JOHN PIPER says the cry of the beatitudes is this: “Get a new heart!”
• They are not good suggestions, but what every Christian ought to be.
• The beatitudes counter the false understanding 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.
• One after the other the beatitudes tell us that the blessings of eternity will be given only to those who have become new creatures.
• 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 sons of God.
• If we don’t obtain mercy, we are still living under judgement. If we don’t see God, we are not in heaven. If we aren’t called the sons of God, we are outside the family.
In other words these are all descriptions of true salvation.
• And it is promised only to the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers.
• Therefore the beatitudes are like long spikes holding down the lid of the coffin on the false teaching which says that if you just believe in Jesus you will go to heaven whether or not you are merciful or pure in heart or a peacemaker.
• In fact, from beginning to end the Sermon on the Mount cries out, "Get yourself a new heart! Become a new person! The river of judgment is at the door!"
• Matt 5:20 says, "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
The beatitudes set the hallmark for the Christian. May we all grow in all of these beatitudes and manifest the beauty of Jesus in our lives.
RECAP: Last week we learn that the pure in heart will see God.
• They live under God’s watchful eyes, fully aware of it and glad to be so.
• We want to live a life of integrity. Nothing to hide.
• Determined to set our heart both right and true. No falsehood, no pretence.
• We seek to grow in that through a conscious reliance on God – our constant cry is “Change my heart, O God, make it ever true.” Be quick to confess and repent.
• And make a commitment to be authentic and real. You have to DECIDE to do so yourself.
Matt 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”
The sons of God are peacemakers.
• People who are peacemakers will be recognised as the sons of God.
• Because sons of God have the character of the Father. God is a peacemaker.
• "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them." (2 Cor 5:19).
• Even though He has the right to, and is just to do so, God has chosen to make peace.
God is a peace-loving God, and a peacemaking God.
• So as children of God, we bear that same resemblance to our Father.
• We are to be merciful, and we must seek to make peace.
• This is our ministry. That’s our calling today.
Let’s understand what peacemaking is not.
Firstly, to make peace is not to compromise our faith.
• We are not advocating ‘peace at any price’, and accept anything to avoid trouble.
• Jesus said in Matt 10:34-36 34"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I have come to turn "`a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law- 36a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
• His coming will surely cause humanity to be polarised between those who seek God and those who reject Him; between what is right and wrong, between light and darkness.
• Peace is not at the expense of the truth.
• To make peace therefore is not to accept everything to avoid conflict.
• We have to stand by what God says is right and true.
Secondly, to live in peace with pp does not mean we avoid bringing up differences.
• In fact, it is to acknowledge the differences and learning to live with them.
• To avoid all clashes of views is not really peacemaking. It’s faking it.
• It’s like stepping into a family where every member is quiet and not talking to one another. Well, it’s extremely quiet and peaceful. Actually, you’ve just walked into a cold war that is taking place.
• Relationships can be dead while everything on the surface looks good.
• A few months back we were visiting and came to know this family – parents and sister-in-law stays together but not talking to each other. No ‘good morning’, no ‘Hi’, no ‘have you taken your dinner’, nothing! See each other every day but not a word was spoken. And the relative told us this is so every day!
This is not peace. It’s a truce. “Don’t shot for a while…” It’s a counterfeit peace.
• We cannot sweep the differences under the carpet and declare peace.
• Whatever that causes tension will one day surface again, if left ignored or unresolved. We are just delaying the problem.
• In fact, if we avoid the issues, the momentary ‘peace’ that we are trying hard to maintain, will get harder and harder to keep.
• The volcano will erupt one day when the pressure to contain it goes.
People can have had 10 years of marriage and yet still quarrelling and having major conflicts. Why?
• Because they had only one year’s experience repeated ten times over.
• In the first year of marriage, the differences that surfaced were never properly resolved. They did not really sit down and talk through.
• So the next 9 years were just a repeat of the first. Same issues popped up over and over again.
• So it was not a 10-year relationship experience, but just one year repeated again and again. They have not learnt anything.
That’s the same for any relationship or friendship.
• If we want true peace with people, we need to be open to one another.
• We need to be honest with the issues and discuss it openly.
Abraham gave us a very good example. Read Gen 13:5-12.
• Abraham and Lots’ herdsmen quarrelled. He and Lot might have quarrelled too, if he had not taken the step to end it.
• “So Abram said to Lot, ‘Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between your herdsmen and your herdsmen…’”
• His desire in the midst of this conflict is a peaceful resolution.
Abraham gives the reason at the end of verse 8: “for we are brothers.”
• Relationship is the key. We treasure the relationship; we want to keep it, maintain it and strengthen it.
• Abraham is not saying that he and Lot are brothers in the literal sense, because they were not. Lot is his nephew.
• He is using the word “brother” to express their close relationship; they are a family.
• His motivation is love for the unity of the family. That ought to be our motivation too.
Abraham made the wise decision to separate the two groups, and it was generous on his part to give Lot the first choice.
• He could have demanded his rights in regards to who goes where, but he didn’t.
• He was the uncle, he was the elder, God had given him the land, not Lot, and therefore, he could have told Lot exactly what to do, but he didn’t.
Lot, on the other hand, was selfish.
• But it only takes one party to let go for peace to succeed.
• Can you imagine what the outcome would have been if Abraham responded to the conflict in the same manner that Lot did?
• It would have been disastrous, had Abraham responded with the same selfish motive and self-gratification in mind. There would have been a civil war.
But Abram trusted the Lord to look out for him, enabling him to look out for Lot, and a peaceful resolution was gained.
• And God blessed Abraham as a result.
• You will not be short-changed if you give in. The Lord blesses the peacemakers!
The peacemaker is one who does not look at things from the self-centred point of view.
• “Is this fair to me? What is in it for me? What is this going to mean to me?”
• If you want to make peace with others, don’t take yourself too seriously.
• You may be the uncle, the senior, the one with the rights. Let go and trust God.
Notice something, conflict or peace – the cause could very well lies within us.
• Very often, we blame others for the problems. Again, that’s because of the self-centred view.
• Where there are two persons, we have the potential of a conflict. Adam and Eve blamed each other. Cain killed Abel. This is our very nature.
• Conflicts can never be eradicated, but we can take steps not to prolong it.
• But in Christ, we can choose to make peace. Learn from Abraham. Learn to let go, and live with it.
The Creature “Strife”
There is a legend from Greek mythology that the god Hercules was once walking along a narrow road when a strange-looking creature appeared threateningly in front of him.
Hercules struck this creature with his club and passed on, but soon afterwards was surprised to be confronted by this same creature, only now three times as large.
Hercules struck it again and again and each time it grew in size until finally it completely blocked the road.
Then the goddess Pallas Athena appeared to Hercules and told him to stop.
"The monster is called Strife," she said. "Let it alone, and it will soon become as small as it was at first."
You can either be a peacemaker, or a ‘stirrer’ – a stirrer is determine to keep the argument going for the sake of personal gain or satisfaction.
• Keep it going and the problem will grow bigger and bigger.
• All quarrels and strife will certainly return to manageable proportions and ultimately cease if one party lets it alone.
The Bible says MAKE EVERY EFFORT…
Rom 14:19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
Eph 4:3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Heb 12:14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy…
Even among Christians, this is a challenge.
• The devil wants to take every small spark and fan it into flame.
• So we pray that God will keep us united, and make us effective peacemakers.
PLAYING CHURCH
A father was in his study reading when he heard outside the window his daughter and her friend. What seemed to be harmless play began to start sounding like an argument. The conversation between the two girls became more heated and argumentative.
The father felt it was time to step in so he opened the window and said, “Stop it. Honey, what wrong?”
His daughter quickly responded, “But, Daddy, we were just playing church.”
It takes humility, patience and love on our part to deal with conflict in a manner consistent with the Bible.
As peacemakers, we are to
(1) make peace with others,
(2) help others make peace, and
(3) help others make peace with God.
2 Cor 5:17-21
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
We are not called to be peacekeepers, but peacemakers.
We are called to be peacemakers because we have found the peace ourselves.
• A person cannot be a peacemaker in this sense until first he finds peace for himself.
• The source of peace is God, and through Christ we experience that peace.
• Now ‘God is making His appeal’ through us.
• This is our calling today, every one of us.
