Matt 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

 

I want us to approach the meaning of being a peacemaker from 2 angles this morning.

1. What does it mean to be a peacemaker as an evangelical Christian when it comes to sharing the gospel?
2. What does it mean to be a peacemaker within the body of Christ? 

 

In October, 1983, Psychology Today posed this intriguing question, “If you could push a button and thereby eliminate any person with no repercussions to yourself, would you do it?” Sixty percent of those responding answered yes. One man posed an even better question, “If such a device were invented, would anyone live to tell about it?”

 

The answer to the worlds conflicts and wars is not the United Nations. The United Nations is supposed to be a peace keeping organization, but even with the best intentions it is impossible for them bring about peace, because they do not accept the terms of peace as laid out in The Holy Scriptures. All of the peace marches, sit-ins, protests and demonstrations by man will not bring about peace because this peace cannot be brought about by a political process, regardless of who is in The White House.

 

Just look at the Middle East as an example. How many man-hours have been spent trying to negotiate peace between the hostile neighbors of the Middle East? There is a "peace summit" here, and another "peace plan" there, and then a "peace proposal" offered when those fail; yet no peace. The conflict in the Middle East began because a man and his wife sought to fulfill the promise of God in the flesh! Whenever we seek to bring about the peace of God in the flesh it will always end up in war.

 

As we are going to see this morning, it’s dangerous to be a peacemaker. In 1993 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak

Rabin signed a peace treaty with Yasser Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization. When someone asked how he could sign a treaty with the people who had been the mortal enemies of Israel, he replied, “You don’t make peace with you friends, only with your enemies.” Many of his own countrymen sharply disagreed with his actions, and four months ago he was assassinated. Not by an Arab or a Palestinian. But an Israeli, an Orthodox Jew who thought by shooting Mr. Rabin in the back he was doing God’s work.

 

As we move on the next beatitude, we need to first understand what being a peacemaker isn’t.

• Being a peacemaker is not avoiding conflict or confrontation because of sin, it is dealing with the situation prayerfully, lovingly and for the glory of God.
• What dos the word peacemaker mean? The word “make” in the term “peacemakers” comes from the Greek verb poieo. It’s a strong word that means “to do” or “to make.” In other words, biblical peacemaking is not passive.
• Peace must be made. Peace never happens by chance. Someone has to drag the combatants to the table and give them a reason to put down their arms. Jesus never said, “Blessed are the peacewishers or the peacehopers or the peacedreamers.” But he did say, “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
• The biblical meaning of peace is not the absence of conflict, it is the presence of Christ and His truth brought into the midst of the conflict.  Being a peacemaker is never to be understood as meaning compromise with sin or evil, but confronting evil with truth for the sake of establishing true peace.
• Let me repeat that in a slightly different way. Peace is not just stopping the war. Peace is creating the righteousness that brings the two parties together in love. When a Jew says to another Jew Shalom, which is the word for peace, he doesn't mean may you have no wars, may you have no conflict, he means I desire for you all the righteousness that God can give. All the goodness that God can give. Shalom means, God's highest good for you. It's a creative force for goodness.

 

Peacemaking will be the normal occupation for those who have come to know the peace of Jesus Christ. To see how to become sons of God we can look, for example, at John 1:12 and Galatians 3:26. John 1:12 says, "To all who received him (Jesus), who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God." And Galatians 3:26 says, "For in Christ we are all sons of God through faith." In other words, we become sons of God by trusting in Christ for our forgiveness and hope. And with that new birth comes a brand new heart and the indwelling Holy Spirit that compels us to be peacemakers and not troublemakers.

What Jesus is saying in Matthew 5:9 is that people who have become sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ receive the character of their heavenly Father. With the new birth, we are made partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet 1.4). And we know from Scripture that their heavenly Father is a "God of peace" (Romans 16:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 13:20). We know that heaven is a world of peace (Luke 19:38). And most important of all, we know that God is a peacemaker!

With each beatitude another nail is driven into a coffin. Inside the coffin lies the corpse of a false understanding of salvation. The false understanding said that a person can be saved without being changed. Or: that a person can inherit eternal life even if his attitudes and actions are like the attitudes and actions of unbelievers. John Piper

 

As we unpack the meaning of this beatitude, it is also important to remember that peace in the Bible is always based on justice and righteousness. Where justice prevails and righteousness rules, and the divine order is followed in the home, the church, the job etc., there you will also have peace. But without those two virtues, lasting peace is not possible.

 

What does it mean to be a peacemaker as an evangelical Christian when it comes to sharing the gospel?

• As far as being an evangelical who desires to see souls won into the kingdom of God, listen to the words of Jesus Christ, The Prince of Peace, the greatest soul winner of all.
• Matt 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
• Remember saints, that Jesus is The Living Example of being a peacemaker. Sinners can only have peace with God when we come to God on His terms and not ours.
• When Jesus was preaching His kingdom both in and out of the synagogues to the demise of the theologians and scribes of the day, He was being a peacemaker, because He was presenting the truth of God to people who were being led astray and kept in bondage by the false teachings and unbiblical religious traditions of men.
• When Jesus was turning over the moneychangers tables in the temple area because the religious leaders were prostituting the Name of God and ripping off the people of God financially, He was being a peacemaker because these religious hucksters were misrepresenting the Name of God.  
• By bringing the truth of God into areas of darkness and deception with the hope of seeing people delivered and set free for the glory of God, Jesus was modeling for us what being a peacemaker look like.

 

Matt 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

• There is no contradiction whatsoever in the words of Jesus spoken here with the beatitude, blessed are the peacemakers. Let me explain:
• Jesus is saying that the truth of God is the only source of peace between God and man. Thus, when a person is unwilling to agree with God’s Word, o come to God on His terms, it will have a sword like effect upon their soul. It will cut deep…it will penetrate a persons pride…it will expose secret sin…..it will offend the flesh….it will offend false religious beliefs…it will cause, at times, a very unpeaceful response and the next beatitude proves it…..blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake.

 

To be a peacemaker in the evangelistic sense means that we must be careful to present the issue of sin and the one way of salvation by grace through faith in Christ head on. Until a person faces his false notions about sin and how a person is saved, there can be peace with God.

• Isa 57.20 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.

 

When believers bring the truth of the gospel into a world that loves falsehood, there will be strife. There are millions of Christians who at this very moment are being persecuted, beaten and even killed because they believe in The Lord Jesus Christ and proclaim that He is the only way to The Father. When believers preach that Jesus is the only way to God in a liberal, all roads lead to God philosophy, there will be conflict and tension, even when the gospel is preached in a loving way. As long as the veil of false religion or secular philosophies   blinds their hearts and minds, there will be an inevitable potential for tension and conflict.

 

Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Eph 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Jude 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

• As evangelicals, we have to be contentious about some things. Being a peacemaker is not saying well, I certainly don't want to offend that dear soul. Even though they don't believe the way we do, I would certainly not...that's not making peace, that is a truce that is doing nothing to help, because the issue is righteousness, holiness, purity. And so we bring the gospel to bear and it ruffles feathers and it convicts and it brings contention and strife and it brings conflict but when the conflict is resolved by faith in Jesus Christ there is a real peace; a real peace. John Macarthur
• Biblical peacemakers are not quiet, easygoing people who just want to make no waves and no issues who lack justice, who lack a sense of righteousness, who are compromisers, who are appeasers.
• Those who have peace with God themselves cannot be silent about it. It is the greatest thing in the world to realize in our guilty souls that though we are guilty, we are not condemned. We are embraced, and like the Prodigal, we have a father to receive us.

 

What does it mean to be a peacemaker within the body of Christ? 

What is the reason for so much strife, for so much tension, bitterness, and conflict, within the family of God? The Biblical answer is simple….. fleshly lusts that dwell within our hearts.

• Jas 4:1 ¶ From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

 

As I said at the outset of the message this morning, peacemaking in a biblical fashion within the family of God is not an easy business. It is costly … time-consuming … painful … and emotionally exhausting. Those who do it will often be misunderstood because to the natural man a peacemaker is perceived to be a troublemaker. Being a peacemaker within the family of God is like being a bridge builder who uses biblical truth and principles to build a bridge between two sides. Sometimes it means struggle. Sometimes it means pain. Sometimes it means anguish. Sometimes it means a little more strife, but in the end, if hearts are right and the Spirit of God prevails over emotions and opinions, real peace can come.

 

And sometimes it won’t work at all. When Paul wrote to Romans, he exhorted them to “live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18). But he added the all-important phrase, “If it is possible.” Sometimes it isn’t possible. There are those cantankerous types who just go through life picking fights with everyone they meet. They will fight tooth and nail to get whatever they want at any cost. You can’t always live at peace with people like that. Most unresolved conflicts in the Body of Christ are due to an unwillingness to accept and submit to the plans and purposes of God and His divine order.

• When Nathan rebuked David for his sin against Bathsheba and Urijah, he was being a peacemaker because adultery and murder destroys families, breaks hearts and offends God.
• When Paul rebuked Peter for living a double standard lifestyle before the Gentiles, he was being a peacemaker because legalism and religious hypocrisy clouds the gospel, confuses the saints and offends God.  Peacemakers are those who deal with sin head on, because sin destroys fellowship with God and one another.
• When Paul exhorted a fellow laborer to bring together 2 sisters in Christ who were not seeing eye to eye in Phil 4.2,3, he was being a peacemaker.
• The only peacemakers in the family of God are those who bring men to God standard of righteousness, to God's standard of holiness, and bow the knee to God's truth. The body of Christ is not a social club. It is not a motorcycle club where loyalty prevails over holiness and truth.
• Jas 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.
• A peacemaker is willing to say what has to be said to bring righteousness to bear on the situation. If you're a true peacemaker, you're going to be one who brings righteousness to bear. Yes, agape covers all sin, but agape never covers up sin or makes excuses for committing it.

 

One commentator writes these words: “Peacemakers seek to bring men together; to make peace between men and God; to solve disputes and erase divisions; to reconcile differences and eliminate strife; to silence tongues and build right relationships. Peacemakers love peace, but they do not passively accept trouble. There are those who claim to love peace, yet they remove themselves from all trouble. They ignore and flee problems and threatening situations, and they often evade issues. They make no attempt to bring peace between others. The peacemaker (of whom Christ speaks) faces the trouble no matter how dangerous, and works to bring a true peace no matter the struggle.”

 

It is important to point out that having a right heart is key to being a biblical peacemaker. The only acceptable motive behind peacemaking is agape love, not some cold, legalistic, insensitive, uncompassionate kind of a thing.  The peacemaker isn’t out to win an argument, but bring glory to God. A peacemaker will not be a meddler in other people’s affairs unless those affairs are brining reproach and dishonor to the Name of Jesus Christ. A peacemaker does not get a charge out of rebuking another person…they do not enjoy conflict or confrontation. They do not pride themselves in being a person who shoots it straight from the hip. A true peacemaker will be a person with a heart of compassion and genuine concern for others and The Lord’s glory. They can see the devastation that is caused by sin and the refusal to submit to the divine authority of Biblical teachings. A peacemaker loves people enough to tell them the truth in love, but above all loves The Lord Jesus Christ and His glory most of all.

 

Peace with God

The idea of peace dominates the Bible. The Bible opens with peace in the garden. The Bible closes with peace in eternity. In fact, you could chart the course of history based on the theme of peace. There was peace on earth in the garden. Man sinned, peace was interrupted. At the cross, peace became a reality again as he who died on the cross became our peace. And since the Lord Jesus Christ has provided peace, there can be peace in the heart of a man or a woman who comes to know Him.

 

Jesus the greatest peacemaker of all. Did He avoid conflict? Not on your life. He was nailed to a cross, the ultimate conflict. They killed Him, but He would do it because He knew that peace would be found in the end.

Colossians 1:20 says, that "Jesus Christ having made peace through the blood of His cross was able to reconcile all things to Himself." You see it was the cross that made peace. You know why the cross is peace? Because the cross provided the righteousness that alone makes real peace.

• Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

 

In closing, let me say that in Jeremiah 29:11, the prophet said, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you saith the Lord and they are thoughts of peace." You see? God's thoughts toward men are peace. And Jesus said, "These things have I spoken unto you," John 16:33, "that in me you might have," what, "peace. In the world you'll have tribulation, but I have overcome the world." Why? To give you peace. And so beloved if we're to be peacemakers, we draw that peace from God. And a person who doesn't know God, who doesn't know Christ, who doesn't have the indwelling spirit could never be a peacemaker, never.