Matthew 5:9 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. NKJV

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1 GOD S PEACE CORP Matthew 5:9 Matthew 5:9 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. Making peace is one of the dominant ideas of the Bible. Scripture contains four hundred direct references to peace, and many more indirect ones. The Bible opens with peace in the Garden of Eden and closes with peace in eternity. Today, we do not have economic peace, religious peace, racial peace, social peace, family peace, or personal peace. There seems to be no end of marches, sit-ins, rallies, protests, demonstrations, riots, and wars. Disagreement, conflict, and lawsuits are the order of the day. The essential fact to comprehend is that the peace about which Jesus speaks is more than the absence of conflict and strife; it is the presence of righteousness. I. The Difficulty Of Peace. James 4:1 4 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? desires hedonon hedonism self-satisfaction is the supreme goal in life.

2 GOD'S PEACE CORPS Page 2 of 7 war - strateuomenon - to serve in a military campaign; to contend with carnal inclinations: 1 Peter 2:11 11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, James 4:2-3 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Isaiah 57: But evil people are like the angry sea, which cannot rest, whose waves toss up waste and mud. 21 "There is no peace for evil people," says my God. NCV Mark 7: And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man." II. The Derivation Of Peace Philippians 4:9

3 GOD'S PEACE CORPS Page 3 of 7 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. Romans 15:33 33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. 2 Corinthians 13:11 11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. III. The Delivery Of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Acts 10:36 36 You know the message that God has sent to the people of Israel is the Good News that peace has come through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Lord of all people! Hebrews 13:20-21 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Romans 5:1-5

4 GOD'S PEACE CORPS Page 4 of 7 5 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 2: But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, IV. THE DUTY OF PEACEMAKERS PURSUE PEACE Romans 14:19 19 Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. Hebrews 12:14 14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: PURSUE peace with all men Romans 12:18 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. PROCLAIM the gospel of peace Ephesians 6:15 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; PATTERN our lives after the Prince of Peace.

5 GOD'S PEACE CORPS Page 5 of 7 John 13: So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. V. THE DIVISIVENESS OF PEACEMAKERS This is not a peace at any price. It is not brought about by compromise with the truth. This proclamation may bring a struggle in the peacemakers heart. It may be when a person welcomes the Prince of Peace as their own Savior and Lord that it brings DIVISION within his own family. The very next Beatitude focuses on this. NOT PEACE BUT PERSECUTION. Matthew 10:34-39 "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her motherin-law'; 36 and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.'

6 GOD'S PEACE CORPS Page 6 of 7 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. VI. THE DESCENDANTS OF PEACEMAKERS SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF GOD. Matthew 5:9 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. Both huios (SON) and teknon (CHILD)are used in the New Testament to speak of believers' relationship to God. teknon (child) is a term of tender affection and endearment as well as of relationship. huios (son) expresses the dignity and honor of the relationship of a child to his parents. As God's peacemakers we are promised the blessing of eternal sonship in His eternal kingdom. John 1:12 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

7 GOD'S PEACE CORPS Page 7 of 7 1 Peter 1:14 14 Now that you are obedient children of God do not live as you did in the past. NCV CONCLUSION Isaiah 48:22 22 "There is no peace," says the Lord, "for the wicked." (morally wrong) John 16:33 33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Colossians 3:15a 15 Let the peace that Christ gives control your thinking, NCV Philippians 4:7 7 And God's peace, which is so great we cannot understand it, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. NCV