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Wanted: Peacemakers | Warren Wiersbe Sermons
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[Music]
you are listening to the teaching and
preaching of Dr Warren weby this message
was recorded while he served as pastor
of Calvary Baptist Church in Covington
Kentucky or the Moody Church in Chicago
Illinois for additional resources please
visit tofit you.com that's the number
two p r o p h tu.com and now Dr Warren
weby Matthew 5 and verse 9
our lord Jesus says blessed are the
peacemakers for they shall be called the
sons of
God if there's one thing that pains most
of us more than anything
else it is
this problem of personal
disagreement we come to God's house and
we shake hands and we smile and we sing
we talk to
people and yet deep down inside there
are discords and disagreements and sometimes
sometimes
divisions among God's people the
psalmist said behold how good and how
pleasant it is for Brethren to dwell
together in
unity now you expect Brethren to do this
but they don't always do
it all of us are concerned about this
matter of Peace not just on the international
international
level we pray for the Peace of Jerusalem
I hope you
do or on the national
level but in our homes and in our
offices and our [Music]
[Music]
jobs even in places of Christian
Ministry in the
church our heart's desire is that people
get along with each other I think
everybody here tonight sincerely wants
to be a peacemaker and not a troublemaker
now the Bible has a great deal to say
about peace I was amazed to discover
that there are nearly 400 verses in the
Bible directly related to
peace either International Peace at the
coming of Our Lord to this earth or
church peace or peace
among Brethren or peace among the tribes
of Israel the Bible has a great deal to
say about peace as you know when our
Jewish friends meet each other they say
shalom and Shalom is the Jewish word for
peace when they're going to leave each
other they say
shalom a Hebrew Christian friend of mine
says this proves that we don't know
whether we're coming or going but that
isn't the reason why they do it you see
in the Bible the word peace means much
more than the absence of
hostility in the Bible peace is a much
bigger word than just the cessation of War
War
when Jesus spoke these words there was no
no
war the Roman Empire had brought peace
but it was a piece that was built on a
clenched fist it was a piece that was
built on a sword in the tramping of
soldiers it was a peace that was built
on external compulsion and fear the
Bible word for peace doesn't mean that
the Bible word for peace shalom
means total well-being
and so when a Jewish friend says to his
friend Shalom he is saying much more
than may your mother-in-law not argue with
with
you he is saying much more than may your
customers not disagree with you he is
saying may you in body and mind and soul
and spirit have health and well-being
and may the whole atmosphere of your
life be creative in the Bible peace is a
positive thing it's a creative
Force you see you drive past um well
let's just take the Lincoln Park Lagoon
sometime in the middle of February
there's peace the water's not moving it's
it's
frozen or you drive past a cemetery
perfect peace in the
cemetery because uh people there are
dead that's not the kind of Peace the
Bible's talking about the the Bible is
talking about the kind of peace that is
created that that gives you an
atmosphere where you can grow and be
what God wants you to be it is a
positive force not just the negative
absence of fighting that's what Jesus
meant when he said blessed are the
peacemakers he wasn't talking about dead
people or Frozen people he was talking
about people who were so possessed of
the peace of God that they could go out
into a troubled world and be channels of
a positive
Force the kind of thing St Francis
prayed when he prayed Lord make me an
instrument of thy
peace now I think each of us wants to be a
a
peacemaker I can't conceive of anybody
in this Auditorium tonight saying to
himself I wonder what kind of trouble I
can cause this week I wonder what I can
say that'll mess things up in the office
I wonder what word I can drop at the
next committee meeting at the church
that will really blow things up I don't
think anybody thinks that
way I think most of the time you and I cause
cause
trouble unconsciously not deliberately
because we don't understand what the
word of God really has to say about
peace now there are four very basic
facts that you and I must grasp if we're
going to be
peacemakers if beginning tonight you
want to dedicate yourself to the
ministry of Peace it's a great ministry
these four facts must be uppermost in
your heart and mind fact number one the
source of peace is
God man cannot generate peace nature
cannot generate peace the source of
peace is God now I want to deal with
that in some detail because I think we
need this kind of basic
theology God's name is peace
back in the Old Testament one of the
Jehovah names is Jehovah Shalom the Lord our
our
peace six times in the New Testament
he's called the God of Peace I preached
on one of those passages this morning
now the God of Peace who brought again
from the dead our lord Jesus that great
Shepherd of the sheep God is the God of
Peace now follow me in this he is the
God of Peace as far as his name is
concerned and he's the god of peace as
far as his nature is concerned God's
nature is at
peace you say Pastor what in the world
do you mean by that well let's just talk
about your nature don't you have battles
down inside of course you do each of us
has characteristics that seem to
conflict with each other for example we
want to have friends but we also want to
please the lord and there are sometimes
when in order to please the Lord we have
to displease our friends there's a conflict
conflict
we have appetites we enjoy eating for
example I doubt that anyone here in this
meeting doesn't enjoy eating it's
sometime or another yet the doctor says
you better be careful you're gaining
weight or there's too much cholesterol
in your blood or something else and so
there's a conflict between a natural
instinct the desire to eat and the
discipline of taking care of the body I
think many of our problems stem right
from this conflict that we have down
inside of course then you get saved when
you get saved you get a brand new nature
down inside then you really start having
some conflicts because the flesh fights
against the spirit and the spirit fights
against the flesh this is not true of
God there are no conflicts in the nature
of God God if I may coin a phrase God is
at perfect peace with
himself now if he were not this universe
would fall apart there's no conflict
between his Holiness and his love
there's no conflict between his mercy
and his holiness there's no conflict
between his love and his
Justice thanks to the work of Jesus
Christ on the cross sin has been dealt
with but even before the Advent of sin
God as to his nature is perfectly at
peace there's no conflict now this peace
I would remind you is not the Peace of
complacency God is not asleep it's not
the Peace of the Frozen Lake rather his
peace is that creative peace where all
of his attributes work together and all
of his characteristics blend together in
Perfection and you'll thank God someday
we're going to be like that thank God
when Jesus Christ comes and we get a
brand new body suited to a brand new
home our nature will be at perfect peace
and so our God is the God of Peace as to
his name and as to his nature thirdly
he's the God of Peace as to his will now
there's one verse you ought to Mark in
your Bible it's Jeremiah 29 and verse 11
someday you're going to get discouraged
you're going to say God has declared war
on me no he hasn't Jeremiah
29:1 God speaks to you and says for I
know the thoughts that I think toward
you say the Lord thoughts of people
peace not of evil to give you an
expected end you know what this verse
says it says this that when God thinks
about you he thinks about peace and when
God works for you and works in you he's
working toward an expected planned end
that brings
peace God's will for this world is not
war oh if I could just get people to see
that God's will for your life is peace
you say well I haven't got very much
peace in my life that can't be God's
fault that has to be our fault God as to
his name and God as to his nature and
God as to his will is the God of Peace
now I want to go one step further and
illustrate it God is a God of Peace as
to his
working when God goes to work he works in
in
peace now right away someone says wait
just a minute I can't agree with that
all right what's your disagreement
preacher have you read the Old Testament
yes well have you read the way the the
the Hebrew armies moved in upon the
Canaanites you call that
peace why they wrecked cities and they
killed people you call that peace
yes because God's program when he works
is first peace and then War not war then
peace first peace and then War have you
ever read in the book of Deuteronomy
God's law of War for the Jewish
people maybe we better look at that
Deuteronomy CH 20 Moses is telling them
how to fight their battles when they go
into the promised land Deuteronomy 20 in
the first nine verses he tells them how
to take care of their army if anybody's
scared send them home anybody's engaged
or newly married send them home now
verse 10 of Deuteronomy
20 when when thou comest near unto a
city to fight against it then Proclaim
peace unto
it how about that first
peace and it shall be if it make thee an
answer of peace and open unto thee then
it shall be that all the people who are
found therein shall be bound servants
unto thee and they Shall Serve thee and
if it will make no peace with with thee
but will make war against thee then Thou
shalt besiege it every city that
declared war was
conquered now this is an interesting
thing God said to his people Proclaim
peace Proclaim peace if they won't
believe you then we have to have War now
someone says all right I'll accept that
you can blame the cities for that but
let's move over to the New Testament
have you ever stopped to think of all
the conflict that Christianity has
brought into this world yes our Jehovah
Witness friends have written a book that
they give away or sell telling how awful
Christianity is especially the doctrine
of the trinity in bringing all of this
conflict into the world now when you
read history you have to admit that the
Christian faith has brought conflict
into the world may I remind you that not
all Unity is good and not all division is
is
bad three times I read in the Gospel of
John about the Lord Jesus there was a
division because of him there was a
division because of him Paul went into a
city and there was a division because of
him look at the Gospel of Luke let's
talk about the Lord Jesus as the
minister of peace I'm saying this before
God declares war he always declares
peace he did it in the Old Testament he
did did it in the gospel look at Luke chap
2 in Luke chap 2 we have the
announcement of the birth of the Lord
Jesus Christ and we read in verse 14 the
angels as they are praising God and
saying glory to God in the highest and
on Earth peace Good Will toward men so
the Gospel of Luke begins with a
declaration of Peace the baby has been
born this is God's Declaration of peace on
on
Earth turn to Luke
12 and our Lord says something in verse
51 that is just a little bit devastating
I'm going to start in verse
49 our Lord says I am come to send fire
on the
earth the angel said he came to send
peace on the earth and what will I if it
already be kindled I have a baptism to
be baptized with and how I am
constrained till it be accomplished that
of course was his baptism of suffering
on the
cross suppose ye that I am come to give
peace on
Earth I tell you
no but rather division for from
henceforth there shall be five in one
house divided three against two two
against three and he spells it out in
verse 53 you see the luk Gospel of Luke
begins peace on Earth Jesus said I
Earth now why turn to Luke chapter
19 you see something happened between
the announcement of the angels and the
announcement of the
Savior Luke
19 verse
41 and when he was come near he beheld
the city and wept over it saying if thou
known even thou at least in this thy day
the things which belong unto thy peace
but now they are hidden from thine eyes
and he talks about the coming of the
armies to wreck the city of Jerusalem
why verse 44 the last sentence because
thou knewest not the time of thy
visitation the angel said peace on Earth
Jesus said I'm not going to bring peace
on Earth why you didn't know the day of
your visitation you've rejected did the
things that belong to your peace is
there peace anywhere yes look at Luke chap
chap
19 and verse
38 the crowd is praising the Lord as he
comes into the city blessed is the king
who cometh in the name of the Lord peace in
heaven isn't it good to know that though
there's no peace on Earth there's peace
in heaven you know why there's no peace
on Earth because a group of people one
day said we will not have this man to
reain over us oh but he's the Prince of
Peace we will not have him to Reign Over
us and so Jesus came and declared peace
they said we don't want you then God had
to declare
war that's what Paul meant over in 2
Corinthians 5 he said look our ministry
is a Ministry of
reconciliation I can never forget a man
coming in to see me when I was pastoring
in Kentucky very
distraught his wife was going to divorce
him and he was greatly concerned and
rightly so he said to me Pastor what my
wife and I need is a Rec
cancellation I said you mean a
Reconciliation he said I don't know what
I mean but that's what we need but the
more I thought about it the more sense
it made that's what they did need a Rec
cancellation if they just take all the
sins they' committed against each other
and cancel
them you see the Lord Jesus Christ came
to Earth and Men rejected his peace but
there's peace Up In Heaven There is
peace with God through the Lord Jesus
Christ so in the Old Testament first
peace then war in the New Testament
first peace then War Paul came into a
city and preached reconciliation peace
and they declared
war you see God can't force anybody to
be at peace with him
God is the source of all peace that's
his nature that's his name that's the
way he works that's his plan toward us
Jesus is the Prince of Peace he said to
his disciples my peace give I unto you
when he arose from the dead he said
Peace be unto you the holy spirit of God
generates peace the fruit of the spirit
is love and joy and peace and so the
source of peace is
God if you're trying to have peace and
you're leaving God out it won't work
which leads us to our second fact the
enemy of peace is
sin now it's obvious why sin is exactly opposite
opposite
God God is light and in him is no
Darkness at all and so if you try to mix
the light with the darkness it won't
work wherever there's sin there is war
now we're going to turn to the War
chapter of the
Bible James chter 4 I'm not going to
expound the whole chapter because that's
not necessary but I want to show you
something very basic James CH
4 from whence come Wars and fightings
among you and he's writing to Christians
not writing to the Israelis and the
Arabs he's not writing to Nations he's
writing to Christians said how is that
you Believers are fighting each other
come they not hear even of your
pleasures your lusts that war in your
members in your body ye lust and have
not ye kill and desire to have and
cannot obtain ye fight and War yet ye
have not because you ask not and ye ask
and receive not because you ask am miss
that you may consume it upon your lust
you adulterers and
adulteresses he's speaking in spiritual
language here know ye not that the
Friendship of the world is enmity with
God whosoever therefore Wills to be a
friend of the world is the enemy of God
now James says there are three Wars going
going
on verse one Christians are at war with
each other because they are at war with
themselves you know us that he said why
are you fighting among yourself because
there's fighting going on down inside
there's a war down in your members oh
but why is there a war down inside
because you're at war with God verse
four so here are three Wars going on
people fighting each other at war with
each other because they're at war with
themselves and they are at war with
God and the thing that causes this war is
is
selfishness Pride when you read the rest
of James chapter 4 he talks about submit
yourselves humble yourselves God resists the
proud you see Satan is the Incarnation
humility the world is the expression of
Pride the lust of the flesh the lust of
the eyes the pride of
life but the church ought to be the
expression of humility
and service you see God has three
enemies the World the Flesh and the
devil and they're all here the world
friendship with the world is enmity with
God the flesh your desires that war in
your members verse one the devil down
here in verse 7 resist the devil so here
are the enemies of God getting a hold of
the people of God and making them
selfish now don't forget this whether
it's in the front seat of my car
or at my dinner table or in a committee
meeting at Moody Church or any place
else if two Saints are at war with each
other I don't mean they disagree
lovingly they're at war with each other
somebody is
selfish if a husband and wife are at war
with each other somebody is
selfish and selfishness is born of Pride
and pride comes from the World the Flesh
and the devil so the source of all peace
is God and the enemy of all peace is
sin I want you to Mark a verse back in
the book of
Isaiah chapter 32 I didn't even know
this verse was in the Bible I'd been
reading the
Bible so many times since I'd gotten
saved I went off to Seminary remember
one evening a fell came knocking at my
door I open the door of the Seminary uh
my dormatory room and fell said I want
to show you a verse what kind of a cook
is this he interrupts my studying to
show me a verse you know he said have
you ever seen Isaiah 32:1 17 I said sure
he said what's it says I don't
know so Ralph said let me show it to
you Isaiah 32:17 and the work of
righteousness shall be
peace and the effect of righteousness
quietness and Assurance forever if you
want peace and quietness and Assurance
it comes from
righteousness so wherever there's sin
there's going to be a fight sin breeds
pride pride breeds sin Pride breeds
selfishness selfishness breeds more sin
and there's a war on the inside because
there's a war between me and God and if
I'm fighting God and fighting myself I'm
you and the only answer of course is
cleansing which lead is the fact number
three the source of all peace is
God the enemy of all peace is
sin the minister of peace is the
Christian oh how many times we've said
Oh Holy Spirit work in his heart so
he'll get along with me you ever pray
like that oh Lord change his
mind I'm beginning to learn little by
little I'm so slow to learn something
but I'm beginning to learn little by
little that when I pray about people I
need to pray about
myself it's not enough for me to pray oh
God may this person agree with me change
his mind I need to pray oh God help me
to be more patient and more loving and
more understanding maybe if I really
knew what he's going
through I'd be more understanding of
what he's
saying it's hard to pray like like that
it's much EAS easier to bounce your
prayers off the clouds and Ricochet and
hit the guy you know Lord take care of
him God doesn't do it that way the
minister of peace is the Christian
that's what Jesus meant when he said
blessed are the peac makers not the
peace talkers we have a lot of those not
the not the peace prayers but the
peacemakers the people who do something
blessed are the peacemakers for they
shall be called the children of God now
before I was saved I was not a
peacemaker you want to know what you
were like before you were saved if you
ever get proud of your ancestry just
turn to Titus Chapter
3 here's what it says in verse three for
we ourselves also were once
foolish disobedient deceived serving
various lusts and Pleasures living in
Malice and Envy hateful and hating one
another that's the unsaved
person but he says after the kindness
and love of God our savior toward man
appeared not by works of righteousness
but according to his Mercy he saved us
before I was saved I couldn't be a
peacemaker my nature was such that I
couldn't make peace God is the source of
peace unless I have God's nature I can't
be a
peacemaker and the only way to get God's
nature is to be born into God's
family now you say but I'm in God's
family does anybody call you a child of
God you see children are like their
parents you go to see relatives you
haven't seen for a long time this
happened to me this past week I saw some
children I hadn't seen in
years I took one look at the girl I said
I Know Who You belong to sure enough
that's who it was looks just like her mother
mother
now that should be true of us out in the
world we should so be making peace that
people say you know he must belong to
God he must be in God's family you know
God's a Great Peacemaker and he must be
in God's family he's a child of God by
the way he acts in the way he lives the
minister of peace is the Christian now
turn back to Matthew I want to show you
how this works I'm not going to preach
abstractions tonight I want to preach
the concrete responsibility that we have
look at verse 21 of Matthew chap
5 ye have heard that it was said by them
of old Thou shalt not kill and whosoever
shall kill shall be in danger of
judgment but I say unto you that
whosoever is angry with his brother
without a cause shall be in danger of
judgment whoever shall say to his
brother raika empty fellow empty-minded
fellow shall be in danger of the councel
whoever shall say thou fool shall be in
danger of Hellfire there therefore if
thou bring thy gifts to the altar you're
going to church now and there remember
that thy brother hath anything against
thee leave thy gift before the altar
don't try to worship like that and go
thy way first be reconciled to thy
brother then come and offer thy gift now
one of the greatest pieces of advice in
the world is in verse 25 agree with
thine adversary
quickly do it as soon as you can if
there's a disagreement between brother
and brother husband and wife parents and
children as soon as possible settle it
Be The Peacemaker he doesn't say when
you go to the Altar and remember your
brother has something against you pray
for him he says leave your gift go see
your brother the vertical worship of God
is useless if the horizontal fellowship
with man is
broken so the first pieace making I
ought to do is between me and my
brother our Lord says the same thing in
Matthew 8
if your brother has ought against you go
tell him about it if he won't hear you
take one or two if he won't hear them
tell the church do your utmost to be a
peacemaker if he still doesn't want to
give in and make things right then you
can treat him like a Publican and a
sinner there's some people you can't be
at peace with Paul wrote to the Romans
and said as much as lith in you live
peacefully with all men which means
The Sermon on the
Mount he talks about an eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth verse
38 he says that turn the other cheek
don't be out causing trouble verse 43
Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate
thine enemy but I say unto you love your
enemies bless them that curse you do
good to them that hate you pray for them
who despitefully use you and persecute
you why that you may be the sons of God
he's talking here in a practical way
about getting along with people and how
do you do it you go to people and you
try to settle things in a sweet and loving
loving
way the minister of peace is the
Christian quickly one final
truth the source of all peace is God the
enemy of all peace is
sin the minister of peace is the
Christian right now I am either a
peacemaker or a troublemaker
peace is becoming more like
God blessed are the peacemakers for they
shall be called the children of God he's
just like his
father what has God been doing all these
centuries Making Peace Jesus made Peace
by the blood of his
cross therefore being justified by faith
we have peace with God so when you
become a Peacemaker you're moving into
the territory where God is working God
is a peacemaker Jesus said either you
gather with me or you're scattering now
I'm a gatherer I put things together
says Jesus the devil's a scatterer he
tears them
apart and so the blessing of being a
peacemaker is growing in
godliness would you go back to the
Beatitudes as we close and just review
them with me I want you to show you
What's Happening
Here in verse three is where it all
starts my attitude toward
myself Blessed Be are the poor in spirit
theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven my
attitude toward my sin blessed are they
that mourn mourn over their sin they
shall be comforted my attitude toward
God's Authority blessed are the meek for
they shall inherit the
earth verse 6 what's the result of all
this if I'm poor in Spirit if I mourn
over my sin if I submit myself to God
blessed are they which do hunger and
thirst after righteousness they shall be
filled now it changes in verse 7 from
getting to giving if we have received
the righteousness of God through faith
in Christ what's the result verse 7
blessed are the merciful they shall
obtain Mercy blessed are the pure in
heart they shall see God Mercy Purity
blessed are the peacemakers they shall
be called the children of god notice in
verse 8 you have Purity in verse 9 you
have peace now James says the same thing
James says the wisdom that comes from
above is first pure then Peaceable the
Bible doesn't teach peace at any price
the Bible doesn't teach whitewashing sin
Jeremiah said they say peace peace when
there is no peace they've whitewashed a
tattering wall that's about to fall down
nowhere in the Bible is there peace at
any price
rather he says when there's Purity
there's peace that's why we have blessed
are the pure in heart leading into
blessed are the peace makers now I want
to warn all of
us when you become a peacemaker you
become more like the Lord Jesus you know
suffer you'll be
crucified there never was peace without sacrif
rice this is why some of us don't want
to be peacemakers we'd rather be
troublemakers it costs too
much have you ever known the quiet Agony
of living with the unkind accusations of
people you tried to
help Jesus lived with
that when you try to be a peacemaker and
you stand between two Waring factions
you get shot at from both sides
that's what happened to
Jesus but you know what makes us more
Lord blessed are the peacemakers for
they shall be called the children of God
does anybody call us God's children
because we are ministers of
peace now if I speak tonight to one
unsaved person you don't know a thing
about this peace
either peace with God or peace with
yourself or peace with others and the
only way you can know it is through
faith in Christ if I speak to a Believer
who doesn't have
peace it's probably because of some sin
in our
lives for the wisdom that comes from
above is first pure then Peaceable and
the man who is The Peacemaker has Purity
in his heart his motives are pure his
Outlook is
pure and usually he suffers for
it I think most of us would rather
suffer in creating
peace than to suffer later on because we
declared war I would rather go through
life building bridges than building
walls and digging fox holes oh there's a
price to pay but you know someday when
we Face the Lord Jesus
and he can look down upon us and say you
know you were a
peacemaker there was trouble in that
home but you brought peace there was
division in that committee but you
brought peace there were problems in
that neighborhood but you brought peace
you paid for it but now I'm going to pay
you back here's your
reward and the greatest reward of all is
just simply being more and more and more
like the Lord
Jesus father each of us in one way or
another has
failed forgive us may we go from this
place determined by your Holy
Spirit to be instruments of
Peace teach us the difference between
conviction and
stubbornness between our own ideas and
the mind of
God between shallow sentiment and true Christian
Christian
love help us not to compromise where
compromise would be
sin we would not like to be like pilate
and Herod who were made friends together
because they had a common
enemy we read in your word that at the
cross righteousness and peace kissed
each other and we would experience that
in our own
lives oh God may we be at peace with
ourselves and with you that we might be
instrument struments of peace with
others this is our prayer through Christ Our
Our Lord
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