The Beatitudes (Part 7 - The Peacemaker)

Title: Knowing True Peace With God

Text: Matt 5:9

Read Text!!!

Pray!!!

Introduction:

- What is the essence of peace?

- What does it mean to be a peacemaker?

- In order for you and I this morning to be a true peacemaker, we need to know true peace in our lives.

- True peace means more then just being absent from war and conflict, it means harmony, wholeness, soundness, well being and success in all areas of life.

- Let me give you a story of what I am trying to say and where we are going with this message this morning.

- It shows a person who knows true peace and trying to be a peacemaker at the same time.

Telemachus was a monk who lived in the 4th century. He felt God saying to him, "Go to Rome." He was in a cloistered monastery. He put his possessions in a sack and set out for Rome. When he arrived in the city, people were thronging in the streets. He asked why all the excitement and was told that this was the day that the gladiators would be fighting and killing each other in the coliseum, the day of the games, the circus. He thought to himself, "Four centuries after Christ and they are still killing each other, for enjoyment?" He ran to the coliseum and heard the gladiators saying, "Hail to Ceasar, we die for Ceasar" and he thought, "this isn’t right." He jumped over the railing and went out into the middle of the field, got between two gladiators, held up his hands and said "In the name of Christ, forbear." The crowd protested and began to shout, "Run him through, Run him through." A gladiator came over and hit him in the stomach with the back of his sword. It sent him sprawling in the sand. He got up and ran back and again said, "In the name of Christ, forbear." The crowd continued to chant, "Run him through." One gladiator came over and plunged his sword through the little monk’s stomach and he fell into the sand, which began to turn crimson with his blood. One last time he gasped out, "In the name of Christ forbear." A hush came over the 80,000 people in the coliseum. Soon a man stood and left, then another and more, and within minutes all 80,000 had emptied out of the arena. It was the last known gladiatorial contest in the history of Rome.

- If we are not living with true peace, our relationships and our lives will experience no peace and we will not pursue being a peacemaker.

- The very thing we are looking for, if we do not have it, we can not give it.

- We can only give what we have. If we have bitterness, that’s all we can give to our relationships and people.

- If we have true peace, we will experience it in our relationships and want other people to have peace like us.

- So we need to strive to have true peace. How do we have true peace?

- Our world is looking for true peace, where is it found? Before I answer that like me give you this true statistic:

Society of International Law, in London, states that during the last 4,000 years there have been only 268 years of peace in spite of good peace treaties. In the last 3 centuries there have been 286 wars on the continent of Europe alone.

- So true peace is not found in human effort or treaties, but rather only in Jesus Christ.

- In order for us to have peace we must believe and receive into our lives 2 truths about Jesus Christ:

1. Christ was offered on the cross to bear our sins. (Humility)

2. He was buried and in the tomb 3 days and nights and rose again (Restoration)

- The world or the unregenerate society cannot have true peace. They may say they are content in life, but deep inside of every person there is a longing for true peace.

- Money cannot give true peace, relationships cannot give true peace, only Jesus Christ and believing on Him will give you true peace.

- Believing that money, people, family etc will give you true peace will only produce false peace.

- Our world is full of people who are living will false peace and security.

- And because they have no peace inside the Bible says, they cannot be a peacemaker and see God. So that does that produce?

- It leads to depression, unhappiness, loneliness, stress, and anxiety which our world is full of today.

- Statistics say that Self-centered egotistical people score lowest in any test for measuring happiness. (Duke University)

- They show confidence on the outside but on the inside they are not happy. Why? Because they don’t have the peace of God.