Blessed Are The Supernaturally Born Peacemakers

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.

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.

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

Mark 7 · chapter mention

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.

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.

Never forget.

I saw a guy

with a tattoo.

Twin towers,

9-11.

Never forget.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.