#1 PEACEKEEPER VS PEACEMAKER?
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
Thanks to Pastor Joe Girdler,
Kentucky District Superintendent of the Assemblies of God for the fodder that started the thinking of this lesson...
This is part #1 of a 2 part series.
TEXT:
Matthew 5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God
I. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE BLUE HAT OF A PEACEKEEPER?
I would like to ponder what a PEACEKEEPER and a PEACEMAKER are?
A. Is there any difference between a PEACEKEEPER and a PEACEMAKER?
If there is a difference --- what is it?
WHICH AM I?
B. Peacekeepers may only require PASSIVE ACTIVITY...
Peacemakers require talent, effort and finding a creative use of conflict.
C. I landed in Haiti. One of the first things I noticed were the BLUE HATS OF THE UNTIED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING FORCE.
I talked with many of the troops...
1. Most of them hated being there...
2. They hated have contact with the Haitian people...
3. They could not wait to return home... this duty was painful to them?
D. SOMETIMES I PONDER THAT CHURCH MINISTRIES GROW THE SAME
ATTITUDES OF PEACEKEEPERS WHEN GOD CALLED US TO BE PEACEMAKERS...
E. As I was preparing for this lesson, I asked several of my friends to
comment on peacekeeper vs. peacemaker...?
I received a note from a pastor friend Bill Meeks in Tennessee.
Bill told about the PEACEMAKER?
What is a PEACEMAKER?
I looked it up... THE PEACEMAKER was a Colt Single Action Army Handgun.
The Peacemaker was a Colt .45 handgun used by the Army from
1873 to 1892.
The PEACEMAKER was also known as the EQUALIZER.
I can understand the EQUALIZER, but I have never thought of the value of a gun as a PEACEMAKER?
F. Years ago I was in Oliver Springs, TN, traveling playing music.
After service we went home with an old lady named Morgan.
The Oliver Springs Police Force consisted of one man.
The Policeman was called, there was two drunk men causing big a scene.
They were fighting and refusing to co-operate with the policeman.
He arrested the men and told them to submit to the handcuffs...
One of the drunk men said: THERE ARE TWO OF US AND ONE OF YOU!
The officer said: I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO MR. COLT AS HE
TAPPED HIS PISTOL.
He then stepped to the Police car and pulled out a shotgun, he then said:
THIS IS MR. WINCHESTER, THAT MAKES IT 3 AGAINST TWO.
Both men quietly turned around and was handcuffed and walked
and climbed into the officers car.
II. WE MUST STRENGHTEN THE VERY FOUNDATION OF OUR FAITH
TO RELEASE OUR FAITH TO BELIEVE --- THEN TO KNOW PEACE...
DO YOU KNOW THERE IS PERFECT PEACE? DO YOU WALK IN PERFECT PEACE?
GOD HAS A WRITTEN COVENANT OF PEACE FOR THOSE THAT TRUST HIM...
FAITH GIVES BIRTH TO BELIEVE --- BELIEVE GIVES BIRTH TO PEACE...
A. Perfect peace is available to every believer...
few believe in it... even fewer have the FAITH required to completely trust
all to the UNSEEN HANDS... we have a blessed assurance...
Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
B. Seems we would rather know the subjunctive believe...
THAT YOU MIGHT BEGIN BELIEVING... it is much easier to believe the news
paper and the media than to trust WHAT SAYS THE WORD OF GOD...
C. NO GOD --- NO PEACE ... KNOW GOD --- KNOW PEACE ...
D. To KNOW PEACE requires each believer to trust God.
Many would rather worry, fret, go under --- than to TRUST THE UNSEEN HANDS OF A MIGHTY GOD that is in control and KNOWS what He is doing...
E. In my opinion FAITH AND BELIEVE and PEACE are not passive actions but a great assurance of more than standing on the sidelines cheering.
FAITH IS ACTIVITY --- REAL FAITH GIVES BIRTH TO BELIEVE, and then IF ONE
REALLY BELIEVES THEN THEY SHALL HAVE GREAT PEACE...
F. To have peace one must believe! To believe one must have faith!
To believe is not a passive hope or a static belief --- IT IS A COMPLETE TRUST IN THE NAIL SCARRED HANDS OF JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD...
G. We must make a TOTAL COMMITMENT to KNOW THE SWEET PRESENCE OF
THE HOLY SPIRIT on a daily walk with Him.
III. DO WE RECOGNIZE THERE IS A JEHOVAH-SHALOM IN OUR MIDST?
Genesis 15:15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
Psalm 4:8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord,
only makest me dwell in safety.
A. JEHOVAH-SHALOM: The Lord is PEACE! THE LORD SENDS PEACE.
B. Gideon lived in a difficult day of trouble and sin.
Gideon was concerned but he felt like HE WAS FROM A LITTLE PLACE,
and he had A LITTLE FAMILY and he was a LITTLE MAN...
The Lord’s ANGEL visited with Gideon and brought great assurance and PEACE...
Judges 6:24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.
C. JEHOVAH- SHAMMAH:
Ezekiel was hurting for the city of Jerusalem.
In the midst of all the sin and the storms raging round about Jerusalem Ezekiel had a VISION: THAT GOD WAS WITH THEM AND GOD WAS WATCHING OVER
HIS PEOPLE.
KJV
Ezekiel 48:35 It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there.
LB
Ezekiel 48:35 "The entire circumference of the city is six miles. And the name of the city will be ’The City of God.’ "
D. Jerusalem is a type here... it is the type of the PEACE OF GOD reigning and ruling over THE CHURCH!
IV. DO WE ACCEPT THAT THERE IS A DIVINE SHALOM... A GOD GIVEN PEACE?
Numbers 25:12 Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:
Isaiah 54:10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee
A. Peace in the context of the Bible has to do with the sense of HARMONY, VICTORY, WELL-BEING and BLESSINGS and UNINJURED.
B. When using SHALOM as a greeting it could be stating:
DO YOU HAVE PEACE? DO YOU HAVE PEACE TODAY?
C. In the Biblical concept peace is more than the absence of hatred and hostility... peace is more than a mind concept or a psychological state or group of emotions.
Peace is much more than the absence of discord, strife, trouble and being hostile.
D.In the Bible SHALOM and all the words that spawn out of it is ONE OF THE GREATEST THEOLOGICAL IDEAS. Shalom is much more than a PASSIVE
AVOIDANCE OF CONFLICT...
Shalom is in the Old Testament more than 180 times.
E. SHALOM IS NOT PASSIVE BUT IT GOES DEEPER THAN THAT --- SHALOM IS NOT
NEGATIVE... Shalom has to do with the TOTAL PUZZLE OF LIFE. It brings wholeness and completeness.
F. SHALOM carries with it the idea of SEEKING THE OTHER PERSON’S BEST WELFARE with the promise of COMING TO THEIR AID WHEN NEEDED.
G. GOD WILL COME INTO A COVENANT OF PEACE WITH HIS PEOPLE!
God’s covenant of peace with his people involves HIS ASSURANCE with a WONDERFUL PLEDGE TO CARE FOR THEM, TO BLESS THEM and to PROTECT THEM!
H. GOD’S SHALOM WILL ALWAYS BRING:
1. DIVINE WISDOM ...
2. MORE THAN ENOUGH BLESSINGS ...
3. AMAZING GRACE...
4. DIVINE STRENGHT AND POWER...
V. GOD MAKES A PROVISION TO BRING A PEACE OFFERING TO HIS ALTAR!
A. THERE IS A DIRVIATIVE OF SHALOM --- SHELEM ... OR THE PEACE OFFERING... The SHELEM or PEACE OFFERING is what brings the PRESENCE OF THE ALMIGHTY... along with SWEET COMMUNION and FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD.
1 Kings 2:33 Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever: but upon David, and upon his seed, and upon his house, and upon his throne, shall there be peace for ever from the Lord.
B. The Davidic Covenant assures David that the Messiah is coming and that the Messiah will BRING PEACE... and SALVATION... God’s sweet plan is deeper than the covenants of the Old Testament.
VI. THANK GOD FOR THE SHALOM OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, BUT WE MUST KNOW
THERE IS A DEEPER PEACE FOUND IN THE NEW TESTAMENT... IT IS MORE THAN
SHALOM --- IT IS EIRENE...
A. TO UNDERSTAND AND KNOW DIVINE PEACE --- WE MUST:
1. EXERCISE OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S WORD ...
2. KEEP STRONG IN FAITH ...
3. LIVE IN HARMONY WITH YOUR SELF, YOUR FELLOWMEN OR NEIGHBOR.
THEN WE MUST MAINTAIN GREAT HARMONY WITH A HOLY GOD!
B. ONE OF THE ANNOUNCEMENTS THE ANGELS MADE WHEN THE CHRIST CHILD
WAS BORN WAS: PEACE...
Luke 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
C. This New Testament peace has a KEEPING POWER and passes all
the understanding of previous history:
Philip. 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
D. The word: EIRENE is the NEW TESTAMENT WORD for PEACE.
EIRENE appears in every New Testament book but 1 John.
Matthew 5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
E. Luke uses the word EIRENE 14 times in his book.
F. JESUS GAVE A GIFT OF PEACE! DIVINE PEACE IS A GIFT GIVEN BY GOD
TO HIS PEOPLE. You don’t earn a gift, it is given...
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
John 20:19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."
G. There was more than a sense of well being... there is a great peace ... that brings safety and security. The peace that JESUS GIVES brings a sense of what Jesus has already done, what Jesus is doing today and WHAT JESUS IS GOING TO DO!
H. AS THE PEACEMAKER WAS TO THE ARMY, SO GOD GIVES POWER
TO THE CHURCH OF BELIEVERS THAT BY FAITH STEP INTO THE REALM
OF TRUST AND PEACE.
VII. WE ARE CALLED TO BE MORE THAN PEACEKEEPERS, GOD WANTS YOU
TO RELEASE YOUR FAITH AND BE A PEACEMAKER...
A. You will reap what you sow. May we sow great peace, and thus we will
reap great peace...
Matthew 5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
B. The 7th lesson of the BEATITUDES is found in Matthew 5:9 ---
In the Bible 7 is a type of PERFECTION...
C. PEACEMAKER:
A person that works actively to bring reconciliation and peace where there is the tendency to have unforgiveness, enmity and hatred.
D. God is looking for PEACEMAKERS... and God blesses those that try hard
to make peace with their self, with others and with God.
Romans 14:19 Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
E. The FIRE OF STRIFE seems to burn so freely within the hearts of some people. We seem to fertilize the tendency to jump to conclusions and allow facts to dictate to our hearts why we can’t...
F. Do we ask the question: CAN GOD?
Or do we make the statement: GOD CAN! LET HIM...
Psalm 68:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm or Song of David.
Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.
G. PEACE CAN BRING A WONDERFUL SENSE OF GOD’S PRESENCE THAT LEADS
TO A CONFIDENCE THAT GOD IS AWARE OF YOU and YOUR NEEDS...
That all will be well ... that all is well...
This is part one of a two part lesson on PEACEKEEPER VS. PEACEMAKER...
Thanks to Pastor Joe Girdler,
Kentucky District Superintendent of the Assemblies of God for the fodder that started the thinking of this lesson...
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
