Jesus is not describing eight different people, but one – These are the birthmarks of the believer. The marks of being born again. Now we come to the seventh one, verse 9.
You could always tell when Jesus was around. No matter what was going on, no matter what crowd, you could always tell when He was there. The quality of conversation suddenly changed. When there was fear, there was peace and hope; when there was sadness, there was joy; where there was a funeral, there was a resurrection. Jesus’ presence always made a difference.
Now we are told to walk with Him. We are to have the mind of Christ. Now I wonder if your presence makes a difference. It should. Verses 13-14. When you walk into a room, do you raise the level of conversation or do you lower it. Some folks, everywhere they go, they lower the quality of life. Yet that is not how it should be. A Christian’s presence in an office, a school, in a home, ought to make a difference.
Now Jesus didn’t say, “Blessed are the peace-lovers.” but “Blessed are the peace-makers.” Those whose presence has an active effort on the world in which they live. The way we are to impress the world is through this quality of peacemaking.
I. The Word Peace has Two Aspects – Negative and Positive
1. Negatively, it means the cessation of hostilities, the end of war.
2. The positive element, the bringing about of the blessings of God.
3. Peace does not mean that we just quit bombing, but that now we rebuild what we’ve bombed.
4. Jesus said one of the qualities of my people is that they bring about a quality of life that causes hostilities to stop, the fighting to stop.
5. But more than that, their presence causes God to bless.
II. Two Significant Things about the Position of this Beatitude
1. First, it is number seven. It is the last Beatitude which describes the character of the Christian.
2. The last Beatitude does not describe the character of a Christian, but it describes the character of the world in which the Christian lives.
3. It is last, it is the ultimate of Christian character. My ability to have a good relationship with other people, my horizontal relationship.
4. The proof of my love to God is my love to my brother, 1 John 4:19-21. That is the proof that my relationship with God is right.
5. Some come to church on Sunday and act like we are waiting for a vacancy in the Trinity. Watch out the rest of the week.
a. They are quarrelsome, rude, impolite, touchy.
b. Like living in the eye of a hurricane.
c. Everywhere they go they stir up trouble.
6. If you ask them if they are a good Christian, they will tell you. “Yes.” They go to church every Sunday, teach a Sunday school class, work on a bus, sing in the choir.
7. Jesus said, “If that’s the extent of your religion, you are a phony, a hypocrite.” Blessed are the peacemakers.
8. The second significant thing about this Beatitude is that it comes after all the others. What is Jesus saying?
a. You can’t be a peacemaker until you have become poor in spirit.
b. You can’t be a peacemaker until you’ve mourned over your own failure.
c. You can’t be a peacemaker until you are meek, hunger and thirst after righteousness, merciful.
9. You cannot get your relationship right with man until you have it right with God. The other six. By the way, a peacemaker is one who reconciles.
10. Matthew 5:23-25, Three things about being a peacemaker.
III. It is Indispensable to my Fellowship with God
1. 1 John 1:3, we cannot have fellowship with God unless we are having fellowship with each other.
2. Notice the priorities, verse 23-24
3. I want to draw near to God, but not this person. I don’t care for them. It is an impossibility. You can not draw near to God without loving the brethren.
4. It is indispensable to my worship. God will not accept our offering if we have aught against our brother.
5. I find that when I preach, God is not listening so much to my preaching as he is looking at my heart.
6. God accepts it all on the basis of my heart. 1 Samuel 16:7, Matthew 5:23-24, Can you imagine what that would do to the average Baptist Church.
7. Can you think of someone today who has ought against you? We try to compensate instead of making things right.
a. We pray more.
b. We study more.
c. We give more.
8. There's no substitute for getting it right.
a. God doesn't want me to pray more. He wants me to apologize.
b. He doesn't want me to study more, when more souls, give more. He wants me to apologize.
9. It is indispensable to the spirit filled life, Acts 2:1, 4:32, 5:12.
10. it is indispensable to your prayer life, 1 Peter 3:7.
IV. It is to be Initiated by Us
1. Who is to take the initiative, versus 23-24. you, because you remembered.
2. Have you ever noticed how your memory is quickened when you start to pray. The devil helps, then the spirit of God comes.
3. You try to pray all around that unconfessed sin, but you remember, it becomes your responsibility.
4. Notice, it does not say that if you have ought against your brother. We sometimes try to excuse ourselves by saying well I'm not mad at him.
5. If you know he has something against you, you take the initiative. You make it right. You be the peacemaker.
6. What if I have ought against someone? What should I do? What if you're not even aware of it? Mark 11:25-26
7. You forgive. You say, “I can't forgive.” Yes, you can! Forgiveness is not an emotion, it's a decision. It is simply tearing up and I.O.U. that you hold against someone.
8. We are marvelous bookkeepers of other people's sins.
9. You say, “I can't forget!” No, only Jesus can do that, but you can forgive.
V. It is to be Done Immediately
1. Verse 25
2. Why? The longer it goes, the deeper entrenched it becomes. The roots of bitterness go deep. Ephesians 4:26
3. You're on the way to the judge. We are all on the way to the great judge. James 5:9
4. The time is short. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called, recognized by everybody as the children of God.
