Blessed Are The Peacemakers (Sermon Only) // November 1, 2020

thank you for checking out this sermon video here at hope church we're excited that you came across this message and are tuning in you are joining us for a series called radical red letters kingdom living in a chaotic land if you're joining us for the first time i want to be the first to say welcome to hope church do us a favor and text new to hope to 94090 after you hit send you'll get an immediate response from our team with a link to a short form for you to fill out so we can get to know you better once again thank you for joining us today and enjoy the sermon we live in a world of conflict even i was as i was sitting this afternoon just preparing my heart to come in and and bring this message this weekend i was thinking about that statement we live in a world of conflict is that even the right word is that exactly the way i want to say it and i looked up the definition of the word conflict and here's the definition of the word conflict angry disagreement between people or groups and when i read that i said yep that's exactly the word that i want to use every phrase every word in that definition is really relevant to where we're living right now in 2020. think of the first word angry you seen any of that lately angry angry disagreement you experienced any of that lately between people or groups it's saturating the world that we live in right now we live in a world of conflict most of the news reported today will be news about conflict national conflict conflict between nations between people groups since 1945 and i mentioned 1945 because that's a significant year it's the year that the u.n was born and the u.n brought it was brought to existence with this purpose to have succeeding generations free from the scourge of war in 1945 after world war ii ended the united nations was brought about to remove war from the scourge of humanity and yet since 1945 there have been 450 wars around the world and currently there are 49 armed conflicts taking place in the world right now where people are dying the highest of those this year is in the country of yemen over 16 000 people have been killed in an armed conflict in yemen this year alone there's racial conflict we've witnessed this conflict at a boiling point in our own country this year according to the united states department of justice almost 60 percent of all hate crimes reported in the united states are as a result are based upon race or ethnicity there's personal conflict the united states legal system is the is the costliest legal system on planet earth americans will spend this year over 400 and billion dollars in lawsuit costs i want to give you a box to put that in that is more than the gross domestic product of over 160 nations in the world and in america we'll spend it this year in legal costs there's marital conflict 41 of all adults that have been married have experienced at least one divorce and of course there is political conflict every four years in america we are reminded just how deeply divided we are on so many levels as we are bombarded with vicious attack ads desperately seeking our vote anybody else tired of the texts and the phone messages and the i'm like just get it over with please conflict is a way of life this is normal the world we live in angry disagreement is the way of life but although it's the way of life in the world we live in it's not the way of life for the follower of jesus jesus has called us to something different instead of conflict jesus has called us to peace anybody interested in some peace just say the word out loud say peace peace in your home peace in our community peace in the church peace in the nation peace in the world just peace matthew chapter 5 jesus gathers his disciples on a hillside and he's teaching them about a radical way of life that is kingdom living and in this text of scripture in this teaching he calls us to a radically different way of life but i'm afraid much of the church in north america we've settled for something so much less and what we've been doing here at hope church over the last several weekends is we've been walking through verse by verse these what what what have become known as the beatitudes these teachings of jesus that describe radical kingdom living we come to another one of them this weekend i want you to open your bible if you have it to matthew chapter five before i read this text let me remind you what a beatitude is we gave you a definition early on here's the definition it's eight radical declarations of kingdom living resulting in contentment in the midst of the chaos that's what each of these are so far we've looked at six of them we're going to look this weekend at the seventh next weekend will be at the eighth and listen i don't think it is coincidence at all that on the eve of a presidential election we've landed where we are in matthew chapter five beginning in verse 1 listen to what it says when jesus saw the crowds he went up on the mountain and after he sat down his disciples came to him he opened his mouth and began to teach them saying blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted blessed are the gentle for they shall inherit the earth blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see god now number verse number nine the seventh of these beatitudes blessed are the peacemakers what a word for us heading into this week blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of god want to do like we've done each weekend i want to take this verse of scripture and i want to address a couple of questions the first question is simply what is a peacemaker what does jesus mean when he uses this word when jesus said blessed are the peacemakers to let you in on a little bit of a nugget here jesus is the only person in the new testament who ever uses this word this word is not used anywhere else in the bible but right here in matthew chapter 5. jesus is the only one in recorded scripture that ever speaks this word blessed are the peacemakers what is a peacemaker well we need to break the word apart it's it's it comes from a root word and the root word is peace now although peacemaker is only used one time in the bible the word peace is referred to over 400 times in the bible it's referred to in every book in the new testament except the letter of first john k author a great bible teacher and greek scholar the one that founded some of you ladies may be familiar with the precept bible study ministry k arthur founded that she's a phenomenal student of the greek language listen to what she said about this particular word peace he said she said the greek word for peace signifies harmonious relationship and therefore refers not simply to the absence of war but to the presence of reconciled relationships the absence of war is truce truce is when we agree to stop fighting peace is more than truce peace is more than just not fighting peace means we've experienced reconciliation where there was disagreement where there was division there is now a reconciled relationship so this word peacemaker it's built on the word peace but in the greek language the word peacemaker is a compound word it's got a verb added to the word peace and it's the verb to make or to do and so when the word is used here peacemaker it describes one who seeks to bring reconciliation between people who are opposed it speaks to reconciled relationships at the heartbeat of the word peacemaker is the idea of reconciliation so let me give you a biblical definition of this word peacemaker here it is it's one who takes responsibility for reconciling broken relationships i want you to hear this as followers of jesus as citizens of the kingdom it's your responsibility and it's my responsibility to reconcile broken relationships that's who we are as a kingdom people that's how we're to live as followers of jesus we should be about radical counter-cultural action of reconciling broken relationships wherever they exist in our circle of influence remember the old canaan abel story when cain rose up killed his brother abel god approached cain and cain said am i my brother's keeper here's what this verse says yes you are we have a responsibility to reconcile broken relationships and here's an interesting thought this single beatitude has the greatest possibility and the greatest potential to immediately impact and change your family our church our community and our nation in a world of conflict how radical would it be if there were a people and that people were known for peace they were known for in the midst of conflict bringing reconciliation between those who are opposed so that's what it is to be a peacemaker now i want to take the next step and ask the next question what does it look like practically to live this out to be a peacemaker what does it look like practically in our lives and i'm going to give you three statements that i think will build the case in three spheres of what it looks like for you and how to live out peacemaking in our daily lives here's the first one i am responsible to share with others how they can have peace with god one of the first ways that you and i are to demonstrate this idea of being peacemakers is that we have a responsibility to share with other people how they can experience peace with god one of the great truths of the bible is that through jesus we have been given peace with god let me show it to you in the bible romans chapter 5 and verse 1. look what it says paul writes and he says therefore having been justified by faith we have say it out loud peace with why did we need peace with god because we were in a disagreement with god you see god is holy god is righteous we were unholy we were unrighteous by our very lives by our choices by our decisions we shook our fist in the face of god and said we don't care what you say we're going to do what we want to do and because of our sin because of our rebellion against god we were at odds with god we were in conflict with god and there was nothing we could do to reconcile us back there was nothing we could do to get peace with god but the bible says we've been given peace with god through our lord jesus christ jesus is the mediator who stepped in between god and man took all of our sin on himself died on a cross rose again from the dead and when you and i put our faith and trust in jesus we're given peace with god here's what that means as you sit here today if you've put your faith in jesus there's nothing between you and god did you hear it we say that out loud have you know what that is that's past tense that means it's already been given to us how does that how's that possible through what jesus did because of jesus we already have peace with god you can lay your head down on your pillow tonight and know god is pleased with you because he sees you in christ if you're here today or you're watching online and you are not yet a follower of jesus you've never come to the place where you put your faith and trust in christ as you sit today you sit an enemy of god you're at war with god because of your sin and there's nothing you can do in your own strength to fix that but christ has already made a provision through his death burial and resurrection so that all you have to do is turn from your sin receive jesus as the lord and savior of your life and you will be given by grace peace with god be given peace with god so before i go even any further i'm going to ask you to just take a quick moment just bow your head all over the room for just a minute if you're watching online just bow your head for just a moment do you have peace with god have you realized your sin and turn from your sin and put your faith and trust in jesus as the only hope of salvation if not right where you're sitting right now you can pray and you can put your faith in jesus it's not the words of a prayer that brings salvation it's faith in christ it's turning to christ in repentance and faith you can do that right now just cry out to him say lord jesus i know that i'm a sinner i know that only you can make me right with god i receive you as my lord and my savior i turn from my sin thank you jesus for saving me now look this way i want you to look at this verse listen if you just put your faith in jesus listen what the bible says this is what pastor vance says not what hope church is what the bible says therefore having been justified by faith you now have peace with god through our lord jesus christ you've been declared right with god and if you just did that we'd love to walk with you we want to know about that we want to help you there are a couple ways you can do that if you're in the service today when you leave you can stop by a tent outside and we'd love to talk with you or either in the service or online you can just text the number 94090 94090 and just put the phrase jesus follower in there and we'll follow up with you today and have a conversation with you about what it means to now have peace with god but this word that jesus uses here peacemaker another greek scholar spirit zodiac says he's not simply one that brings peace between individuals but a peacemaker is one who shares the good news of the peace of god that he's experienced once you've experienced the peace of god it should be a top priority in your life to share with others how they can experience peace with god paul writes about it this way in second corinthians chapter five listen what he says therefore if anyone is in christ he's a new creature the old things have passed away behold new things have come amen but then look what he says now all these things are from god who reconciled us to himself through christ and listen gave us the ministry of reconciliation you see as citizens of the kingdom not only have we been made right with god through christ not only have we been reconciled to god but now god has given us the ministry of reconciliation look what he goes on to say namely that god was in christ reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them and he's committed to us the word of reconciliation therefore we are ambassadors for christ as though listen to this god we're making his appeal through us how are people in las vegas supposed to find out about the truth that they can have peace with god how are people who live on your street supposed to know they can have peace with god how are people across our nation and around here's how god is making his appeal through us how does this apply to where we're living right now if you're more concerned about who your naval neighbor will vote for as president then you are whether or not they have found peace with the king of kings you are not living as a peacemaker if you're finding yourself having more political conversations these days than gospel conversations you're not seeking first the kingdom as a peacemaker you see what's happened we've allowed the world and the conflict of the world to dominate where we're living we've allowed it to dominate our thoughts so listen i'm not saying it's not important it's important my family's already voted we take that seriously we have civic responsibility the elections matter there are consequences to elections it's significant i'm just saying it's not eternal like the souls of men and women presidents come and presidents go but the king is still sitting on the throne and the souls of men and women are still hanging in the balance of eternity and god desires to make his appeal through us wake up church we've been called to be peacemakers part of that is our responsibility to share with others how they can have peace with god but secondly i'm responsible to pursue peace in my relationships with others this expression of peacemaking is true in all of our relationships sometimes we think this only applies to us as brothers and sisters in christ but listen to the way the writer of hebrews says it in hebrews chapter 12 and verse 14. look what he says pursue peace with say it out loud oh man it literally means every human being he doesn't say pursue peace with everybody who thinks like you do he doesn't say pursue peace with everybody from the same culture you're from he doesn't say pursue peace with those who share your beliefs and convictions the writer of hebrew says we're to pursue now you need to understand this word pursue it's a hot word it means to make every effort it's describing a a continuous seeking after it's it's running hard after something like you're chasing it as christians we're to be known as people who chase after peace with everybody one writer john owen said it this way the essence of our duty toward all other people in all circumstances and relationships is to seek peace with them now understand when i say peace it's not a peace at any cost it's not just letting everybody say whatever they want to say and believe whatever they want to believe and we never we never have disagreements we never no reconciliation is working through that stuff that's why paul writes it this way in romans 12 he says if possible so far as it depends on you be at peace with all men because sometimes you can go to every length and still not find peace but the point of this text is that we should do everything we can not compromising righteousness that's another part of the characteristics of kingdom living not compromising truth that's another part of the the the characteristics of kingdom living not compromising purity but we're to pursue peace we're to pursue reconciliation i love the way paul said it as far as it depends on you and that raises the question how do i know when i've done enough here's how you know ask somebody else to look at it for you you don't be the one to make the determine well i think i've done enough now usually when you think you've done enough you hadn't done enough yet you need to get somebody whose emotions are not engaged in the conversation to take a look at it and help you evaluate whether or not you've done enough yet here's an application of this are you more known for making your point or for making peace we live in a world of social media where everybody thinks their opinion matters jesus is a peacemaker the devil is a troublemaker who do you more resemble there's not a lot of middle ground here am i a peacemaker am i a troublemaker although this principle applies to all our relationships it has deeper implication in our relationships with one another's brothers and sisters in christ the faith community you see the world today more than ever needs to see the reconciling power of the gospel demonstrated in the diversity of god's family we are different colors we are different cultures we have different perspectives we have different ideals we have different opinions but by the power of the gospel we have been united as brothers and sisters in christ we are one family and what unites us is so much greater than that which divides us what if today the church of jesus christ a reconciled bloodball diverse family of faith sent out into this world was known for seeking peace then the world would sit up and take notice and say man they got something that we don't have scott mcknight theologian said this the church is god's world-changing social experiment of bringing unlikes and different to the table to share life with one another as a new kind of family when this happens we show the world what love justice peace reconciliation and life together are designed to be by god the church is god's look at this the church is god's show and tell for the world to see how god wants us to live as a family the world should be able to look at the church and say oh that's what it looks like that's what brotherhood that's what sisterhood looks like that's why paul writes to the church first thessalonians and he says live in peace with one another we don't have time to unpack all this but but this this describes a constant state of existence it's a it's not a momentary it's it's every moment we're living in peace with one another paul's describing here living out the reconciliation that we've experienced with god this way with our brothers and sisters in christ this way and here's what i would say to you anytime reconciliation this way is real it always expresses itself in reconciliation this way if i'm not experiencing reconciliation in my relationships this way i need to ask some serious questions about what i'm declaring to be reconciliation in my relationship this way peacemaking you ever had conflict in your relationships within the church if you haven't just wait i had a little bit today to be honest with you unexpected text it's like the enemy knew i'm preaching on peacemaking and i get this bless your heart text that did not bless my heart you put thousands of people from different walks of life backgrounds cultures perspectives reconciled together in the body of christ with one father let me tell you what's going to happen at times we're going to have some conflict my wife and i there's two of us and we have some conflict there's thousands of us in this family there'll be conflict here's the point look at it unresolved conflict and relational brokenness have no place in the family of god period what jesus is describing here are people who are relentless about their responsibility to reconcile broken relationships and remove conflict doesn't mean we can't have different perspectives does not unity does not mean uniformity there is diversity expressed within the context of unity but unity means what unites us is bigger than what divides us and we choose to come together as the body of christ jesus gave a real practical example of how to handle this matthew chapter 5 a little later in this sermon that we're studying where he gave the beatitudes jesus makes this statement listen what he said this is radical therefore if you're presenting your offering at the altar now if we're writing this today here's what we say therefore if you're a church and you're about to worship the band is playing the lights are up and there you remember that your brother has something against you leave your offering before the altar and go get this first be reconciled to your brother then come present your offering you know what he's saying if your relationships with your brothers and sisters in christ are broken your worship is in vain go get that right listen the first act of worship is not to sing with the band the first act of worship is to seek reconciliation with your brother and sister in christ and then and only then can we bring in a spirit of worship that honors and worships and praises the king of kings martin lloyd jones said it this way about that that verse that jesus just spoke he said if you're in a state of conscious enmity against another if you are not speaking to another person or if you are harboring these unkind thoughts and are a hindrance and an obstacle to that other god's word assures you that there is no value in your attempted act of worship it will avail you nothing the lord will not hear you according to our lord there is the matter is so vital that you must as it were even keep god waiting go and put it right he says then he you cannot be right with god until you first put yourself right with man peacemaking owning the responsibility to be right then there's a third piece to this i'm responsible to share how others can experience the peace that i've experienced with god i'm responsible to pursue reconciling relationships in my own life but then finally i'm responsible to seek to bring peace between others the implication of the words of jesus is that the peacemaker is actively seeking to bring reconciliation wherever brokenness is found meaning this is not limited just to my brothers and sisters in christ that i'm in relationship with when i see brokenness as a kingdom citizen i'm to pursue reconciliation and broken relationships not only am i to seek reconciliation when i have a broken relationship but i'm to follow the leadership of the holy spirit in reconciling broken relationships around me be those in my faith community be those in my neighborhood be those on the job be those in the community be thou be those at the ball field i'm to be a peacemaker it's who we are as followers of jesus it's part of being a kingdom citizen now don't mishear me i'm not talking about being a busybody and a meddler and putting your nose in everybody's business i am talking about a sensitivity to the holy spirit of god when you sense a burden's been laid on your heart where you see brokenness and in submission to the holy spirit after much prayer you go and you begin to engage to try to bring peace into that situation that is our responsibility as brothers and sisters in christ think about it just in the world of social media posting are you peacemaking are you troublemaking are we seeking to reconcile are we seeking to divide there's that you can't play the middle on this it's real clear what jesus is calling us to and do you see how radical it looks in the world we're living in like when the world sees this it's so different it's attractive well why wouldn't we do this what are what are some of the obstacles i'm going to give you quickly just i'm going to give you four of them real quick here's some common obstacles to peacemaking number one unforgiving spirit i've been wronged and i deserve to be offended no jesus said forgive each other just as god in christ has forgiven you a second one is taking up the offenses of others god's given you the grace to forgive a wrong done to you but he's not giving you the grace to forgive the wrong to somebody else and what happens is often we see that and we take up that offense for our friend our relative our spouse and instead of encouraging them to pursue peace we become a champion for maintaining the broken relationship well look what they did to you you ought to be upset when what we ought to be doing is seeking feasts listen here's what i'm telling you if you become that kind of person that takes up everybody else's offenses i like to call them garbage can ears i don't know why everybody just comes and vents to me let me tell you why because you've got garbage can ears they know you'll take it and lather it up with them we take up others offenses here's a third obstacle we have a tongue that's out of control proverbs says troublemakers start fights gossips break up friendships proverbs 16 28 another obstacle is a lack of compassion remember we talked about mourning a few weeks ago blessed are those who mourn mourning is a brokenness before god born out of time spent and fellowship with him and the outward expression of that is compassion towards others one of the reasons often we're not seeking peace and reconciliation is because we lack compassion and empathy to put ourselves in somebody else's position because we're not broken before god over the damaged sins caused in their life let me wrap this up one last question what's the promise to those pursuing peace look what he says verse 9 blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of god it's interesting it's in the passive voice you say why does that matter then the active voice in the greek language the subject does the action in the passive voice it means the subject is the recipient meaning this blessed are the peacemakers for they call themselves the sons of god no that's not what it says when you're a peacemaker jesus said here's what's going to happen others are going to say about you man that's what god's child looks like and i think there are two implications to this first of all there's an immediate promise an immediate fulfillment of this and i think that's the contrast with the world that we're living in they look at you and they see something so radical and seeking peace and reconciling relationships that the world says man that's different that's different it's why jesus said by this all men will know you're my disciples by your love for one another the radical way we live out relationship with each other is the greatest witness to a watching world of the difference jesus made in our lives so there's an immediate application of this where others see us pursuing peace and reconciliation and they say about us man that's that that's that's what a christian is but i think there's an ultimate promise here blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of god who's he talking about here both of my boys played high school basketball my younger son elijah started playing basketball a little later than his older brother and he started about middle school and sixth grade year and kind of struggled a little bit to learn this work by a seventh grade year man he'd really picked it up and was doing well and was a starter on his team and i'll never forget one particular game it was when he'd really just kind of learned the game and and was really kind of getting his stride he had one of the best games he'd ever had i mean he had scored more points gotten more rebounds than any game he'd ever had and you know as a dad who played all kinds of sports i'm sitting up there in the stands i've kind of got that proud dad you know he's doing well out there on the court and then in the second half of the game the team our team got up pretty big in the score and so they brought some kids off the bench who didn't really know how to play the game very well we're learning the game in that middle school age and elijah was on the court with one of those boys and one of those boys did something that was just a really significant mistake and you could tell it just crushed a little boy and he's kind of running up the court with his head down and i look up and elijah has run up beside him and is running with him up the court with his arm around him saying hey you it's all right man you're going to be doing good and i'm telling you everything in me wanted to stand up and scream that's my boy because he was living out something that i valued here's what i think this verse says blessed are the peacemaker one day when the king comes again and we're brought into the presence of the father that's my child that's my son that's my daughter and one of the reasons is because he's seen in us this value of christ's likeness that is radically pursuing reconciling broken relationships wherever they exist in our circle of influence why does he celebrate that because it's who jesus is that's what the father always celebrates in us remember when paul wrote about the fruit of the spirit he said but the fruit of the spirit is what love joy peace peace we're called to be peace makers and what i want to do at this point in our service this weekend is i want to take a moment and i want to lead us in a word of prayer and specifically i want to pray for our nation so would you just bow your head with me in this moment father we just come before you right now and god we want to pray as your people we want to cry out to you understanding that you are the source of all peace as peacemakers the first step i believe for us as followers of jesus in pursuing peacemaking is prayer the greatest weapon in our arsenal in the pursuit of peace is prayer so this weekend in all of our services and online we're going to be praying together in light of what our country is facing this week and listen this is not a moment for political partisanship we are praying for the kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven so i want us to take just a moment right where you're sitting either in the room or online and i want you to pray for our nation in this coming week and i want you to begin by praying for god's will to be done in the election now i know that some of you think you know god's will in the election but let's let god be god and let us be his people let's do our duty let's vote but let's trust god and let's ask god to accomplish his will in this election i want you to pray for the candidates that are running pray for all of them the scripture says that we're to pray for kings and all who are in authority it doesn't say pray for all the ones you agree with or the ones you like we're to pray for all of them the two parties right now have four main names in front of us and i want you to pray for them donald trump mike pence joe biden kamala harris i want you to pray for those four names pray for righteousness and justice and wisdom [Music] and here's what i want you to do i want you to now tell god that you trust him just tell him you trust him [Music] he's the one in control and listen he's never up for a vote he's never up for election god is on the throne and that is an unchanging reality so just tell him you trust him here's what that means you can sleep good tonight you can sleep good tomorrow night you can sleep good next week because god's in control doesn't matter what happens in an election god's in control secondly i want you to pray for unity i want you to pray for unity in our church unity in our city and unity in our nation [Music] i want you to examine your own heart and ask the lord if you've been living as a peacemaker and if there's anything in your own heart that you need to repent of in this moment do that right now embrace god's forgiveness god's grace if there's any relationship that needs to be reconciled take those steps and then lastly i want you to pray what jesus said in matthew chapter 6 for your kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven our father who art in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven now before i close us in prayer and we spend one final song in worship i want you look this way we've prepared a tool that we want to make available to you we've taken the beatitudes and we've written a prayer guide for the next eight days out of the beatitudes you can find that prayer guide on our mobile app the hope church app or you can locate it on our website if you don't have access to the app but we've written a prayer guide with all eight days of these eight radical statements so that we can literally pray the kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven i want to challenge you to take that prayer guide for the next eight days and make that a part of your regular devotional time with jesus if you agree to do that to pray and seek god's face as step one in making peace just say amen

Channel: Hope Church LV

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Id: Nn6m7TwyRrE

Length: 46min 50sec (2810 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 01 2020