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And let's join together in reading
from Matthew chapter 5 verses 3 through 10. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that
mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed
are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the
pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are
they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. Amen. You may be seated. Again, we are focusing this morning
or this afternoon on verse 9. the seventh of the eight Beatitudes,
blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children
of God. And once again I am benefiting
from the reading of the Puritan Thomas Watson who calls this
the seventh step in the golden ladder which leads to blessedness. Blessed are the peacemakers.
Watson also says, that religion is suspicious, which is full
of faction and discord. As has been our custom, we're
looking, as Christ laid it out here, first of all at the blessing,
the beatitude, and then at the promise that is affixed to it. And within the beatitude, blessed
are the peacemakers, we can see that there is a duty implied,
namely that we be peaceable-minded, and a duty expressed that we
be peacemakers. We are to be peaceable-minded.
Before we can promote peace among others, we must have peaceable
spirits within ourselves. Watson calls a peaceable spirit,
the beauty of the saint. It is a jewel of great price. There are four areas Watson talks
about where the believer is to be a peacemaker. First of all,
he says there is what he calls an economical peace and you know
the English word economy or economics comes from a Greek word economos,
which means a household and And so when he says there's to be
an economical peace. He means there is to be a household
peace there is to be peace in the sphere of our families and
We should endeavor, Watson says, that our houses should be houses
of peace. Is your home a home of peace? That doesn't mean, is there never
any, if you've got children in the home, there's going to be
some noise. There's going to be some rattling around. But
generally, is there, is it peaceful? Are people arguing with each
other all the time? Are there spiteful things being
said? Mean-spirited things being said?
Are there contentions and quarrels
constantly? Brothers and sisters fighting?
Parents fighting? We're to be peacemakers. Our homes are to be peaceable.
Watson says, It is not fairness of rooms makes a pleasant house,
but peaceableness of disposition. You know, there are lots of people
who have these mansions these days, these houses that are opulent,
lots of square footage, beautiful rooms, lots of furniture. But
it's not fair rooms well appointed that makes for a peaceful house,
a blessed house. It's a home where there is peace. where there is concord, where
there's harmony, that makes for a peaceful house. Second sphere
is, he says, there is a parochial peace. By that he means a peace
in the parish or peace within the local church. Paul said in
1 Thessalonians 5.13, be at peace among yourselves. Watson says,
one bad member in a parish endangers the whole. Third sphere, there is political
peace. This is peace in the civil sphere,
in the city or in the nation. It's interesting to read that
today, given that we're seeing so much in the news these days
about unrest in places like Egypt. And I know when I was a missionary
in Hungary, in Budapest, and this was not long after communism
had fallen, one morning I went out to go to the school where
I taught. I taught English in a Baptist
seminary and I had to travel about two hours by public transportation
one way. I would leave very early in the
morning. I would ride a bus and ride a subway and ride a tram
to get to my school. But I rode my bus to a stop and
then all the public transport stopped. And I went outside and
there was a truck driver strike. They had, I don't know if they
had increased the price of fuel or taxes, but they just, they
blocked all the roads in the city of nearly three million
people. And there was no way you could travel. And I was about
an hour's away from my house and about an hour's away from
my work. And there were literally tens of thousands of people in
the street. Order completely broke down. It was much like some of these
scenes that you're seeing, we're seeing on TV now, like Cairo.
There wasn't any violence, thank goodness. But it was just complete
disorder and chaos. You think about among the many
things we often take for granted is that in our society in general
God has given us peace So there is peace in the political sphere
then fourthly says there is an ecclesiastical peace or church
peace and this is beyond the local parish, but in sort of
the church and with the in a bigger sense of a of Christianity across
denominational lines, is there peace within the larger church,
doctrinal peace, orthodox peace. And then Watson says we are to
be peacemakers in all these spheres, in our homes, in our local church. in our society, in the larger
church. Why should we be peacemakers?
Well, Paul in 1 Corinthians 7.15 says, God hath called us to peace. Watson adds, it is the nature
of grace to change the heart and make it peaceable. Peaceable-mindedness
is the saint's true character. I thought it was interesting
at this point that Watson also asserts a bit of a caution. And that is, he says that this
beatitude does not mean that the Christian is someone who
is kind of, I think, a doormat who is walked over. Nor does
this beatitude argue for maybe what many of the Mennonites or
Amish might take it for arguing for pacifism. Watson says that
this beatitude does not mean that the saint makes a virtue
of being abused. He says, a man may be of a peaceable
spirit, yet seek to recover that which is his due. If peace has
been otherwise sought and cannot be attained, he says, for example,
a man may go to law and still be a peaceable man. He may commence
a suit in law, yet be of a peaceable spirit. His goal is not to do
another wrong, but to do himself right. It is a desire rather
of equity than victory. And likewise, if a nation is
invaded, he says, then peace can be purchased by no other
means than war. Here it is lawful to beat the
plowshare into a sword. So you understand that caution? He also says that the desire
for peace that we are given here to be peacemakers has a double
limitation. First, we should not take this
verse to mean that we should have what he calls a league of
amity or friendship with sinners in their sin. David, he says,
would not sit on the ale bench with sinners. You see, you shouldn't
use this verse to say, well, I need to go, you know, Jesus
hung out with the sinners, and so I need to go down to the bar
and hang out on the ale bench with the sinners. I'll be a peaceable,
spirited man. No. Watson says, we must not
purchase peace with the loss of holiness. Second limitation,
we must not seek peace with others as to wrong the truth. We must
not purchase peace by selling the truth. And he has quite a
discussion here of not making peace with those he calls anti-scripturalists,
or with Sassinians, which were those in his day who denied the
deity of Christ, were the foreigners of Unitarians. You know, in some
churches where you've got modern churches and some, unfortunately,
evangelical churches where there's a lack of confessional unity
and people's beliefs are sort of all over the map, people will,
if you ever start pushing for expression, definition of doctrine,
people say, can't you just, you're being fussy, can't you just leave
that alone? Can't we just all get together and be one-minded? Watson says, no, don't make peace
with those who wrong the truth. This is not what this beatitude
is calling for. Watson also offers a sound reproof
to those who are unpeaceable. The Christian is not to stir
up strife and contention. This is particularly true in
the Christian spheres. Watson notes that in Tertullian,
Tertullian was an early church father, and he was quoted as
saying about the growth of the Christian movement that the pagans
would look at the harmony of Christian churches and they would
say, see how Christians love one another. But then Watson
laments that in his own times, when the Puritans were living
in a time where there was incredible social religious turmoil, they
were trying to reform the Church of England and make it be more
biblical. Watson says, unfortunately, in
our time, people are more prone to look at the Church and say,
see how the Christians snarl at one another. Then he adds,
Satan kindles the fire of contention in men's hearts. and then stands
and warms himself at the fire. Satan kindles contention and
then warms himself at the fire. Watson gives these eleven exhortations
to peaceable-mindedness. I'll pass through them rather
quickly. He says, quotes Romans 12.18, If it is possible, as
much as lies in you, live peaceably with all men. First, he says
of these 11 exhortations. First, he says men should be
peaceful by natural frame. We don't have the paw of a bear,
the tusk of a boar, or the sting of a bee. We're made to be peaceful,
he says. I don't know how he counted for
fists and teeth, but we were made to be peaceful. Second,
he says a peaceful spirit is honorable. Third, it is prudential. It's wise. A wise man doesn't
stick his finger intentionally into a hornet's nest. He doesn't
try to stir up trouble. Fourth, it brings peace and comfort.
Fifth, it is a God-like disposition. Sixth, we should remember that
Christ prayed for peace. John 17, the High Priestly Prayer.
Seventh, remember that Christ bled for our peace. Colossians
1 20 having made peace through the blood of his cross eighth
strife and contention hinder growth and grace Ninth peaceableness
among Christians is a powerful lodestone To draw the world to
Christ. We're peaceful. We're more likely
to be useful in evangelism Tenth lack of peace makes Christians
act like the heathen and Eleventh, it is the mind of Christ that
we live in peace. As Jesus said in Mark 9 50, have
peace with one another. And then he lists some helps
to being peaceable minded. And he does so by first of all
saying, we should take heed of things that hinder peace. These
include outward things, outward actions that we might take. And
so, Watson says, don't be a whisperer. You know, in Romans 1.29, Paul
lists a number of things that can cause contention, and one
of them is being a whisperer. Watson says, there are some who
will be buzzing things in our ears purposely to exasperate
and to provoke. These include tail-bearers. He
adds, the devil sends his letters by this post. The tail-bearer
is an incendiary. He blows the coals of contention. Things to hinder also include
internal things. Externally, don't be a tail-bearer,
don't be a whisperer. Internally, we upset peace when
we're filled with self-love, when we're filled with pride,
when we're filled with credulity. I thought it was interesting
on this score. He says, he quotes Proverbs 14,
15. The simple believe every word. Credulity. When you believe anything that
you're told. A credulous man, watch it says,
is like a fool. He believes all that is told
him. And this often creates differences. As it is, a sin to be a tail
bearer. So it is a folly to be a pale
believer. A wise man will not take a report
at the first bound, but will sift and examine it before he
gives credit to it. Over the lunch table we were
talking about how newspapers and news media often misreport
and misinterpret facts. A wise man avoids the error of
credulity. He's not overly credulous. So take heed of things that hinder
peace, but then secondly, labor for things that maintain and
cherish peace. Have faith in God and his word.
Seek Christian communion. There should not be too much
strangeness, Watson says, among Christians. Third, don't look
upon the failings of others, but upon their graces. Watson
says, oh, let us not quarrel with the infirmities of others
as to pass by their virtues. If in some things they fail and
other things they excel, it is the manner of the world to look
more upon the sun in an eclipse than when it shines in its full
luster. And then he says, pray to God
for peace. I love this quote. He says, we
should not as vultures pray one upon another, P-R-E-Y, but we
should pray for one another. P-R-A-Y. All Christians must
be peacemakers rather than peace breakers. If peacemakers are
children of God, peace breakers are children of the devil. Deuteronomy
27 24 says, Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbor secretly.
That is, he who backbites and so sets one friend against another.
If there be a devil in a man's shape, Watson says, it is an
incendiary. one who spoils peace. Let us labor then to be, as Isaiah
puts in Isaiah 58, 12, repairers of the breach. Peace makes the
church of God on earth in some measure like the church in heaven.
The peacemaker will have peace with God and peace in his own
bosom, which is the sweetest music in the world. So that's
the Beatitude. We're called to be a peacemaker
in our families in our local church, within our society, within
a larger Christendom. And then what is the reward? What is the reward? The reward
is that we have a title bestowed upon us. Blessed are the peacemakers,
they shall be called the children of God. Watson's entire discussion
is wonderful. This is one of the few of these
Beatitudes where He spends less time describing the blessing
and more time describing the reward. And he says so much in
it, I can't summarize it all, but let me point to a couple
things. He says that if we are truly God's children, if we're
peacemakers and then truly God's children, that there should be
nine signs of this. How do you know you're a child
of God? First of all, you have tenderness of heart. The true
child of God, for example, grieves for his sin. He melts then under
God's mercy, and he trembles at God's threatenings. Secondly,
you show you're a child of God by what he calls assimilation.
That is, you begin to resemble your Heavenly Father in your
words and actions. Third, you have the Spirit of
God. The Spirit has a regenerating work in God's child. We are not
God's children by creation, but by renovation. And before our
spiritual birth, we may experience birth pangs, the bruising of
the spirit, then the spirit brings us to life. The spirit has a
supplicating work in the heart, and it has a witnessing work
in the heart. Fourth sign of our sonship is
we have a zeal for God. The true believer that is born
of God is impatient for God's dishonor, and he takes injuries
done to God as done to himself. Fifth, God's children have a
more noble and celestial spirit than men of the world. Sixth,
God's children have love to his other children. 1 Peter 2.17
says, love the brotherhood. We love the saints, Watson says,
notwithstanding their infirmities. The believer recognizes that
the best saints have their blemishes. A saint in this life is like
a fair face, he says, with a scar in it. We love to see the image
and picture of our Father, though hung in a poor frame. I love this one line. Write this
down in your devotional book. We love to see a rich Christ
in a poor man. We love to see a rich Christ
in a poor man. Seventh, a sign of divine sonship. God's children delight to be
much in God's presence. Children love to be in the presence
of their father. Where the king is, there is the
court. Eighth, God's children are compliant
to the will of the father. And ninth, truly, the child of
God labors to make others the children of God. Well, there's
so much more I could add to what he has to say about being children
of God. But if we are His people, by nature we will want to be
peacemakers and not peacebreakers. And if we, by His grace, are
able to do that, then the reward for us It's his bestowal upon
us on the title of honor that we are his children. He adopts
us. He makes us his sons and daughters. And this is an incredible reward
for us. Let me watch you stand together. Let's pray. Lord, we are thankful for your
word. And we would just get in line
one after another, we could say that we have fallen short, we
have not pursued the blessed life as we should have, we have
erred, and we have robbed ourselves of a blessing. But Lord, we ask
that you would give us a hunger, a craving, For living the blessed
life and as part of that that we would be peacemakers That
to the degree that we are able that we would live at peace with
all men We would live in peace with one another that our homes
would be peaceable places Safe havens in a world that is often
filled with unrest and discontent, that our homes would be exactly
the opposite. Peaceful places. Our churches
would be peaceful places. People who are distraught and
confused in the world would come in and notice immediately.
Blessed are the peacemakers
Series Beatitudes Series
| Sermon ID | 131111222492 |
| Duration | 23:44 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - PM |
| Bible Text | Matthew 5:3-10 |
| Language | English |
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