Has anybody heard of Fiddler on the Roof?
It's a production, movie,
and I can't remember if all Tevye's daughters sing this,
but at least one of them does.
Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match.
You know what I'm talking about?
Well, over the last couple weeks,
as I've been kind of simmering on Matthew 5-9,
this isn't unusual to happen.
I will grab a song I know,
and I will rework it to meditate on the nature of the Scripture I'm thinking about.
So over the last two weeks, I've been singing this song in light of Matchmaker.
Peacemaker, peacemaker, make us some peace.
And so this past week, if you saw in your news feed or in the paper,
another ISIS suicide bomber who has killed 300 more people,
Peacemaker, peacemaker, make us some peace.
Friday morning, when I looked at my news feed and saw five dead Dallas police officers
who were killed by a sniper,
Peacemaker, peacemaker, make us some peace.
When I hear about some of the ridiculous things being said from political stump speeches,
Peacemaker, peacemaker, make us some peace.
How long is this going to last?
And what about typhoons?
Forest fires, famines and floods.
Peacemaker, peacemaker, make us some peace.
How long is this going to last?
I've got friends who've gone through horrendous fallout from a heroin addiction.
Peacemaker, peacemaker, make us some peace.
Heroin dealers in hospitals?
Are you kidding me?
That's local.
And we all know what I'm about to say.
All of us in this room have experienced relational strain.
Hardship.
Trouble.
Maybe it's with your parents, whether you're a teenager,
or maybe you're a grown adult still struggling with fallout from what happened with your parents.
Peacemaker, peacemaker, make us some peace.
Trouble with your children.
Trouble with your spouse.
You have a dysfunctional family.
You know what that really means?
We lack peace.
Peacemaker, peacemaker, make us some peace.
And then what goes on inside of you?
There are people in this room who are angry.
And given the opportunity, they rage.
In this room.
Fearful.
Verging on paranoid.
Anxious.
Can't sleep.
I have been there.
Insecure.
Maybe you've been diagnosed with OCD.
Maybe you're depressed.
Maybe you have cancer.
It all leads to a lack of peace.
Maybe disappointments have just piled up in your life,
so you just reach the point where it's like,
this life stinks.
Peacemaker, peacemaker, make me some peace.
Do you feel trapped?
You're singing the song.
This creation, under the bondage of sin,
sings a longing song for peace.
All of us, whether redeemed or not,
we all sing it.
Peacemaker, peacemaker, make us some peace.
Peace.
Here's what's amazing about the God of the Bible.
Jesus Christ, God incarnate,
the Prince of Peace,
entered into this hostile,
troublesome mess of a creation
that we made.
And He came to make peace.
What's more amazing is how He did it.
He hung on a cross and shed His blood
in order to make peace.
And now here's what He does.
He takes naturally born rebels
and transforms them by His grace.
He rebirths them into supernatural peacemakers.
You may be asking yourself the question,
where are the peacemakers?
Sitting in this room.
By God's grace, we're the peacemakers.
Blessed are the peacemakers.
For they shall be called sons of God.
Matthew 5.9
I'm not sure if you know this,
but God is on a glorious,
eternal, international,
peacemaking mission.
And at your conversion,
brother and sister in Christ,
you were commissioned
to be His peacemaker.
Blessed are the peacemakers.
For they shall be called sons of God.
And so this morning,
as we turn to Matthew 5.9,
we're back in the Gospel of Matthew,
back in the Sermon on the Mount,
back into the Beatitudes.
I want you to see two things.
It's going to come out later in the sermon,
but I want you to see two things this morning.
You need to know what the Bible says about peace.
You really do.
And then you need to know what it means
to be a peacemaker for God.
So you need to know what the Bible says about peace,
and you need to know what Jesus means
by being a peacemaker.
His peacemaker.
Brother and sister in Christ,
God has called you
on a peacemaking mission with Him.
So what does the Bible have to say about peace?
Well, the first thing you know is,
what does it mean by peace?
What is biblical peace?
Well, since ancient times,
Jews would greet one another with shalom.
And it's a little different than,
yo, what's up?
It's a pronouncement of blessing.
Shalom means peace.
And so when one Jew would greet another,
they would say,
they're saying,
may the peace of God be upon you.
May you be experienced the goodness of God
in ever-creasing measure
in every area of your life.
Shalom to you.
Peace.
When we talk about peace,
biblically,
you've got to realize
it's always connected to God.
Always.
Peace comes from God.
He's the God of peace.
And so what we deal with in our world
is a world trying to make peace without God.
But.
As brothers and sisters in Christ,
born of God,
we make peace,
first and foremost with God.
He is our peace.
So what is peace?
Biblical peace
is the experience
of God's goodness
in relationship to others.
Biblical peace
is the experience of God's goodness
in relationship to others.
And oftentimes we tend to,
we think about peace
as to what it is not.
The absence of something.
You know,
when you don't experience
tension in a relationship
or there's no threats,
no walking on eggshells,
no division,
no shame,
no awkwardness,
you're just like,
oh, this is nice.
No troubles here.
You can think that's peace.
But you know what?
That's not biblical peace.
That's an aspect of it.
But peace,
shalom,
is fullness
of goodness.
Not just the absence
of something.
It's fullness.
It's the experience
of God's fullness.
Fullness of trust.
Fullness of love.
Fullness of understanding
and affection
and acceptance
and safety.
Unity.
Peace
is the experience
of God's goodness
in relationships.
So let me tell you
the story of peace
in the Bible.
In your Bible
from Genesis
to Revelation,
there is a theme
running through it.
It's the theme of peace.
Peace begins
in the garden, right?
God
at peace
with Adam and Eve
in the garden.
And then,
Revelation
ends
with the redeemed
of God
in the presence
of God
in the city
of God.
The new
Jeru.
Shalom.
The city
of peace.
What I'm about
to tell you
is what
the Bible
says
is where we live.
The story
of peace.
Original peace
starts in the garden.
God created
the heavens and earth.
You remember
Genesis 1?
He kept on
repeating something.
Oh, this is good.
This is good.
Good, good, good.
Good, good.
Fullness of goodness.
Goodness.
And then God
drops Adam and Eve
in the garden
and they're loving it.
It's good.
They experience
goodness with God.
Adam,
think about this.
Adam had
a crystal clear
conscience.
He slept
great.
No fears.
Full delight.
All is great.
Relationship
with God.
I mean,
if Genesis 3,
8 is any hint,
Adam and Eve
would hang out
with God
in the cool
of the day
in the garden.
That's awesome.
So,
all was good
with God.
All was good
within oneself.
And Adam
and Eve
experienced marriage
like it was
meant to be
experienced
from the beginning.
God
pulled Adam's
rib out,
created Eve,
and handed Eve
to Adam.
And Adam
said,
Whoa,
man!
And they began
to dance
the dance.
The dance
of marriage.
Adam leading,
Eve following.
And they were
delighted.
They were happy.
At the end of
Genesis 2,
do you remember
what it says?
They were both
naked
and not ashamed.
They knew each
other fully.
They were united
at peace.
No wrongs.
No weirdness.
No hostility.
No trouble.
Original peace.
And then
lost peace.
Genesis 3
rolls around.
The serpent
shows up.
Adam and Eve
sin.
And you know
what happens
for the first time?
You see this
in Genesis 3,
8, 9, and 10.
Do you remember
what Adam did
after he sinned?
God comes down
walking in the
cool of the day.
Adam, Adam,
where are you?
Do you remember
what Adam did?
Why did he hide?
He was ashamed.
For the first time,
internal trouble,
lack of peace,
internal disintegration
began Genesis 3.
And we've all been
dealing with it
ever since.
And it just didn't
end internally.
When God comes
to hold Adam
and Eve accountable,
he says,
Adam, what happened?
And he's like,
that woman
made me do it.
And then Eve said,
that serpent thing
made me do it.
And when God
speaks consequences
on Eve and Adam,
He introduces
hostility into,
He doesn't,
they introduce
hostility into
their relationship.
And God says,
here's a consequence
for it.
Now, instead of
dancing the dance
in unity,
they're going to be
stepping on each
other's does.
They're going to be
arguing about who's
leading the dance.
Conflict,
hardship,
frustration.
Adam is going
to be tempted
to either abdicate
or he's going
to be a tyrant.
Eve is going
to be tempted
to either take
the reins from Adam
or just be a doormat.
peace lost.
Peace lost.
And then there's
the relationship
with creation.
Before the fall,
God's green earth
gave in abundance
and gave freely.
Oh, it was good.
It was good.
Boysenberry trees,
oh, full of berries.
Drop right in your hands,
succulent, wonderful.
After the fall
came the curse
on the earth.
Creation subjected
to frustration.
And now Adam and Eve
would experience
life on this planet
in sweat,
toiling for their food.
And threat!
Now grizzly bears
became an issue.
Threat!
natural disasters
were real.
Worst of all,
Adam and Eve
were kicked out
of the presence of God.
Out you go
from my presence.
And we've all been
living east of Eden
ever since.
Out of the presence
of God.
Original peace,
lost peace,
this is good news
I'm about to tell you.
In Genesis 3,
when God is speaking
to the serpent,
He says something.
He says,
there's going to be
enmity between
your offspring
and the offspring
of the woman.
And then He starts
saying something
really interesting.
He starts talking
about an offspring
from Eve
that will come
and crush
the serpent's head.
though He
will bruise
His heel.
That's called
the proto-evangelium.
The first gospel.
The first speaking
of Jesus coming
to crush
the head
of Satan
to bring peace.
And so the Old Testament,
you know what it is?
We see the
disintegrating effects
of sin
while there's
this anticipation
for this offspring
of Eve
who will come.
The Messiah.
And with Him
will bring peace.
And so we enter
into the coming
of Jesus.
Christmas.
The incarnation
of the second person
of the Trinity.
The Prince of Peace
has come.
And what we learn
from passages
like Colossians 1,
19-23 is this.
He came,
lived a perfect life,
died,
shed His blood,
was raised from the grave
to make peace.
To make peace
with the biggest problem
we got.
Being separated
from God.
Jesus came
and died on a cross
to reconcile us
to God
through the blood
of the cross.
And with His coming,
He makes it now
possible
for us
to experience
unity internally.
Unity with other people.
And eventually,
He puts a hope in us
for experiencing
unity with this planet.
What I love
about the coming
of Jesus
is this.
Our God
just didn't stand around
and throw a pity party
and huff and puff.
He entered
our mess
to make peace.
And so,
here we are living
after the first coming
of Jesus.
And those of us
who have bowed
our knee to Jesus,
who by faith
believed,
trusted
in the finished work
of Christ,
we're at peace
with God.
It's what Ben read.
Romans 5.1.
Therefore,
since you've been
justified by faith,
you have peace
with God
through our Lord
Jesus Christ.
But it's
a partial peace.
Though we're
at peace with God,
we still deal
with our own stuff,
we still deal
with the stuff
of others,
and we still feel
threat from this world.
So,
reconciled peace
is a partial peace.
But there's
a perfect peace
coming.
So,
we've seen
original peace,
lost peace,
reconciled peace
in Jesus.
Perfect peace
is coming.
And perfect peace
is unrestricted.
Perfect peace
is a fullness
of God's goodness
in relationship
to Him,
in relationship
to yourself,
in relationship
to others,
in relationship
to this planet.
When Jesus
comes back,
He's bringing
with Him
perfect peace.
peace.
Resurrected body
for you,
brother.
Resurrected body
for you,
sister.
No sinful
inclination
whatsoever.
You're united
internally.
And then you're
in the midst
of people
who have
resurrected bodies,
the redeemed
of God
from the ages,
every tribe,
tongue,
and nation,
all together
with resurrected
bodies.
No fights,
no divisions.
Unity.
We live in
the New Jerusalem,
the city of peace.
No sweat,
no threat.
It's sweet
and a treat.
And of course,
the greatest
all aspects
of the perfect
peace is that
we will actually
be with the
Prince of Peace.
We will see Him
face to face.
He will wipe
away tears.
We're going to be
with Him
in His place
forever.
The story
of peace
in the Bible.
You know
what that means?
Here's what
that means.
Here's what
we need to be
crystal clear on.
The problem
that causes
all the trouble
in the world.
You know
where the Bible
identifies that?
You know
where the Bible
locates that?
You know
where God
says,
okay,
here is the
source of all
the troubles
that you are
experiencing.
Do you know
what the Bible
says about that?
God doesn't
couch it in
economics.
God doesn't
couch it in
education.
Not politics.
Not race.
God says
the problem
that this
world faces,
the source
of all the
hostility,
is sin
in the
human heart.
That's the
real problem.
I have a
friend who
went under the
knife years
ago.
His doctor
said,
we got to do
some surgery
on you
because we
think this is
the problem.
He went under
the knife.
It was
exploratory
surgery,
and so they
just kept on
cutting them
to try to
find out
what the
problem is.
You know
what they
found?
No problem.
They
misdiagnosed
the issue.
And so their
solution missed
the mark.
For those of
us who are
called to
peacemaking,
now at this
time,
we've got to
be laser
focused on
the problem
so that we
are laser
focused on the
solution.
we can't
misdiagnose
what's going
on.
And God
doesn't let
us.
God says
the greatest
problem we
face is sin
in our hearts
that separates
us from God,
that disintegrates
us internally,
that separates
us from our
friends and
family, and
that originated
the problem
with this
planet.
If you turn
in your Bible
to Mark
chapter 7,
Jesus says
this,
and Jesus
said what
comes out of
a person is
what defiles
him.
For from
within, out
of the heart
of man, come
evil thoughts,
sexual immorality,
theft, murder,
adultery, coveting,
wickedness, deceit,
sensuality, envy,
slander, pride,
foolishness.
All these evil
things come from
within and they
defile a person.
Martin Lloyd
Jones, preacher,
bygone era,
said this,
the explanation
for all our
troubles is
is human lust,
greed, selfishness,
self-centeredness.
It's the cause of
all the trouble
and the discord,
whether between
individuals or
between groups
within a nation
or between nations
themselves.
And only I would
add is even
within you.
What the story
of peace in the
Bible shows us
is the greatest
problem we face
peace.
Is sin in the
human heart.
Which means
the only solution,
the starting point
for peace
is the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
That's the greatest hope.
He alone
is able to
transform
a rebel heart
into a peace
loving heart.
Jesus is the
ultimate peacemaker.
He's the one
who is able
to change hearts.
That's the story
of peace.
That's what your
Bible has to say
about peace.
Now let's
address this.
What does it
mean to be a
peacemaker?
Matthew 5, 9.
Blessed are the
peacemakers,
for they shall be
called sons of God.
I just want to
remind you of a
couple things.
In order for you
to be a peacemaker
and know what a
peacemaker,
what it means,
first thing that it
means is you
never forget.
You never forget
that you,
Christian,
were a natural
born rebel.
You never forget.
In Ephesians 2,
Paul reminds
these Christians
in Ephesus
that they were
born
enemies of God.
Dead in their sin.
Following the prince
of the power of the air.
They were under
God's wrath.
But
God
in His grace
made them alive
together with
Christ Jesus.
and
seated them
in the heavenly
places.
What does it mean
to be a peacemaker?
First and foremost,
it means
remembering
what you were
and what God
has done
for you.
You were dead.
Have you seen
those
9-11
stickers,
billboards?
Never forget.
I saw a guy
with a tattoo.
Twin towers,
9-11.
Never forget.
The Bible
never lets us
forget
who we were.
We were enemies,
rebels
in the flesh.
But God
by His grace
did something
miraculous.
brother and
sister in Christ,
I'm not sure
if you think
about yourself
this way.
But did you
know that you
are actually
a living
billboard
for the
supernatural
outworking
of God's
grace in the
life of a rebel?
Did you know
that?
You are
living proof
that God
is still
doing the
miraculous.
He was
able to
transform you,
a rebel,
into a
peacemaker
by the
blood of
Jesus.
It's a
supernatural
work of
God's
grace.
When Jesus
was talking
to Nicodemus
in John 3,
He talked
about it
like this.
You've
got to be
born again.
You need
to experience
the rebirth
that only
the Spirit
provides.
2 Corinthians
5,
the Apostle
Paul talks
about it
as we
are new
creations.
Old is
gone.
New has
come.
In God's
eyes,
when a
sinner
becomes a
believer,
the miraculous
happens.
Life is
given to
the dead.
Rebels
are made
peacemakers.
It's a
radical work
of grace.
It's a
miraculous
work of
grace.
It's a
spiritual
rebirth.
It's a
becoming
a son
or daughter
of God
most high.
Blessed
are the
peacemakers
for they
shall be
called
sons and
daughters
of God.
You
can never
forget,
brother and
sister of
Christ,
who you
once were.
It'll
help you
remember who
you are
now.
I'm a
peacemaker.
If you
opened up
your Bibles
to the
book of
Revelation
and you
just
paged
through
it,
don't
turn there
right now,
but if you
did,
and you
just paged
through it,
you know what
you would
read?
You would
see these
little
choruses,
little
choruses of
God's people
singing to
God.
And you
know what
they keep
on singing
about?
How their
great God
rescued them
over and
over again.
It's a
great chorus
book.
The blood
of the Lamb
has delivered
me again and
again.
So the
first thing
of what it
means to
be a
peacemaker
is to
remember.
Remember
what God
has done
for you
in Christ
Jesus.
You were
a rebel,
made a
peacemaker
by the
grace of
Jesus,
the ultimate
peacemaker.
We'll never
forget.
That's why we
sing the songs
we do.
We'll never
forget.
We'll keep it
in front of
us.
We were
dead but
made alive.
It's something
to sing
about,
isn't it?
The second
thing you
need to
know what
it means
to be a
peacemaker
is being
a peacemaker
is part
of God's
supernatural
package.
It's a
package deal.
This is
one piece
of the
package.
Now this
is how
the Beatitudes
relate to
one another.
And as I've
been talking
to people
over the
last few
months,
what I'm
about to
say has
really helped
people.
Because if
you're like
me, you
used to
approach the
Beatitudes
kind of
like spiritual
gifts.
You know,
God apportions
spiritual gifts
each to a
particular Christian
for the
building up
of the
body.
And so we
tend to
approach the
Beatitudes
as, well,
Jim here
is, well,
you know what,
he definitely
is the mercy
guy.
And then
Lisa over
here, well,
she's definitely
the pure in
heart lady.
And then,
you know,
Ron, well,
he mourns a
lot over his
sins, so we
got that
covered over
there.
And then,
you know,
the peacemaking,
well, that's
rich because
everybody talks
to rich when
they get in
fights with
one another.
And so we
can approach
the Beatitudes
that way,
but that's
not what
Jesus intended.
The Beatitudes
are a
packaged
profile of
a citizen
of the
kingdom
of Jesus.
they're all
true of a
Christian
in growing
measure.
The Beatitudes
form a
profile,
and when you
look at them,
you can't help
but see
Jesus.
They reveal
spiritual
rebirth.
Let me put it
this way.
Blessed are
the poor in
spirit,
for theirs is
the kingdom
of God.
A sinner
doesn't recognize
their poverty
of spirit
without first
the spirit of
God showing
them.
Blessed are
those who
mourn their
sin.
Sinners don't
mourn their
sins unless
they're convicted
by the Holy
Spirit.
blessed are
the meek,
the gentle.
Gentleness is
the fruit of
the spirit.
Putting others
first,
God's agenda
first,
sinners don't
do that
naturally of
themselves.
That's a
work of
God's spirit.
Hunger and
thirsting for
righteousness,
what?
Are you
kidding me?
An appetite
for holiness,
that isn't
come up naturally
from a sinner.
That's born of
the spirit of
God doing a
work,
a glorious
work.
In someone
reborn.
Blessed are
the merciful.
Goodness and
kindness,
that's the
spirit of
God work.
Purity of
heart,
that kind of
cleansing is a
spirit cleansing.
A transformation
God does.
Peacemaking,
peacemaking isn't
something that
sinners can do.
Not in God's
way of
peacemaking.
naturally born
rebels don't
incline themselves
to peace,
but one born of
the spirit,
a child of
God,
they want
peace because
they take after
their father.
The Beatitudes
are a profile of
those born of
the spirit into
God's family,
into God's
kingdom.
It's a package
profile.
It's what's to
be true of each
of us Christians
in growing measure.
It's quite a call,
isn't it?
The other thing to
note is it's
progressive.
You can't be a
peacemaker without
first being poor in
spirit and mourning
your sin.
It just won't
work.
The Beatitudes
build on one
another and the
spirit of God is at
work in each of us
making us
beautiful in our
father's eyes.
we're taking on
the character of
Jesus.
That's what you
need to know to be
a peacemaker.
You can't forget
who you were so
that you can
remember who you
are, what God
has done for you
in Christ Jesus.
And you've got to
remember that being
a peacemaker is
part of this
packaged profile
of beauty that
God is seeking to
do in you by
his spirit.
Let me summarize
it this way.
Brother,
sister in
Christ,
will you listen
carefully to
this?
Your conversion
to Christ
was your
commissioning
by Christ
to be a
peacemaker
for Christ.
Christ.
Your conversion
to Christ
was your
commissioning by
Christ to be a
peacemaker for
Christ.
God reconciled you
through Jesus so
that you would be a
minister of
reconciliation to
others.
That's who you
are.
What you need to
remember before we
get into the work
of peacemaking,
you've got to
remember who you
are as a
peacemaker.
God made you a
peacemaker by his
grace.
Now, I've only
got a few minutes.
I want to answer
this question.
What do you do as
a supernaturally
reborn peacemaker?
What do you do?
Well, I have four
things, but I can
only really focus on
two this morning for
the sake of time.
The first one I was
going to tell you is
to be a reminder of
God's peace.
That you remind
yourself that you're
at peace with God by
the blood of Jesus.
Jesus.
Peacemakers got to
remind themselves that
God has made peace
with them through the
blood of Jesus.
You've got to do it.
You've got to preach
the gospel to yourself.
The other thing I
want to tell you is
that on this side of
Jesus' second return,
we are prophesiers of
a perfect peace.
We tell a world that
is in mess that there
is a perfect peace
coming with the
coming of Jesus.
We're prophesiers of
a perfect peace.
In the meantime, we're
just living in the
reality of Matthew 24
where Jesus said, hey,
there's going to be
wars and rumors of
wars.
There are going to be
earthquakes and famines
and mess.
There's going to be
tribulation in mounting
measure for my followers.
That's where we're
living right now.
Perfect peace is coming.
But the two things I
wanted to really focus
on this morning is a
peacemaker is a
striver for peace.
A striver for peace.
I know three things are
true of every person in
this room right now.
I know every one of you
is experiencing what I'm
about to say in one of
three ways, okay?
Either you have experienced
personal strain and
trouble with someone
else.
You've experienced that.
Or you are presently
experiencing turmoil,
tension, distrust in a
relationship.
Or three, you will
experience this in a
relationship.
I know that's true of
everyone.
I know it's true of me.
What a striver of peace,
a peacemaker is seeking
to do is bring God's
goodness into relationships
with others.
And so, a peacemaker, a
striver for peace, you
know what that means?
If you are in discord with
someone else, whether a
Christian or a non-Christian,
if you are in discord with
someone else, the first
thing that you must do is
entrust yourself in that
situation to the prince of
peace.
And so, it looks like this.
God, there's something not
right here.
I'm picking up on a vibe or
God, did I do something with
this person?
Because it is awkward right
now.
Prince of peace, would you
bring peace to this
situation?
And in that praying and
entrusting yourself to the
prince of peace, you're going
to ask the prince of peace
something like this.
Oh, Lord Jesus, have I done
something here?
Have I wronged this person?
Is there something for me to
confess to this person?
Do I need to address in order
to remove an obstacle to the
peace you want for us?
Is that what you want for me?
Show me, Lord Jesus, what I
must do.
And it's okay if it's
painful.
Peacemaking is painful.
It's painful for Jesus.
It will be painful for us.
And then, after we ask him,
oh, Lord, what must we do?
Is there something for me to
confess?
Do I need to confront?
Do I need to bring somebody
else in and make peace?
What must I do?
Do I need to do?
Next thing you do is this.
God, help me to love.
Help me to love.
Do you know what drives peace?
Biblical peace?
God, peace?
Love.
Love drives it.
It's the stuff, it's the energy
that gives, compels us to make
peace with others.
That's what God did with us.
Here's the deal.
And I know a lot of you are
here right now.
You're waiting.
You're waiting on peace.
But there's blessing in it.
There's joy in it.
Do you know what it is?
It's knowing that you've
entrusted it to the Prince of
Peace.
And he's going to do a work.
Either now or when he comes
back.
Peace is coming to that
relationship.
Wait on him.
A striver for peace is a
prayer for peace.
And so if you, there's no
other steps you can take right
now towards peace.
There is.
You pray.
You pray God's blessing on
this other person.
You pray good for them.
God's goodness for them.
That they would delight more
and more in the living God.
Whether they're non-Christian,
oh God, bring them to faith.
If they're a believer, oh God,
bless them.
And bring peace.
I know of a story recently.
Ten years it took for a brother
to come around to another brother
to make peace.
It came.
Be a striver for peace.
I want to give you a couple passages
to be grist in your mill of peacemaking.
Hebrews 12.14.
Strive for peace.
Romans 12.18.
If possible, so far as it depends on you,
live peaceably with all.
Peacemaker.
You are a peacemaker.
Strive for peace.
Do what you can.
Trusting in the Prince of Peace.
Experience the joy of knowing
that He's in it and He's working for it.
The last thing
I wanted to tell you this morning.
The work of a peacemaker
is this.
Brothers and sisters in Christ,
we are ambassadors
of peace.
The peace of God.
We are ambassadors.
2 Corinthians 5.18-20.
Paul, the Apostle Paul,
talks about we were made new creations
and entrusted with the ministry
of reconciliation,
of peacemaking.
Do you know what
an ambassador does?
An ambassador lives
in a foreign land
and has hard conversations
with where he's at
to represent his country.
Don't forget,
we live in a foreign land.
We're exiles.
Our country is yet to come.
But here's what I want
to encourage you with.
Two things.
2 Corinthians 5.
I think this is verse 20.
When we speak the gospel
to somebody else,
when we speak the prince of peace
to a rebel,
Paul says,
it's God making His appeal
through us.
God making His appeal through us.
Brother, sister,
you are a peacemaker
and God wants to make an appeal
to peace to rebels
through you.
Be encouraged.
It's His work.
Here's the second thing.
God doesn't make mistakes
in placing people
where they're at.
When you leave this building,
either the front door
or the back door,
there's going to be a little thing
written above the doorway.
You are now entering
your mission field.
Ambassador of Christ,
you're going into
your mission field.
God has placed you
in your immediate family
and extended family.
That's not an accident.
He wants you there
as an ambassador
for His peace.
Neighborhoods,
workplace,
jazzercise,
class,
athletic team,
you're there for a reason.
You're an ambassador,
a peacemaker.
Blessed are the peacemakers
for they shall be called
sons of God.
Where are the peacemakers?
Here are the peacemakers.
God has called you
to Himself
to be a peacemaker.
Let's pray.
God, thank You so much
for Jesus.
Jesus, thank You
for the peace You've made
for us
through Your cross
and that we fear no more
because our biggest problem
has been solved.
And God, we would ask
that You would make us
peacemakers in this city.
That we would be ambassadors.
That we would strive for peace.
That we remind each other
of peace.
And of course,
that we would prophesy
of the peace to come.
Pray this in the name of Jesus.
Amen.