Sermon
on the Mountainside
Sons
of God are Peacemakers
Jesus
handled the issues of social injustice with a demand of personal repentance
Jesus
came to create pure hearts in the lives of individuals
Pure
hearts that will see God Matthew 5:8
Pure
hearts that when they see God will see He is the Prince of Peace
Not
all will have a change of heart
Not
all will be reconciled and persecution will continue
But
if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound
in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.
1
Corinthians 7:15
Division
will come, and when it comes, God shows who is approved 1
Corinthians 11:19, 2 Corinthians 10:18
In
the end the weightier matter is righteousness
Our
salvation requires us to have a pure heart
And
to be peacemakers reconciling others to God the Prince of Peace
Sons
of God are Peacemakers
The Sermon on the Mountain or the Beatitudes
is Jesus’ teaching on eternal life or salvation.
Jesus is teaching on the changed heart
and what the changed heart receives.
Jesus tells us who will see God…
It is those who are pure in heart.
Jesus’ next point of salvation
is becoming “Sons of God”.
True children of God are peacemakers.
If we want to see how to become
a son of God we can look at…
John 1:12 says…
“To
all who received him [Jesus],
who
believed in his name,
he
gave the right to become children of God.”
Galatians 3:26 says…
“For in Christ Jesus you are
all
sons of God, through faith.”
In other words, we become sons of God by
trusting in Christ for our forgiveness and hope.
Children resemble their father.
We know from Scripture that the
Heavenly Father is a “God of peace”.
Heaven is a world of peace.
Most important of all,
that God is a peacemaker.
“God was in
Christ reconciling the world to himself,
not counting
their trespasses against them.”
“He made peace
by the blood of the cross.”
Being a son is the result of the Spirit.
Because
you are sons, God sent
the
Spirit of his Son into our hearts,
the Spirit who calls out, "Abba,
Father."
Galatians 4:6
For
you did not receive a spirit that
makes
you a slave again to fear,
but
you received the Spirit of sonship.
And
by him we cry, "Abba, Father."
Romans 8:15
So we do not earn or merit the
privilege to be called sons of God,
rather we owe our new birth to the
sovereign grace of God.
We owe our faith to the
impulses of the new birth.
We receive the Holy Spirit by
the exercise of this faith.
The fruit of this Spirit is peace.
And those who bear the fruit
of peace are the sons of God.
Our whole salvation,
from beginning to end,
is all of grace — therein lies
our hope and joy and freedom.
But our final salvation is not unconditional.
We must be peacemakers.
Therein lies the earnestness and great
seriousness with which we must
deal with these Beatitudes, and
seek the grace of God in our lives.
A few verses after Jesus says…
Blessed are the peacemakers.
He tells us
how to be peacemakers…
"You
have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I
tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may
be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the
good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those
who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing
that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others?
Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is
perfect.
Matthew 5:43-48
Peacemakers “Love
your Enemies”.
Our Father in heaven causes the rain and
sun to bless the righteous and unrighteous.
In the same way, we are to treat our enemies
the same way we would treat our friends.
Don’t just love those who love you.
Greet enemies as you greet friends.
Greetings
start with a smile and
looking into the eyes of others.
It is reaching out in a way that
says, “I do care about you”.
The greeting is the first phase
of the bridge of reconciliation.
Peacemakers “pray
for those who persecute you”.
Our prayer should be the prayer Jesus taught…
"'Our
Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your
kingdom come, your will be done
on
earth as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6:9-10
Our prayer should be that our enemies
would recognize the holiness of our
Father in Heaven and see the importance
of our Father’s Kingdom in earth.
So the very prayer we pray for ourselves
is to be the
prayer for others.
Peacemakers must build on purity.
The pure in heart will see God.
Without truth you cannot have lasting peace.
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
He revealed truth to us so that we might have
peace with God and peace with one another.
Jesus was well aware of world issues.
Was Jesus aware that the iron hand
of the Roman Empire rested on the tiny
land of the Jews without their consent?
He was aware that Archelaus slaughtered
three-thousand Jews at a Passover celebration.
He was aware that the Roman soldiers could
conscript any Jew they chose to carry their baggage.
He was aware that Pilate had his soldiers
bludgeon a crowd of Jews protesting his
stealing from the temple treasury.
Was he aware that Pilate massacred Jews
on the temple ground and mixed their
blood with their sacrifices they were offering?
Jesus handled the issues of social injustice
with a demand of personal repentance.
Jesus came to create pure hearts
in the lives of individuals.
Pure hearts that will see God.
Pure hearts…
When they see God, they will
see He is the Prince of Peace.
Not all will have a change of heart.
Not all will be reconciled
and persecution will continue…
But
if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so.
A
believing man or woman is
not
bound in such circumstances;
God
has called us to live in peace.
1 Corinthians 7:15
Division will come, and when it
comes, God shows who is approved.
1
Corinthians 11:19, 2 Corinthians 10:18
In the end the weightier
matter is righteousness.
Our salvation requires us to have a pure
heart and to be peacemakers reconciling
others to God the Prince of Peace.
Scripture Reading
Matthew 5:9 NIV
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
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