Persecuted Peacemakers
Matthew 5:9-12
Harry Stoliker
March 9, 2008 EBC
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Let me begin with this question: Was Jesus a peacemaker?I’ll bet you are thinking:
“Of course he was! He is called the Prince of Peace in Isa. 9!” If
that is true, then why did Jesus say: “I have come to bring fire on earth, and how
I wish it were already kindled!” (Lk. 12:49)? Why did Jesus incite so
many arguments with the Pharisees if he was a peacemaker? Does he sound peaceful
in Matthew 23:27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For
you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are
full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness.” Sounds a bit like he’s
picking a fight with them! Then there is Matthew 10:34-36 "Do not think
that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but
a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and
a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.”
Yet he teaches in the Sermon on the Mt. – The Sermon on Kingdom Discipleship:
“Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God.”
There is an important lesson in this, isn’t there! Being a peacemaker
is different than being a peacekeeper. A peacekeeper
will sacrifice truth in order to gain tranquility, but a peacemaker
will force the issue of truth if need be, in order to obtain eternal peace
with God. I grew up in a family of peacekeepers. We weren’t
interested in truth but only in the absence of conflict. “Let it go! Bury
it! Don’t deal with it! Just go on and forget it ever happened!” But Jesus demonstrated
for us the principle that real peace often has to come through confrontation
with error and sin.
To be a peacemaker is more than just having a pleasant, not combative, gentle
disposition. It means being a person who seeks reconciliation based on truth
with anyone he is estranged from, even his enemies. God is a peacemaker.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 “All this is from God, who through Christ
reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in
Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against
them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”
John Legg: “Peace is primarily what God makes and gives.” God made
peace with us through sending his Son to die for our sins. Again, this beatitude
leads us to the gospel. Peace with God is the really ultimate peace
we have to be concerned with. How can a man be at peace with the Holy God
of the Bible? Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is the peace
that Jesus lived and died to bring to the elect. Colossians 1:20 “…and
through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making
peace by the blood of his cross.” That is the gospel: peace with God through
and because of the blood of Jesus Christ shed for sinners on the
cross. John Stott agrees: “Peace means reconciliation and God is the author
of peace and of reconciliation. It is the devil who is the troublemaker;
it is God who loves reconciliation and is bent on making peace.”
What does it mean to be a peacemaker: Hendriksen put it well by saying: “True
peacemakers are all those whose Leader is the God of peace, who aspire after
peace with all men, who proclaim the gospel of peace, and pattern their
lives after the Prince of Peace.”
The Scriptures are clear on each of these points: 1 Thessalonians 5:23 “Now
may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit
and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Rom. 12:18 “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace
with everyone.” Ephesians 6:15 “…and, as shoes for your feet, having put
on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.” John 13:15-16 “For
I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you.
Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger
greater than the one who sent him.”
Let’s ask ourselves if these 4 points are true of our lives.
(1) Is the God of peace your leader? Do you have peace with God because you
have submitted your life to His Kingship. Matthew is all about the Kingship of
Jesus Christ. We cannot be peacemakers with other people unless we have
made peace with God through saving faith in Jesus. (2) Are you aspiring to be at
peace with all people? That means that you take the initiative to reconcile
your differences with those you have disagreed with, argued with, or had a fight
with. You go to them, humbly, and desirous of putting the relationship back on a
godly track. What if they don’t want to? Well, you do all you can
for the glory of God. You can’t force them to reconcile. (3) Are you proclaiming
the gospel of peace? That means are you telling people about Jesus and the
gospel? Are you witnessing? If you never witness to anyone, then you are
hindering them from finding peace with God! We must witness to people about
where and how to find eternal peace with Christ! Being a peacemaker means
speaking up! Evangelism is not an option if you want to be a peacemaker!
(4) Are you patterning your life after the Prince of Peace? If you had to
summarize the entire life of Jesus Christ in 2 words, what would
they be? Sacrificial love! You are a peacemaker if you are
living like the Prince of Peace! 1 John 2:6 “…whoever says he abides in him
ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
What is this beatitude calling you to do? It is calling you to restore any
broken relationships you have with anyone. That means in your marriage, family,
church, job, school or neighborhood. My guess is that some of us here have some
work to do, right?
1 Thess. 5:13 “Live in peace with each other.” Colossians 3:15 “And
let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in
one body.” Ephesians 4:1-3 “I therefore, a prisoner for the
Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been
called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another
in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
A ‘bond’ is a cord that ties things together tightly.
The OT word for peace is “Shalom!” It is a rich word that means wholeness,
health and well-being.” Is there spiritual shalom in your
marriage? Are you crying out to God for spiritual, Christ-centered, truth-honoring,
God-created Shalom in your church and all your relationships? We
are being called to do all that we can to bring about a sweet spiritual
shalom to all our relationships for the glory of Jesus Christ the Prince
of Peace.
Let’s move on to the next one:
V.10-12 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely
say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great
is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were
before you.”
A. This last beatitude comes as a shock to some.They think, as Sinclair Ferguson
puts it: “Is this the reverse of what we would expect? Men and women
who are poor in spirit, mourn for their sin, live lives of gracious
meekness, long for God’s righteousness, show mercy to others,
are pure in heart, and seek peace between God and man – would such
people not be welcomed with open arms? After all, these are the very men and
women the world needs!”
B. But that is not what our Lord Jesus told us to expect in this world! John
15:20 “Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his
master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” John 15:18
"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”
1 John 3.13 – “Do not marvel, brethren, if the world hates you.”
C. Why do people insult and persecute Christians who are living out the first
7 beatitudes? Because as you live a life of loyalty and obedience to a Sovereign
Christ, their consciences are aroused and troubled. That is exactly
what we read in 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 “For we are the aroma of Christ to God
among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to the one we
are the smell of death; to the other the fragrance of life.” When you don’t steal
things at work, you make the guy who does look bad. Your integrity challenges
his lack of moral character.
D. Our dear brother Richard Lecher did an excellent study on the beatitudes
in SS class a few years back and zeroed in on the reason for our persecution:
“What’s the problem? The world system, all that is of the world, hates
Christ, and thus, hates his children. Our problems, trials and persecutions,
confirm that we are “other-worldly”; that we don’t really belong here. Christ’s
message (and ours) is most irritating to those not of his fold, resulting
in rejection and persecution.”
E. Let me give you an illustration from something that recently happened
to a young man in our congregation. He emailed us to get some spiritual cover. “Hey
guys. Right now I am on a break from class so I had a minute to write all of you.
I came to class tonight with an art project that was assigned for today. I wanted
mine to be great and stand out. Well it did. It consisted of a 18x24 picture of
the American flag changed with what’s wrong in today’s world, meaning: the stars
were now unborn babies that were killed from abortion, red stripes were crosses
for religion and the white strip was guns for war and murder in our country. There
was also a border that was of me in 3 different pictures showing the "hear
no evil, speak no evil, see no evil" bit. Well if this is confusing sorry.
But my professor had me hang mine in front of the class, 45 minutes later I was
able to take it down and sit down. Let me tell you that I was feeling the darkness
in that room. I was asked if I was a Christian and I said yes. People literally
laughed. I was asked if I was against war and abortion, I said yes and again laughter.
Everyone in that room said something negative about my religion. The felling of
being judged and bullied for 45 minutes really took a toll on me. I am thinking
of not going back to class the rest of the night but I know that would mean the
devil wins in a way. Anyway if you would please pray for me to keep strong and keep
being a witness to this class, I’d be grateful. God Bless.”
I also had a business man tell me a story of how he mentioned to his co workers
that he wouldn’t be able to make the 8:30 Friday morning meeting because
he was in a Bible study with some other men. The coworker said: “Are you ok?
This condescending attitude toward people committed to Christ and His Word
is common day persecution we must face.
Sometimes our own family members will try to make us feel guilty because
we stand for righteousness and point out the wrong that they do. They want
us to stop being so “high and holy” and come down here where the rest
of the family is. This is a powerful form of persecution.
F. These real life examples highlight what scholar R.T. France says:
“Because they have committed themselves to follow Jesus and so to adopt the
new values of the kingdom of heaven, they are now going to stand out as different
from other people.” Even better, this example highlights what we find in
Luke 6:23-23 “Blessed are yow he men hate you, when they exclude you and insult
you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day
and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their
fathers treated the prophets.”
G. Should we be surprised at such treatment? Often we are surprised, we are
insulted, we get upset and indignant. We expect justice and fair treatment
and respect from the world. Yet Peter said in his epistle “Dear friends,
do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something
strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in
the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the
Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” (1 Peter 4:12-14)
Just a quick note here: Notice that Peter points to the time when
Christ is revealed in glory. His point is that our glory will be consummated when
Jesus returns. The persecution will continue to that time.
H. Actually, we should be concerned if no one at all ever insults,
hates, rejects or persecutes, treats us with scorn. It may mean that we are not living
a clear enough Christian life to generate any notice. It may mean
that you actually are not a “peacemaker” who is trying to be a minister of
reconciliation. What did Jesus say about this: Luke 6:26 "Woe to you,
when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false
prophets.” This is why Christians can be called “Persecuted Peacemakers.”
I. 2 Timothy 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus
will be persecuted.” We don’t have to seek persecution as we live
for righteousness. God told us it will find us. We must desire a godly life,
that is our task. Yet, there are many great promises that encourage us to endure
with patience and not grow discouraged. Listen to this last quote from Arthur
W. Pink on how blessed we are to suffer for Christ and then I
will give a closing comment.
“The Lord Jesus here pronounced blessed or happy those who, through devotion
to Him, would be called upon to suffer. They are “blessed” because such are
given the unspeakable privilege of having fellowship with the sufferings
of the Savior. They are blessed because such tribulation works in them patience,
and patience works experience and experience works hope, and such
a hope that will not make us ashamed. They are blessed because they shall be fully
recompensed in the Day to come. Here is rich comfort indeed. Let not the soldier
of the Cross be dismayed because the fiery darts of the wicked
one are hurled against him. Remember that “the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us”
(Rom. 8:16).
The mark of a son of God, a disciple of Jesus Christ is that he or she will
be a “Persecuted Peacemaker.” May this be true of us here this morning
and may we all have grace to embrace our calling to the glory of our crucified,
resurrected and reigning Lord Jesus.
Let's pray.
H.