say when you go tothe altar and you remember your
brother has something againstyou pray for him He says leave
your gift go see your brother.
The vertical worship of God isuseless if the horizontal
fellowship with man is broken Sothe first peacemaking I ought to
do is between me and my brother.
Our Lord says the same thing inMatthew 18 if your brother has
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ought against you go tell himabout it If he won't hear you
take one or two if he won't hearthem tell the church do your
utmost to be a peacemaker.
If he still doesn't want to givein and make things right, then
you can treat him like apublican and a sinner.
There's some people you can't beat peace with.
Paul wrote to the Romans andsaid,"As much as lieth in you,
live peaceably with all men."Which means sometimes you can't.
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Over in the Sermon on theMount," He eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth." Verse 38.
He says turn the other cheek.
Don't be out causing trouble.
Verse 43,"Thou shalt love thyneighbor and hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you, love yourenemies, bless them that curse
you, do good to them that hateyou, pray for them who
despitefully use you andpersecute you." Why?
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"That you may be the sons ofGod." He's talking here in a
practical way about gettingalong with people.
And how do you do it?
You go to people and you try tosettle things in a sweet and
loving way.
The minister of peace is theChristian.
Quickly, one final truth.
The source of all peace is God.
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The enemy of all peace is sin.
The minister of peace is theChristian.
Right now, I am either apeacemaker or a troublemaker.
The blessing of peace isbecoming more like God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, forthey shall be called the
children of God.
He's just like his father.
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What has God been doing allthese centuries?
Making peace! Jesus made peaceby the blood of His cross,
therefore being justified byfaith, we have peace with God.
So when you become a peacemaker,you're moving into the territory
where God is working.
God is a peacemaker.
Jesus said, either you gatherwith me or you're scattering.
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Now I'm a gatherer.
I put things together, saysJesus.
The devil's a scatterer.
He tears them apart.
And so the blessing of being apeacemaker is growing in
godliness.
Would you go back to theBeatitudes as we close and just
review them with me?
I want you to show you what'shappening here.
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In verse three is where it allstarts.
My attitude toward myself.
Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
My attitude toward my sin.
Blessed are they that mourn.
Mourn over their sin.
They shall be comforted.
My attitude toward God'sauthority.
Blessed are the meek, for theyshall inherit the earth.
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Verse six.
What's the result of all this?
If I'm poor in spirit, if Imourn over my sin, if I submit
myself to God,"Blessed are theywhich do hunger and thirst after
righteousness, they shall befilled".
Now it changes in verse 7 fromgetting to giving.
If we have received therighteousness of God through
faith in Christ, what's theresult?
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Verse 7, blessed are themerciful.
They shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart.
They shall see God.
Mercy, purity.
Blessed are the peacemakers.
They shall be called thechildren of God.
Notice in verse 8, you havepurity.
In verse 9, you have peace.
Now, James says the same thing.
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James says"the wisdom that comesfrom above is first pure, then
peaceable".
The Bible doesn't teach peace atany price.
The Bible doesn't teachwhitewashing sin.
Jeremiah said They say peace.
Peace.
When there is no peace, they'vewhitewashed a tottering wall
that's about to fall down.
Nowhere in the Bible is therepeace at any price.
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Rather.
He says when there's purity,there's peace.
That's why we have Blessed arethe pure and heart.
leading into blessed are thepeacemakers.
Now, I want to warn all of us.
When you become a peacemaker,you become more like the Lord
Jesus.
You know what that means?
You'll suffer.
You'll be crucified.
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There never was peace withoutsacrifice.
This is why some of us don'twant to be peacemakers.
We'd rather be troublemakers.
It costs too much.
Have you ever known the quietagony of living with the unkind
accusations of people you triedto help?
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Jesus lived with that.
When you try to be a peacemakerand you stand between two
warring factions, you get shotat from both sides.
That's what happened to Jesus.
What makes us more like theLord?
Blessed are the peacemakers, forthey shall be called the
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children of God.
Does anybody call us God'schildren because we are
ministers of peace?
Now if I speak tonight to oneunsaved person, you don't know a
thing about this peace.
Either peace with God, or peacewith yourself, or peace with
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others.
And the only way you can know itis through faith in Christ.
If I speak to a believer whodoesn't have peace.
It's probably because of somesin in our lives.
For the wisdom that comes fromabove is first pure, then
peaceable.
And the man who is thepeacemaker has purity in his
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heart.
His motives are pure, hisoutlook is pure, and usually he
suffers for it.
I think most of us would rathersuffer in creating peace than to
suffer later on because wedeclared war.
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I would rather go through lifebuilding bridges than building
walls and digging foxholes.
Oh, there's a price to pay.
Someday when we face the LordJesus and He can look down upon
us and say, You were apeacemaker." There was trouble
in that home, but you broughtpeace division in that
committee, but you broughtpeace.
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There were problems in thatneighborhood, but you brought
peace.
You paid for it, but now I'mgoing to pay you back.
Here's your reward.
And the greatest reward of allis just simply being more and
more like the Lord Jesus.
Father, each of us in one way oranother has failed.
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Forgive us.
May we go from this placedetermined by your Holy Spirit
to be instruments of peace.
Teach us the difference betweenconviction and stubbornness.
Between our own ideas and themind of God.
Between shallow sentiment andtrue Christian love.
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Help us not to compromise wherecompromise would be sin.
We would not like to be likePilate and Herod who were made
friends together because theyhad a common enemy.
We read in Your word that at thecross, righteousness and peace
kissed each other, and we wouldexperience that in our own
lives.
(36:15):
Oh God, may we be at peace withourselves and with You, that we
might be instruments of peacewith others.
This is our prayer throughChrist our Lord.
Amen.
Welcome to another episode of Common Thoughts of Christ.
We have a message sermon fromMatthew chapter 5 from Warren
Wiersbe called"Blessed are thepeacemakers".
Warren Wiersbe passed into thepresence of his Saviour in 2019
just shy of his 90th birthday.
I dedicate this message to mylate father Phil Rogers who had
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this verse as one of his twofavorite verses he would quote
to me until the Lord took himhome at age 48.
"Blessed are the peacemakers".
Matthew chapter 5 and verse 9,our Lord Jesus says,"Blessed are
the peacemakers for they shallbe called the sons of God." If
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there's one thing that painsmost of us more than anything
else, it is this problem ofpersonal disagreements.
We come to God's house and weshake hands and we smile and we
sing, we talk to people.
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And yet deep down inside thereare discords and disagreements
and sometimes divisions amongGod's people.
The psalmist said,"Behold howgood and how pleasant it is for
brethren to dwell together inunity." Now, you expect brethren
to do this, but they don'talways do it.
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All of us are concerned aboutthis matter of peace, not just
on the international levelwepray for the peace of Jerusalem,
I hope you door on the nationallevel, but in our homes and in
our offices and our jobs, evenin places of Christian ministry,
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in the church.
Our heart's desire is thatpeople get along with each
other.
I think everybody here tonightsincerely wants to be a
peacemaker and not atroublemaker.
Now, the Bible has a great dealto say about peace.
I was amazed to discover thatthere are nearly 400 verses in
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the Bible directly related topeace.
Either international peace atthe coming of our Lord to this
earth, or church peace.
Or peace among brethren, orpeace among the tribes of
Israel.
The Bible has a great deal tosay about peace.
As when our Jewish friends meeteach other, they say"shalom."
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And shalom is the Jewish wordfor peace.
When they're going to leave eachother, they say"shalom".
A Hebrew Christian friend ofmine says this proves that we
don't know whether we're comingor going.
But that isn't the reason whythey do it.
In the Bible, the word peacemeans much more than the absence
of hostility.
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In the Bible, peace is a muchbigger word than just the
cessation of war.
When Jesus spoke these words,there was no war.
The Roman Empire had broughtpeace, but it was a peace that
was built on a clenched fist.
It was a peace that was built ona sword and the tramping of
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soldiers.
It was a peace that was built onexternal compulsion and fear.
The Bible word for peace doesn'tmean that.
The Bible word for peace,shalom, means total well being.
And so when a Jewish friend saysto his friend, shalom, he is
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saying much more than may yourmother in law not argue with
you.
He is saying much more than mayyour customers not disagree with
you.
He is saying may you in body andmind and soul and spirit have
health and being and may thewhole atmosphere of your life be
creative.
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In the Bible, peace is apositive thing.
It's a creative force.
You drive past the Lincoln ParkLagoon.
Sometime in the middle ofFebruary, there's peace.
The water's not moving.
It's frozen.
Or you drive up past a cemetery.
Perfect peace in the cemetery.
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Because the people there aredead.
That's not the kind of peace theBible's talking about.
The Bible's talking about thekind of peace that is creative,
that gives you an atmospherewhere you can grow and be what
God wants you to be.
It is a positive force, not justthe negative absence of
fighting.
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That's what Jesus meant when hesaid, Blessed are the
peacemakers.
He wasn't talking about deadpeople or frozen people.
He was talking about people whowere so possessed of the peace
of God that they could go outinto a troubled world and be
channels of a positive force.
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The kind of thing St.
Francis prayed when he prayed,Lord, make me an instrument of
thy peace.
Now I think each of us wants tobe a peacemaker.
I can't conceive of anybody inthis auditorium tonight saying
to himself, I wonder what kindof trouble I can cause this
week.
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I wonder what I can say that'llmess things up in the office.
I wonder what word I can drop atthe next committee meeting at
the church that'll really blowthings up.
I don't think anybody thinksthat way.
I think most of the time you andI cause trouble unconsciously,
not deliberately, because wedon't understand what the Word
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of God really has to say aboutpeace.
Now there are four very basicfacts that you and I must grasp
if we're going to bepeacemakers.
If beginning tonight you want todedicate yourself To the
ministry of peace.
It's a great ministry.
These four facts must beuppermost in your heart and
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mind.
Fact number one, the source ofpeace is God.
Man cannot generate peace.
Nature cannot generate peace.
The source of peace is God.
Now, I want to deal with that insome detail, because I think we
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need this kind of basictheology.
God's name is Peace.
Back in the Old Testament, oneof the Jehovah names is Jehovah
Shalom, the Lord our Peace.
Six times in the New Testament,he's called the God of Peace.
I preached on one of thosepassages this morning.
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Now the God of peace who broughtagain from the dead our Lord
Jesus, that great shepherd ofthe sheep.
God is the God of peace.
Now follow me in this.
He is the God of peace as far ashis name is concerned, and he's
the God of peace as far as hisnature is concerned.
God's nature is at peace.
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You say, Pastor, what in theworld do you mean by that?
Let's just talk about yournature.
Don't you have battles downinside?
Of course you do.
Each of us has characteristicsthat seem to conflict with each
other.
For example, we want to havefriends, but we also want to
please the Lord.
And there are some times when inorder to please the Lord, we
have to displease our friends,there's a conflict.
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We have appetites.
We enjoy eating.
For example, I doubt that anyonehere in this meeting doesn't
enjoy eating at some time oranother.
And yet the doctor says, youbetter be careful.
You're gaining weight or there'stoo much cholesterol in your
blood or something else.
And so there's a conflictbetween a natural instinct, the
desire to eat, and thediscipline of taking care of the
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body.
I think many of our problemsstem right from this conflict
that we have down inside.
Of course, then you get saved.
When you get saved, you get abrand new nature down inside.
Then you really start havingsome conflicts.
Because the flesh fights againstthe spirit, and the spirit
fights against the flesh.
This is not true of God.
There are no conflicts in thenature of God.
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God, if I may coin a phrase, Godis at perfect peace with
Himself.
Now, if He were not, thisuniverse would fall apart.
There's no conflict between Hisholiness and His love.
There's no conflict between Hismercy and His holiness.
There's no conflict between Hislove and His justice.
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Thanks to the work of JesusChrist on the cross, sin has
been dealt with.
But even before the advent ofsin, God, as to his nature, is
perfectly at peace.
There's no conflict.
Now, this peace, I would remindyou, is not the peace of
complacency.
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God is not asleep.
It's not the piece of the frozenlake.
Rather, His peace is thatcreative piece where all of His
attributes work together and allof His characteristics blend
together in perfection.
Thank God someday we're gonna belike that.
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Thank God when Jesus Christcomes and we get a brand new
body suited to a brand new home,our nature will be at perfect
peace.
And so our God is the God ofpeace as to his name and as to
his nature.
Thirdly, he's the God of peaceas to his will.
Now if there's one verse youought to mark in your Bible,
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it's Jeremiah chapter 29 andverse 11.
Someday you're going to getdiscouraged and you're going to
say, God has declared war on me.
No, He hasn't.
Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11.
God speaks to you and says,"ForI know the thoughts that I think
toward you, saith the Lord,thoughts of peace, not of evil,
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to give you an expected end."You know what this verse says?
It says this, that when Godthinks about you, He thinks
about peace.
And when God works for you andworks in you, He's working
toward an expected, planned endthat brings peace.
God's will for this world is notwar.
(10:15):
Oh, if I could just get peopleto see that.
God's will for your life ispeace.
You say I haven't got very muchpeace in my life.
That can't be God's fault.
That has to be our fault.
God as to his name and God as tohis nature and God as to his
will is the God of peace.
Now, I want to go one stepfurther and illustrate it.
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God is a God of peace as to hisworking.
When God goes to work, He worksin peace.
Now right away someone says waitjust a minute.
I can't agree with that.
All right.
What's your disagreementpreacher?
Have you read the Old Testament?
Yes.
Why have you read the way theHebrew armies moved in upon the
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Canaanites?
You call that peace?
Why, they wrecked cities andthey killed people.
You call that peace?
Yes, because God's program, whenhe works, is first peace and
then war.
Not war then peace.
First peace and then war.
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Have you ever read in the bookof Deuteronomy God's law of war
for the Jewish people?
Maybe we better look at that.
Deuteronomy chapter 20, Moses istelling them how to fight their
battles when they go into thepromised land.
Deuteronomy chapter 20.
In the first nine verses, hetells them how to take care of
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their army.
If anybody's scared, send themhome.
Anybody's engaged or newlymarried, send them home.
Now, verse 10 of Deuteronomy 20.
When thou comest near unto acity to fight against it, then
proclaim peace unto it.
How about that?
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First peace.
And it shall be, if it make theean answer of peace, and open
unto thee, Then it shall be thatall the people who are found
therein shall be bound servantsunto thee, and they shall serve
thee.
And if it will make no peacewith thee, but will make war
(12:21):
against thee, then, Thou shaltbesiege it.
Every city that declared war wasconquered.
Now, this is an interestingthing.
God said to his people, Proclaimpeace.
Proclaim peace.
If they won't believe you, thenwe have to have war.
Now, someone says, alright, I'llaccept that.
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You can blame the cities forthat.
But let's move over to the NewTestament.
Have you ever stopped to thinkof all the conflict that
Christianity has brought intothis world?
Yes.
Our Jehovah Witness friends havewritten a book that they give
away or sell telling how awfulChristianity is, especially the
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doctrine of the Trinity, inbringing all of this conflict
into the world.
Now, when you read history, youhave to admit that the Christian
faith has brought conflict intothe world.
May I remind you that not allUnity is good, and not all
division is bad.
Three times I read in the Gospelof John about the Lord Jesus,
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there was a division because ofHim.
There was a division because ofHim.
Paul went into a city, and therewas a division because of Him.
Look at the Gospel of Luke.
Let's talk about the Lord Jesus.
As the minister of peace, I'msaying this before God declares
war.
He always declares peace.
He did it in the old Testament.
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He did it in the gospels.
Look at Luke chapter two.
In Luke chapter two, we have theannouncement of the birth of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
And we read in verse 14, theangels, as they are praising God
and saying glory to God in thehighest.
And on earth peace, goodwilltoward men.
(14:10):
So the gospel of Luke beginswith a declaration of peace.
The baby has been born.
This is God's declaration ofpeace on earth.
Turn to Luke chapter 12.
And our Lord says something inverse 51 that is just a little
bit devastating.
I'm going to start in verse 49.
Our Lord says, I am come to sendfire on the earth.
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The angel said he came to sendpeace on the earth.
And what will I if it already bekindled?
I have a baptism to be baptizedwith, and how I am constrained
till it be accomplished.
That, of course, was his baptismof suffering on the cross.
Suppose ye that I am come togive peace on earth?
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I tell you, no, but ratherdivision.
For from henceforth there shallbe five in one house divided.
Three against two, two againstthree, and he spells it out in
verse 53.
You see the Luke gospel of Lukebegins peace on earth.
Jesus said I didn't come tobring peace on earth Now why
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turn to Luke chapter 19 you seesomething happened between the
announcement of the angels andthe announcement of the Savior
Luke chapter 19 verse 41 Andwhen he was come near he beheld
the city and wept over it sayingif thou hadst known even thou At
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least in this thy day, thethings which belong unto thy
peace, but now they are hiddenfrom thine eyes.
And He talks about the coming ofthe armies to wreck the city of
Jerusalem.
Why?
Verse 44, the last sentence,because thou knewest not the
time of thy visitation.
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The angel said, peace on earth.
Jesus said, I'm not going tobring peace on earth.
Why?
You didn't know the day of yourvisitation.
You've rejected the things thatbelong to your peace.
Is there peace anywhere?
Yes, look at Luke chapter 19 andverse 38.
The crowd is praising the Lordas he comes into the city.
Blessed is the king who comethin the name of the Lord.
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Peace in heaven.
Isn't it good to know thatthough there's no peace on
earth, there's peace in heaven?
You know why there's no peace onearth?
Because a group of people oneday said, We will not have this
man to reign over us.
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Oh, but he's the prince ofpeace.
We will not have him to reignover us.
And so Jesus came and declaredpeace.
They said, we don't want You.
Then God had to declare war.
That's what Paul meant over in 2Corinthians 5.
He said, look, our ministry is aministry of reconciliation.
I can never forget a man comingin to see me when I was
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pastoring in Kentucky, verydistraught.
His wife was going to divorcehim and he was greatly concerned
and rightly he said to me,pastor, what my wife and I need
is a recancellation.
I said, you mean a"reconciliation"?
He said, I don't know what Imean, but that's what we need.
But the more I thought about it,the more sense it made.
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That's what they did need, a"recancellation".
If they just take all the sinsthey'd committed against each
other and cancel them.
The Lord Jesus Christ came toearth and men rejected his
peace, but there's peace up inheaven.
There is peace with God throughthe Lord Jesus Christ.
So in the Old Testament, firstpeace, then war.
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In the New Testament, firstpeace, then war.
Paul came into a city andpreached reconciliation, peace.
And they declared war.
God can't force anybody to be atpeace with him.
God is the source of all peace.
That's His nature, that's Hisname, that's the way He works,
(18:17):
that's His plan toward us.
Jesus is the Prince of Peace.
He said to his disciples, Mypeace give I unto you.
When He arose from the dead, Hesaid,"peace be unto you." The
Holy Spirit of God generatespeace.
The fruit of the spirit is loveand joy and peace.
And so the source of peace.
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Now, if you're trying to havepeace, and you're leaving God
out, it won't work.
Which leads us to our secondfact.
The enemy of peace is sin.
Now, it's obvious why.
Sin is exactly opposite God.
God is light, and in Him is nodarkness at all.
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And if you try to mix the lightwith the darkness, it won't
work.
Wherever there's sin, there iswar.
Now we're going to turn to thewar chapter of the Bible.
James chapter 4.
I'm not going to expound thewhole chapter because that's not
necessary, but I want to showyou something very basic.
James chapter 4.
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From whence come wars andfightings among you?
And he's writing to Christians,not writing to the Israelis and
the Arabs.
He's not writing to nations.
He's writing to Christians.
But how is it that you believersare fighting each other?
Come they not hear even of yourpleasures, your lusts, that war
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in your members, in your body?
Ye lust and have not, ye killand desire to have and cannot
obtain, ye fight and war, yet yehave not because ye ask not, and
ye ask and receive not amiss,that you may consume it upon
your lusts, you adulterers andadulteresses.
He's speaking in spirituallanguage here.
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Know ye not that the friendshipof the world is enmity with God?
Whosoever therefore wills to bea friend of the world is the
enemy of God.
Now James says there are threewars going on.
Verse one, Christians are at warwith each other because they are
at war with themselves.
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You notice that?
He said, why are you fightingamong yourselves?
Because there's fighting goingon down inside.
There's a war down in yourmembers.
Oh, but why is there a war downinside?
Because you're at war with God.
Verse four.
So here are three wars going on.
People fighting each other atwar with each other because
they're at war with themselvesand they are at war with
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themselves because they're atwar with God.
And the thing that causes thiswar is selfishness.
Pride.
When you read the rest of Jameschapter 4, he talks about submit
yourselves, humble yourselves.
God resists the proud.
Satan is the incarnation ofpride.
(21:17):
Jesus is the incarnation ofhumility.
The world is the expression ofpride.
The lust of the flesh, the lustof the eyes, the pride of life.
But the church ought to be theexpression of humility and
service.
(21:37):
God has three enemies, theworld, the flesh, and the devil,
and they're all here.
The world, friendship with theworld is enmity with God.
The flesh, your desires that warin your members, verse 1.
The devil, down here in verse 7,resists the devil.
So here are the enemies of Godgetting a hold of the people of
God and making them selfish.
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Now, don't forget this.
Whether it's in the front seatof my car, or at my dinner
table, or in a committee meetingat Moody Church, or any place
else, if two saints are at warwith each other, I don't mean
they disagree lovingly, they'reat war with each other, somebody
is selfish.
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If a husband and wife are at warwith each other, somebody is
selfish.
And selfishness is born ofpride, and pride comes from the
world, The flesh and the devil.
So the source of all peace isGod and the enemy of all peace
is sin.
Want you to mark a verse back inthe book of Isaiah chapter 32.
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I didn't even know this versewas in the Bible.
I'd been reading the Bible somany times since I'd gotten
saved.
I went off to seminary.
Remember one evening, a fellacame knocking at my door.
I opened the door of theseminary my dormitory room.
Fellas said, I want to show youa verse.
What kind of a kook is this?
He interrupts my studying toshow me a verse, he said, have
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you ever seen Isaiah chapter 32,verse 17?
I said, sure.
He said, what's it say?
I said, I don't know.
So Ralph said, let me show it toyou.
Isaiah 32, 17.
And the work of righteousnessshall be peace.
And the effect of righteousness,quietness, and assurance
forever.
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If you want peace and quietnessand assurance, it comes from
righteousness.
So wherever there's sin, there'sgoing to be a fight.
Sin breeds pride.
Pride breeds sin.
Pride breeds selfishness.
Selfishness breeds more sin.
And there's a war on the insidebecause there's a war between me
and God.
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And if I'm fighting God andfighting myself, I'm not going
to be able to get along withyou.
And the only answer, of course,is cleansing, which leads us to
fact number three.
The source of all peace is God.
The enemy of all peace is sin.
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The minister of peace is theChristian.
Oh, how many times we've said,Oh, Holy Spirit, work in his
heart so he'll get along withme.
You ever pray like that?
Oh, Lord, change his mind.
I'm beginning to learn little bylittle, I'm so slow to learn
some things, but I'm beginningto learn little by little that
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when I pray about people, I needto pray about myself.
It's not enough for me to pray,Oh God, may this person agree
with me, change his mind.
I need to pray, Oh God, help meto be more patient.
And more loving and moreunderstanding.
Maybe if I really knew what he'sgoing through, I'd be more
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understanding of what he'ssaying.
It's hard to pray like that.
It's much easier to bounce yourprayers off the clouds and
ricochet and hit the guy, lord,take care of him! God doesn't do
it that way.
The minister of peace is theChristian.
That's what Jesus meant when hesaid, blessed are the
peacemakers, not the peacetalkers, but a lot of those, not
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the peace prayers, but thepeacemakers, the people who do
something blessed are thepeacemakers for they shall be
called the children of God.
Now, before I was saved, I wasnot a peacemaker.
You want to know what you werelike before you were saved?
If you ever get proud of yourancestry, just turn to Titus
chapter three.
(25:40):
Here's what it says in versethree, For we ourselves also
were once foolish, disobedient,deceived, serving various lusts
and pleasures, living in maliceand envy, hateful and hating one
another.
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That's the unsaved person.
But he says, After the kindnessand love of God our Savior
toward man appeared, Not byworks of righteousness, but
according to his mercy, he savedus.
Before I was saved, I couldn'tbe a peacemaker.
My nature was such that Icouldn't make peace.
God is the source of peace.
(26:22):
Unless I have God's nature, Ican't be a peacemaker.
And the only way to get God'snature is to be born into God's
family.
Now you say, but I'm in God'sfamily.
Does anybody call you a child ofGod?
Children are like their parents.
You go to see relatives youhaven't seen for a long time.
(26:43):
This happened to me this pastweek.
I saw some children I hadn'tseen in years.
Cheers! I took one look at thegirl and I said, I know who you
belong to.
Sure enough, that's who it was.
Looks just like her mother.
Now, that should be true of us.
Out in the world, we should sobe making peace that people say,
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he must belong to God.
He must be in God's family.
God's a great peacemaker and hemust be in God's family.
He's a child of God by the wayhe acts and the way he lives.
The minister of peace is theChristian.
Now turn back to Matthew.
I want to show you how thisworks.
I'm not going to preachabstractions tonight.
I want to preach the concreteresponsibility that we have.
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Look at verse 21 of Matthewchapter 5.
He have heard that it was saidby them of old, Thou shalt not
kill, and whosoever shall killshall be in danger of judgment.
But I say unto you thatwhosoever is angry with his
brother without a cause shall bein danger of judgment.
whosoever Whoever shall say tohis brother"Racca", empty
(27:47):
fellow, empty minded fellow,shall be in danger of the
council.
Whoever shall say thou foolshall be in danger of hell fire.
Therefore if thou bring thy giftto the altar, you're going to
church now, and there rememberthat thy brother hath anything
against thee, leave thy giftbefore the altar, don't try to
worship like that, and go thyway.
(28:08):
First be reconciled to thybrother, then come and offer thy
gift.
Now, one of the greatest piecesof advice in the world is in
verse 25.
"Agree with thine adversaryquickly." Do it as soon as you
can.
If there's a disagreementbetween brother and brother,
husband and wife, parents andchildren, as soon as possible,
(28:30):
settle it.
Be the peacemaker.
He doesn't say when you go tothe altar and you remember your
brother has something againstyou pray for him He says leave
your gift go see your brother.
The vertical worship of God isuseless if the horizontal
fellowship with man is broken Sothe first peacemaking I ought to
do is between me and my brother.
Our Lord says the same thing inMatthew 18 if your brother has
(28:53):
ought against you go tell himabout it If he won't hear you
take one or two if he won't hearthem tell the church do your
utmost to be a peacemaker.
If he still doesn't want to givein and make things right, then
you can treat him like apublican and a sinner.
There's some people you can't beat peace with.
Paul wrote to the Romans andsaid,"As much as lieth in you,
live peaceably with all men."Which means sometimes you can't.
(29:15):
Over in the Sermon on theMount," He eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth." Verse 38.
He says turn the other cheek.
Don't be out causing trouble.
Verse 43,"Thou shalt love thyneighbor and hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you, love yourenemies, bless them that curse
you, do good to them that hateyou, pray for them who
despitefully use you andpersecute you." Why?
(29:36):
"That you may be the sons ofGod." He's talking here in a
practical way about gettingalong with people.
And how do you do it?
You go to people and you try tosettle things in a sweet and
loving way.
The minister of peace is theChristian.
Quickly, one final truth.
The source of all peace is God.
(29:58):
The enemy of all peace is sin.
The minister of peace is theChristian.
Right now, I am either apeacemaker or a troublemaker.
The blessing of peace isbecoming more like God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, forthey shall be called the
children of God.
He's just like his father.
(30:19):
What has God been doing allthese centuries?
Making peace! Jesus made peaceby the blood of His cross,
therefore being justified byfaith, we have peace with God.
So when you become a peacemaker,you're moving into the territory
where God is working.
God is a peacemaker.
Jesus said, either you gatherwith me or you're scattering.
(30:43):
Now I'm a gatherer.
I put things together, saysJesus.
The devil's a scatterer.
He tears them apart.
And so the blessing of being apeacemaker is growing in
godliness.
Would you go back to theBeatitudes as we close and just
review them with me?
I want you to show you what'shappening here.
(31:05):
In verse three is where it allstarts.
My attitude toward myself.
Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
My attitude toward my sin.
Blessed are they that mourn.
Mourn over their sin.
They shall be comforted.
My attitude toward God'sauthority.
Blessed are the meek, for theyshall inherit the earth.
(31:29):
Verse six.
What's the result of all this?
If I'm poor in spirit, if Imourn over my sin, if I submit
myself to God,"Blessed are theywhich do hunger and thirst after
righteousness, they shall befilled".
Now it changes in verse 7 fromgetting to giving.
If we have received therighteousness of God through
faith in Christ, what's theresult?
(31:51):
Verse 7, blessed are themerciful.
They shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart.
They shall see God.
Mercy, purity.
Blessed are the peacemakers.
They shall be called thechildren of God.
Notice in verse 8, you havepurity.
In verse 9, you have peace.
Now, James says the same thing.
(32:12):
James says"the wisdom that comesfrom above is first pure, then
peaceable".
The Bible doesn't teach peace atany price.
The Bible doesn't teachwhitewashing sin.
Jeremiah said They say peace.
Peace.
When there is no peace, they'vewhitewashed a tottering wall
that's about to fall down.
Nowhere in the Bible is therepeace at any price.
(32:34):
Rather.
He says when there's purity,there's peace.
That's why we have Blessed arethe pure and heart.
leading into blessed are thepeacemakers.
Now, I want to warn all of us.
When you become a peacemaker,you become more like the Lord
Jesus.
You know what that means?
You'll suffer.
You'll be crucified.
(32:56):
There never was peace withoutsacrifice.
This is why some of us don'twant to be peacemakers.
We'd rather be troublemakers.
It costs too much.
Have you ever known the quietagony of living with the unkind
accusations of people you triedto help?
(33:21):
Jesus lived with that.
When you try to be a peacemakerand you stand between two
warring factions, you get shotat from both sides.
That's what happened to Jesus.
What makes us more like theLord?
Blessed are the peacemakers, forthey shall be called the
(33:41):
children of God.
Does anybody call us God'schildren because we are
ministers of peace?
Now if I speak tonight to oneunsaved person, you don't know a
thing about this peace.
Either peace with God, or peacewith yourself, or peace with
(34:02):
others.
And the only way you can know itis through faith in Christ.
If I speak to a believer whodoesn't have peace.
It's probably because of somesin in our lives.
For the wisdom that comes fromabove is first pure, then
peaceable.
And the man who is thepeacemaker has purity in his
(34:25):
heart.
His motives are pure, hisoutlook is pure, and usually he
suffers for it.
I think most of us would rathersuffer in creating peace than to
suffer later on because wedeclared war.
(34:46):
I would rather go through lifebuilding bridges than building
walls and digging foxholes.
Oh, there's a price to pay.
Someday when we face the LordJesus and He can look down upon
us and say, You were apeacemaker." There was trouble
in that home, but you broughtpeace division in that
committee, but you broughtpeace.
(35:09):
There were problems in thatneighborhood, but you brought
peace.
You paid for it, but now I'mgoing to pay you back.
Here's your reward.
And the greatest reward of allis just simply being more and
more like the Lord Jesus.
Father, each of us in one way oranother has failed.
(35:30):
Forgive us.
May we go from this placedetermined by your Holy Spirit
to be instruments of peace.
Teach us the difference betweenconviction and stubbornness.
Between our own ideas and themind of God.
Between shallow sentiment andtrue Christian love.
(35:54):
Help us not to compromise wherecompromise would be sin.
We would not like to be likePilate and Herod who were made
friends together because theyhad a common enemy.
We read in Your word that at thecross, righteousness and peace
kissed each other, and we wouldexperience that in our own
lives.
(36:15):
Oh God, may we be at peace withourselves and with You, that we
might be instruments of peacewith others.
This is our prayer throughChrist our Lord.
Amen.
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