Matthew 5:9 (Peacemakers)
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).
We live in a hostile world. It seems everywhere we turn today there are people, groups and nations at war with one another on a range of political, social, cultural and religious grounds. Yet this trend is nothing new to mankind, for opposition has stood the test of time and continues to thrive in a post-modernistic world that clings to self-truth. Is there not an answer to this madness?
Praise God there is, for as Christians we believe God has provided us with the tools necessary to facilitate peace. Therefore, we must look no further than the Word of God that “is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path” (Psalm 119:105), and the Holy Spirit who “searches everything, even the depths of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10) for counsel and direction.
As we have studied previously, the Beatitudes build upon one another. Therefore, a man who seeks to be a peacemaker humbly seeks God’s grace for his salvation, mourns the destructive power of sin in his life and the lives of others, casts aside his selfish desires in meekness, pursues righteousness passionately, shows mercy to others in light of the infinite mercy God has given him, and seeks a purity of heart that overshadows his entire life.
He cannot fathom attaining a level of true peace without living out the first five Beatitudes. They provide support to his peacemaking and enable him to seek and promote peace at the expense of himself because he has been made holy and righteous through humble repentance unto God and living out the Gospel through his own life. Specifically, a man who is a peacemaker is one who is meek, for he has only one concern which is the glory of God amongst men.
Scripture admonishes, “Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:14), because peace can only be pursued with a heart that is motivationally pure. Moreover, one’s heart must be devoid of self which directly incorporates meekness and results in a denial of self-interest and self-concern. A peacemaker must be neutral, able to check his emotions and sensitivity without becoming defensive.
“The peacemaker is one who is not always looking at everything in terms of the effect it has upon himself…He has seen himself and has come to see that in a sense this miserable, wretched self is not worth bothering about at all. It is so wretched; it has no rights or privileges; it does not deserve anything.”
Jesus stated, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:24), which means you must sacrifice your idolatrous love of self so that the glory of God may be revealed in your pursuit of peace, regardless of the repercussions it may have on you.
Practically, a peacemaker is one who is “quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19). He is calculated in his thoughts and actions because he knows that “anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down” (Proverbs 12:25).
More importantly, he is grounded in the authoritative truth of God’s Word for he knows that “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12), meaning he is not the ultimate source of peace but a facilitator of peace for the Most High God. He is willing to be used by God because his posture is low and his heart is pure.
“The peacemaker is the man who does not talk about people when they are offensive and difficult. He does not ask, ‘Why are they like that?’ He says, ‘They are like that because they are still being governed by the god of this world. That poor person is a victim of self and of Satan; he is hell bound; I must have pity and mercy upon him.’ The moment he begins to look at him like that he is in a position to help him, and he is likely to make peace with him. So you must have an entirely new view of the other person.”
The New Testament speaks emphatically “that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another” (1 Corinthians 12:25) and the peacemaker not only takes that to heart but produces peace within the body. The apostle Paul pleaded for this cause when he said, “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10).
Division within the church family is of supreme importance to God and cannot be minimized as simply difference of opinion. For the seeds of gossip and casting judgment have no place in the life of a Christian man and a peacemaker seeks to destroy discord amongst the body and bring unity under the umbrella of God’s glory as revealed in His Word. That is how a man lives out the Gospel and is transformed into a peacemaker. Are you that man?
