They Will Be Called Sons Of God
#BlessedAreThePureInHeart
Matthew 5:9
It’s 30 AD and Jesus has been: preaching, teaching and healing people for about a year. AND SO - there is a very large group of people following after Jesus.
AND – as Matthew chapter 5 opens up, it’s time for Jesus to give His platform speech, His manifesto. It’s time for Jesus to tell everyone what He and His Kingdom are all about.
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. He said:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart,
Those who…have been cleansed in character so that the way they look in public is the way they look in private. They are undivided, authentic, sincere, unpretending – not faking it, a person of integrity.
for they will see God.
NOW THIS MORNING – we are going to unpack Matthew 5:9, in a conversation, I am calling, ‘They Will Be Called Sons Of God
Blessed are the peacemakers,
because they will be called sons of God. – Matthew 5:9
PRAYER
Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God. – Matthew 5:9
NOW – the word peacemaker is made up of 2 Greeks words…
Peacemaker = eirenopoios
The word PEACE (Eirene)– which means….
• The end of rage and the destruction caused by conflict
• Harmony between individuals
• To make complete and restore to a flourishing wholeness (shalom)
TO MAKE (poieos)… (poy os)
• To cause, To produce, To render
• To be the author of
• To execute and bring forth
UNDERSTAND – eirenopoios
IS - a word that is bursting with energy.
IT - mandates action and initiative.
IT – describes someone who is willing to drag two combatants to the table and give them a reason to not only put down their arms… but to live together in peace.
NOW NOTICE - Jesus did not say “Blessed are the
peace-wishers or the peace-hopers or the peace-dreamers or the peace-lovers or the peace-talkers or even the peace-keepers.”
He said blessed are the peacemakers
BECAUSE
• Peace must be made.
• Peace never happens by chance.
• Peace must be fought for.
BOTTOM LINE - a peacemaker is never passive.
INSTEAD – they’re always active, taking the initiative, entering the fray… jumping into the arena…
YES - peacemakers are up, and they are doing.
They actively pursue peace…
Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
– Psalm 34:14
Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness—without it no one will see the Lord. – Hebrews 12:14 (HCSB)
IN OTHER WORDS - no one will see the Lord lived out in our lives…
Blessed are the peacemakers,
because they will be called sons of God. – Matthew 5:9
AND UNDERSTAND… the peacemaker pursues more than just the absence of conflict…
PM - don’t avoid conflict, in fact, sometimes peacemaking will even create moreconflict.
BECAUSE PM - aren’t merely seeking to appease the warring parties… NOR – are they trying to accommodate everyone.
YOU SEE - PM are not interested in a fake – Disney World – painted on (Mr Rogers ‘won’t you be my neighbor peace’ – where conflict still rages underneathe the surface…
And nothing has really changed.
INSTEAD - PM are pursuing all of the beauty, power and blessedness of God’s kind of peace…
ONE - that is ground in both truth and righteousness…
AND LISTEN, LISTEN – without truth and righteousness Without truth and right behavior, it will never be is God’s kind of peace.
Get It?
OKAY…
SO - here is a good working definition of a PM…
A peacemaker is someone who is actively seeking to reconcile people to God and to one another and who breathes truth and righteousness into conflict.
NOW - I know that when we look at our nation the last few years… pretty much all that we see…
LIKE - we are bombarded 24/7 with images of conflict, hatred, violence and division… I MEAN - like it is everywhere.
AND - I am sure that if you are like me… all of those images and the destroyed lives behind them, are wearing you out and breaking your heart… moving you to want to cry out, “Enough!”
BUT UNDERSTAND – tragically (hatred, conflict, violence and division) are not anything new…
IN FACT…
A study was done a few years back that found that in the 3000+ years of recorded history, the world has only been at peace 8% of the time…
And that 8000 treaties have been made and broken..
YES – conflict, hatred, violence and division…
HAVE BEEN – have been around a very long time…
SINCE – Genesis chapter 4…
WHEN – Cain in his anger and jealousy murdered his brother Abel.
AND – ever since anger, hatred, violence and division have been in our communities, our cities, our nation, our government, our families, our world, and even in our churches.
AND LISTEN – it is into this (conflict-infested) (hate-filled) (rage-unleashed) divided world…
THAT JESUS - sends us as ‘HIS’ peacemakers.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
because they will be called sons of God. – Matthew 5:9
NOW – the way I what to attack this conversation, on this Jesus’ 7th beatitude, is by unpacking 2 statements…
#1 – Like Father, Like Son
#2 – The Peace We Must Make
BUT BEFORE – we do that I want us to…
HEY – like’s pray again, as we dive deeper into this conversation.
I. Like Father, Like Son
Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God. – Matthew 5:9
NOW – for us to understand what it means to be called sons of God, it is important for us to take a moment to talk about.
A) When the child becomes a son
Blessed are the peacemakers,
because they will be called sons of God
NOW - the word ‘called’ used here means…
to be officially designated, to hold a particular or named to rank or office, LIKE – when someone is named…
• Chairman of a company
• Captain of the team
• Spokesman for a gathering
MGCC - Jesus says that those who are peacemakers, that…
Those who are actively seeking to reconcile people to God and to one another, and who breathe truth and righteousness into conflict.
Will be known as, will be recognized for who they really are, ‘the sons’ of God.
NOW – we might assume at first glance that being a “son of God” means the same thing as being “a child of God.”
BUT – such is not the case…
A “child of God” is one who is a part of the family.
It is a statement of position.
HOWEVER…
A “son of God” is one who is like the family.
It is a statement of character.
R U tracking with me?
YOU SEE - a son of God is one who not only, carries on the family name, but who bears the family resemblance and reputation.
UNDERSTAND - in the New Testament, and… in that time and culture, TO BE - a son meant to have…
THE SAME - mind, values, beliefs and spirit as your Father.
IN FACT - in that culture a son who was pretty much a bum and who rebelled against and was not at all like his father was often, disowned and disinherited…
WHILE, ON THE OTHER HAND - a slave who was of the same mind, values and beliefs would frequently be adopted and considered to be a true son, and thus become an heir.
SO (are you still with me) – what Jesus is teaching, when he says that peacemakers will be called sons of God…
IS THAT THEY….
• Look like God
• Share His values, His believes, His purpose and mission
• Have the same mind and spirit as the Father.
GET IT?
IN OTHER WORDS… WHEN - people look at them.
WHEN – they see how they live.. WHEN - they watch them fight for God’s kind of peace… THEY - are like… “hey you must be a son of God because you look and live just like Him…
QUESTION… DO - the people in your life recognize your resemblance to the Father based on your efforts at peacemaking?
UNDERSTAND - you are a child of God because you surrendered to Christ and to His Gospel, BUT - you are a Son of God because like the Father, you pursue peace.
Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God
Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness—without it no one will see the Lord. – Hebrews 12:14
SO – the question, I think we need to be asking ourselves is… are we actively seeking to reconcile people to God and to one another? Helping to…
• Bring lost people to His grace
• Put two neighbors back on speaking terms,
• Restore unity within a family, or making amends with a brother or sister?
AND MGCC - are we recognized as assisting in God’s peacemaking activity in this (conflict-infested) (hate-filled) (rage-unleashed) divided world?
LIKE – would someone walk up and say to us say…
“Hey ‘your name’ , I have been watching you. And listen, the way you act, live, behave and speak… The way you fight and contend for God’s kind of peace. It looks just like the Father…
Yeah, I know who you are… you must be a son of God.”
Blessed are…
• the peacemakers
• the restoration bringers
• the conflict enders
• the anger subsiders
• the violence quenchers
• the hatred overcomers
• the division enders
FOR – they will be called the sons of God.
AND MGCC – I think you would agree that what this nation of needs is many more sons of God!
AMEN?!
“This is how we know that we are in Him: whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.”- 1 John 2:5,6
UNDERSTAND B/S…
We cannot walk with Jesus and continue to...
Walk in - hatred, violence, darkness, injustice, sin, in uncontrolled anger...etc
QUESTION…
Would Jesus walk with those who are treated unjustly... ?
yes without a doubt
Like, He did all of the time… He ate with sinners and outcasts
Would Jesus walk with those in power and authority who misuse it...?
Never, not even a chance! In fact, in the Gospels we see Jesus on many… on many occasions calling out those who did. And understand, God the Father through His prophets repeatedly did this in the Old Testament calling out and expressing His desire to see…
Justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! – Amos 5:24
QUESTION…
Would Jesus walk with those who riot and violently protest...?
No... I mean, seriously do we even need to ask
Bottom line...
If we claim Jesus we must not only walk ‘with Him,’ but we must walk ‘like Him.’
Understand, there was much injustice in the world in which Jesus lived...
You see, being occupied by Rome and ruled by a corrupt religion was not always a fun place to live, to say the least.
How did Jesus respond?
Listen, those who claim to know Jesus must come against injustice in the very same ways that Jesus did.
By bringing: the compassion, the care, the love and reconciliation with God to people who need it.
Brothers and sisters, we cannot allow ourselves to be conformed to the pattern of this world when it comes to fighting against injustice.
Remember, what people really need is Jesus!... and the living hope and enduring peace that is found in Him alone!
So let us who claim to know Him...
Humble ourselves and bend a knee before Him.
Asking Him, who He would ‘have us BE’ and what He would ‘have us DO’
TO BE - the light this lost, dark, hurting and broken world so desperately needs.
AND - let us, resist the temptation to take our stand with the right or with the left,
BUT INSTEAD - take our stand with Jesus.
AND – I might add with His Word.
Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God
When the child becomes a son, he will be a peacemaker…
BECAUSE…
B) The Father Is All About Peacemaking
AND – He is, right?
I MEAN – ever since Genesis chapter 3 when Adam and Eve sin and take the bite of the forbidden fruit…
Making peace is what the entire story is all about.
UNDERSTAND – from Genesis 3 until Luke 2 when the angels fill the skies and proclaim…
Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests. - Luke 2:14
The story is all about God preparing His people for the coming of The Prince of Peace… the ultimate peacemaker…
AND LISTEN – when God the Son, jumped into the middle of this (hate filled, conflict infested) world and made peace happen… it was not clean or easy.
YOU SEE – to make peace… Jesus Himself, had to suffer many terrible things… rejections, arrest, betrayals, beatings, and the cross… AS HE – breathed love, truth, grace and righteousness into the conflict.
NOW – there are many verses I could read about our Prince making Peace, I’ll just read one.
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
– Colossians 1:19,20
Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God
Blessed are those who…
• Don’t simply want to be know as a child of God (as awesome as that is)
• But who want to be called (because of the way they talk, live, behave and pursue peace) a son of God
NOW - for the second point I want us to unpack this morning…
II. The Peace We Must Make
Blessed are the peacemakers,
because they will be called sons of God. – Matthew 5:9
OKAY – so let’s dive a little deeper into this concept of peacemaking
SO THAT – we will know what it is and what we must do
in order to be called sons of God
BUT – before we go there we need to talk ‘briefly’ about, What peacemaking is not…
BECAUSE there are some misconceptions out there…
A) Peacemaking Is Not…
1 - Avoidance of conflict.
LISTEN – we are never instructed to run from conflict
(not talking about physical violence).
UNDERSTAND - putting our head in the sand, hoping that the conflict will magically go away… only delays the inevitable.
YOU SEE - conflict (like a cancer) if left unchecked usually grows, spreads and metastasizes.
2 - Peacemaking Is Not…Appeasement
Understand the “peace at any price” mentality is far from biblical peace.
Which is grounded in truth and righteousness (right living and right behavior).
3 - Accommodation
YOU SEE - the person who glosses over the problems, acting as if everything is alright when it is not is not a peacemaker.
Bottom Line – to appease, accommodate and avoid does not make us peacemakers but rather peacekeepers… and there is a massive difference between the two.
YOU SEE
Peacekeepers want peace at all costs.
Therefore they often choose peace (their concept of it)
• over truth,
• over doing what is right,
• over healthy and authentic relationships
• over having tough conversations
• over calling out in a Jesus like manner… sin and wrong behavior.
BOTTOM LINE
Peacekeepers tend to sweep issues under the carpet.
AND - in doing so they settle for a counterfeit-pseudo-Disney world – Mr. Rogers peace, that is based on avoiding what is real and true.
BUT UNDERSTAND MGCC
God’s peace, the peace of the Bible never evades issues, and It knows nothing of peace at any price.
NOR DOES IT - rationalize, excuse, justify, accommodate wrong behaviors or falsehoods.
INSTEAD - it confronts problems and seeks to solve them.
AND - after the problems are solved, it builds a bridge between those who had once been separated.
WHICH BTW – is exactly what Jesus our PM did for us.
Secured our peace and built a bridge.
SO YOU SEE – peacemakers are often Bridge Builders….
AND LISTEN – here’s the deal…
The more Bridges we build between people the less conflict there will be.
AND B/S – this is especially effective when those bridges are built prior to the conflict. AMEN?!
YOU KNOW - I believe the reason there is so much conflict in our homes, in our lives, in our world and in our churches today, is because we have tried to be peacekeepers rather than peacemakers.
SO – we appease, avoid and accommodate… rather than deal with truth and what is right.
AND LISTEN – that was most definitely not the way of Jesus the ultimate, the model of a peacemaker…
I MEAN…
CHECK OUT - what Jesus the Prince Of Peace said in Matthew chapter 10
Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
Sword = sword of truth… (the Word of God)
THAT - cuts, divides and causes people to make a decision.
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. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
– Matthew 10:34-38
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
– Matthew 10:34
What a paradox! The Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6), who is gentle and humble (Mt 11:29), who would not even cry out on His own behalf (Isa 53:7) will be the cause of great division…
Jesus’ driving passion is for peace, but not at the price of truth and discipleship. - Mark Moore (Life of Christ)
UNDERSTAND - the peace that Jesus wants and brings, reminds us that… There will be opposition, before there is harmony. There will be conflict, before there is peace.
Why? Because…
The peace of Christ must always be seen in terms of truth and righteousness, to which the world is in fierce opposition.
RU tracking with me?
UNDERSTAND…
• When believers bring truth to a world that loves falsehood, there will be conflict.
• When believers bring righteousness to a world that loves their sin and ungodly behavior there will be opposition.
• When – a believer brings a word of truth to another Jesus-follower who has stepped away from Christ there will often be pushback. (“have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?” – Galatians 4:16)
BUT LISTEN
• Until unrighteousness (the wrong way) is changed to righteousness (the right way),
• Until falsehood and lies are exchanged for truth
WE – will never walk in the peace that God desires and that He is all about.
NOW – there are at least 4 areas where God wants us to make peace…
B) Peacemakers Must 1st Experience Peace With God
UNDERSTAND – this is the starting point.
I MEAN – before we can be called a son of God, we must first become a child of God.
We must first make peace with God.
QUESTION – in making peace with God who sets the terms… God or us? I will answer that… God does.
LISTEN – He sets the terms of our surrender not us
And He lays out those terms in His Word
(our highest authority)…
OKAY – so what are the terms of our surrender…
No verse can mean less than what it says, but it can mean more in light of other Scripture
1 - Believe
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16
Confess
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. – Romans 10:10
2 - Repent and be Baptized
Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. – Acts 2:38
QUESTION – have you surrendered to ‘His’ terms?
NOW – there is one God’s terms that for some reason people are often slow to surrender to…
I MEAN – even the apostle Paul was a little bit slow with this one… That is until a friend asked him a question…
And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’ - Acts 22:16
C) Peacemakers Make Peace With Others
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. – Romans 12:18
NOW – one of the best ways to live at peace with everyone is to not start conflict and wars in the first place.
By our words, our actions, our tone
OR - by being prideful, critical, harsh, judgmental, defensive, hateful and mean spirited
AND INSTEAD – adopt the Ephesians 4 philosophy
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. – Ephesians 4:1-3
QUESTION – do you think that being completely humble and gentle (keeping your strength under control) and being patient and bearing with one another in love
Would help us to live in peace with others?
Would minimize strife and conflict?
Listen
Although the truth will offend people, our attitude should not
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. – Romans 12:18
YOU KNOW
I think some of us need pray about scheduling a peacemaking meeting with someone.
And remember I am not talking about appeasing and accommodating…
AND B/S – I get these types of conversations can be tough… difficult.
D) Peacemakers Help Others Make Peace With Others
NOW UNFORTUNATELY – people frequently do the exact opposite. AND INSTEAD OF – helping make peace,
THEY - stir the pot…
THEY - enflame and validate the hurt…
THEY - add gasoline to the fire.
Can you say ‘the media and politicians.’
Charles Barkley Vid
Final Four 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5DzIIEqPQ4
AGAIN – some people do the exact opposite of helping others make peace with others…
“you deserve better”
“If they were my boss, spouse, friend, co-worker…”
“mad, you should be outraged.”
BUT UNDERSTAND MGCC – to do this is not only wrong, it is a sin… BECAUSE – as Jesus followers we are called to be Peacemakers…
NOT – trouble makers or conflict stir-er-uppers… AMEN
A man of wrath stirs up strife, and one given to anger causes much transgression. – Proverbs 29:22
PM help others make peace with others
Check out…
Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women,
QUESTION – do see what Paul is saying to the believers in that church. HEY - don’t just set there and watch this thing go down and do nothing. Jump into the arena
for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.
– Philippians 4:2,3
PM help others make peace with others
AND YES - it can and usually does get messy…
AND – people may not always want your help
BUT - just remember Ephesians 4… and let
Humility, gentleness, grace, truth, patience… and bearing with one another in love… guide your steps.
BUT B/S – here is the deal…
LIKE - it so awesome, to see a relationship between 2 people restored and… and to know that you played a part in making it happen…
Pretty sweet stuff… AMEN?!
Finally, but certainly not least…
E) Peacemakers Lead Others To Peace With God
In 2 ways…
• a believer who has stepped away from Jesus
loving the prodigal enough to help him come home
• or someone who has never experienced peace with God and found salvation… and that is what I want to zero in on, right now.
If anyone belongs to Christ, He is a new creation. The old things have gone; everything is made new!
All this is from God. Through Christ, God made peace between us and himself, and God gave us the work of telling everyone about the peace we can have with him.
God was in Christ, making peace between the world and himself. In Christ, God did not hold the world guilty of its sins. And he gave us this message of peace.
So we have been sent to speak for Christ. It is as if God is calling to you through us. We speak for Christ when we beg you to be at peace with God. Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin so that in Christ we could become the righteousness of God. – 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. – Luke 10:2
Lord give me one person to share your love with today – Pray for one
Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God. – Matthew 5:9
Blessed are those who…
• make peace with God
• make peace with others
• help others make peace with others (building bridges)
• led others to make peace with God
for they will be called SONS OF GOD…
Telemachus was a monk in the 4th century. One day in prayer, He felt called by God to leave immediately and head to Rome.
So he put his possessions in a sack and headed out.
Upon arriving in Rome, he was immediately caught up in the crowd. The crowd was immense and excited. Soon Telemachus found himself giddy with the contagious excitement of those around him.
He wasn’t sure where he was headed but he knew whatever it was, it had to be great, and there was no way he was going to miss out on it.
Within a few moments he found himself deep in the seating area of the Roman Coliseum. Asking those around him, he learned that the Romans had just defeated the Goths, and the emperor had commanded a circus to be held for the celebrating crowd.
As he took his seat, he couldn’t have missed the emperor sitting in his seat of honor. He most certainly would not have missed the arrival of the gladiators into the coliseum.
As the gladiators lined up below the emperors seat, together they stood and yelled out: “We, who are about to die, salute you”.
It was the traditional greeting of the gladiators to their emperors, and in that instant he knew exactly what he had stumbled upon. The Bishops and leaders of the church had spoken out about the gladiator games in Rome, yet most believed it was only legend.
In that moment, Telemachus realized it all was true.
Soon the gladiators pulled their weapons and the bloody brawl began just a few hundred yards away from him.
The grotesque nature of the sport appalled him.
Worse yet, was the reactions of those around him.
The spectators where in a blood thirsty ecstasy over what they were seeing.
Telemachus was sickened and shocked.
In that instant he realized that it must stop. From his seat, he yelled out to the warriors: In the Name of Jesus Stop…
But no one heard.
Without thinking he jumped over the wall and into the battle arena of the fighters. The gladiators surprised by the unexpected guests momentarily stopped their fights and stared at the monk.
“IN THE NAME OF JESUS STOP!” he yelled over and over again.
After a few moments, the silence turned to chuckles and outright laughter. One of the gladiators, with a sick enjoyment, took a swing at Telemachus with his sword, just barely missing him. With that the others began to draw their swords.
Soon they were chasing this man, across the field of battle to the laughter of the crowd. Most who witnessed the spectacle thought he was a clown or there for comic relief.
That was until they heard what he was yelling;
For the love of Christ, Stop!…
He ran, jumped, dodged and ducked, and with each passing moment his words grew clearer and louder;
In the name of Jesus, Stop. In the name of Jesus Stop.
IN THE NAME OF JESUS STOP!
Eventually the gladiators surged and when the dust cleared, there laid Telemachus on the ground with a sword in the center of his chest. There was silence in the crowd. It was said in that moment, that his words still echoed in the coliseum; In the name of Christ Stop.
After what seemed like an eternity, one man got up from his seat, and left in silence.
Then another… Then another…
Until everyone got up from their seat and left in silence and disbelief.
The site of the dead monk in the center of the coliseum, and the reaction of the crowd, also led the emperor and his guests to silently stand, turn and leave the coliseum.
After a few minutes, the Gladiators put their swords down and they too left. All that remained in that giant coliseum was the scrawny lifeless body of the young monk.
History claims that this was the very last gladiator game at the coliseum.
The memory of that man screaming to the crowd, and the image of the blood thirsty lust of the crowd had changed the hearts and the minds of the Romans in that instant. Within the hour the emperor issued an edict forbidding any future games of war within the Roman Empire.
There was no more killing in the Coliseum. There were no more gladiator matches in Rome. There was no more killing as sport. All because one man, stood up….and said
“In the Name of Jesus Stop!”.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
because they will be called sons of God. – Matthew 5:9
