Let us turn then to God's Word
once again and we continue here at the beginning of Matthew chapter
5 considering these opening words of Christ's Sermon on the Mount
and as we're looking at the Beatitudes so we come now to the words that
we have at verse 9 Matthew 5 verse 9 Blessed are the peacemakers
for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5, 9 Blessed are the
peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God. As we said, there is of course
some connection, some link between these various Beatitudes, these
blessings that the Lord is speaking of, describing something of the
character then of that person who is truly the happy man. And as I have said, we have various
marks, of course, of the spiritual life that's in the soul of such
a person. In verse 3, he's one who feels
his spiritual poverty, and yet he's blessed. Blessed are the
poor in spirit, says Christ, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven." Bankrupt, yes. Poor. A dependence upon the sovereign
grace of God all His days. And then the Lord goes on to
speak of him in verse 4 as one who will be mourning over his
sins, feeling sin to be so grievous a matter with him. And how he
is one then who comes humbly and meekly before his God that
he might receive the truth of God's words. Remember the language
of James 1.20, we're to receive with meekness. The engrafted
word, the table to save the soul, and blessed then are those who
are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. And then again we've seen how
this person is one who has an appetite, a spiritual appetite. He has no righteousness of his
own, but he hungers and thirsts after righteousness. and of course
the Apostle himself Paul is a remarkable example of such a person as he
speaks of his great desire there in Philippians chapter 3 to be
found in Christ he says not having mine own righteousness which
is of the law or this is that man who was once a self-righteous
pharisee understood nothing of the Lord of God and the spirituality
of that law when the Lord takes him in hand and instructs him
and brings him to that place of conviction of his sins. And
then he sees that all what he thought were righteousnesses
were really filthy rats. And so he expresses that great
desire to be found in Christ, he says, not having mine own
righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. And then we also considered something
of that one who is merciful, he has known himself, experienced
that mercy of God, the Lord has had pity upon him. And we remarked
especially with regards to that seventh verse, blessed are the
merciful for they shall obtain mercy because in Luke 18 where
we read of the publican who goes to the temple at the hour of
prayer together with the self-righteous pharisee and yet It's the despised
publican who goes to his house as the justified sinner, as the
Lord says. What is the prayer of that publican?
God be merciful, he says, to me, a sinner. But we said that
the word there is not the same word, really, as we have here
in Matthew 5, 7, where as here we have the idea of pity. and how God does show pity upon
poor needy sinners, but there, in Luke 18, the word really has
the idea of propitious. His prayer is, have mercy, be
propitious to me, and all the propitiation suggests of sin
as a great offence to God, and how God is hungry with the wicked
every day, and yet Or there's the forgiveness of sins, because
Christ has paid that great price, He has satisfied all the demands
of God's holy law. Or those then who know the mercy
of God, they find not only God dealing with them in the ways
of the pitiless, but also making every provision, all His holiness,
righteousness and justice satisfied. in the person and work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And then, last week, we were
thinking of the man who's described here in verse 8 as pure in heart. Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God. What is that pure heart? Well,
we sought to say something with regards to it. It's that broken
heart, the acceptable sacrifice, The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. O Lord, Thou wilt not
despise the broken-hearted sinner. What a pure heart is that when
he comes and acknowledges his many faults, his failings, his
falling short of the glory of God. It's the broken heart. And
yet at the same time, it's a whole heart. the Lord says you shall seek
me and find me when you shall search after me with all your
hearts not a divided heart, a broken heart and yet at the same time
a whole heart in that sincerity that setting of affections on
God and on the things that are above where Christ is at the
Father's right hand the psalmist says the Lord is nigh. Nigh to whom? Unto them that
call upon Him. And they call upon Him with a true heart. And the Lord
attends to their cry and hears their call. All their desire
He will fulfill. Oh, that's the one who has a
pure heart then. is wholehearted in his desires
after the Lord God himself and there we come to the words that
I just read for our text this morning verse 9 here in Matthew
5 blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the
children of God and so the theme that we come to look at this
morning is that of the peacemaker the peacemaker and remember what
James says with regards to true heavenly wisdom in James chapter 1 we are told
that if a man lacks wisdom he is to ask of God that giveth
to all men liberally and that brideth not and then later in chapter 3,
the end of chapter 3, he speaks of that wisdom that comes from
above and he says the wisdom that is from above is first pure,
then peaceable and gentle and easy to be entreated and full
of mercy and good fruits and without partiality and without
hypocrisy. It's interesting what he says
there with regards to that heavenly wisdom. It centers of course
very much in the Lord Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. But when he is
describing that wisdom at the end of chapter 3, James says
it is first pure, and then peaceable. Interesting that purity is primary. It's before peaceable. but we come this morning more
particularly to consider what he said here in the words of
the Lord Jesus with regards to those who are peacemakers they
have a pure heart as we see in the previous verse and as they
have a pure heart so they are those who will be makers of peace and The thing is that when we
come to consider the words, we must recognize that first of
all, in order to be a true peacemaker, we must be of a peaceable spirit. And yet, here is the rub really,
we are not such peaceable creatures by nature. What is our natural condition
before God? Is it not one of enmity? The carnal mind, Paul says, is
enmity against God. When he uses that expression,
carnal, he's simply referring to that that is natural, the
mind that we're born into this world with. a natural condition
as we come forth from the wombs of our mothers. The carnal, the
natural mind, is enmity against God. And it says it's not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be. And the language is very
strong there in Romans 8. It's easy sometimes to misquote
verses of scripture, isn't it? And I've done it myself, and
I've done it with that verse. What does the Apostle says? He
says it's not subject to the law of God neither can be. I've sometimes quoted it like
that, neither can be, but it doesn't say that, it says more
than that, it says neither indeed. It's an impossibility. The carnal
mind is enmity and it's an impossibility therefore that it should ever
become subject to the law of God. This is how we're born into
this world, having the understanding darkened, alienated from the
life of God through the ignorance that is in us because of the
blindness, the hardness of our hearts. Well, is there not a
real need being implied here, outwardly? we might meet men
and women, and they're very amiable, they're very easygoing, they're
very peace-loving. And yet, by nature, as we, so
they are those who are dead in trespasses and sins. And they
have a natural mind, and it's in a state of enmity and alienation
with regards to the things of God. And that sin that is within
us, of course, is such a restless thing. The wicked are like the
troubled sea when he cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and
dirt. There is no rest, says my God,
for the wicked. Remember the language there at
the end of Isaiah 57. Well, what is the condition of
a sin by nature? We're in that state of enmity,
we're under really the curse, the curse of God. We see it there
at the beginning in the curse that is pronounced upon the man
because of his disobedience, his willful disobedience. The woman of course is first
in the transgression. is tempted first, but then she
gives to her husband, and with open eyes he takes of that forbidden
fruit and eats it, so willful. And then the curse. There in
Genesis 3.17 unto Adam the Lord says, Because thou hast hearkened
unto the voice of thy wife, and the thetan of the tree of the
which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed
is the ground for thy sake, in sorrow shalt thou eat it all
the days of thy life thorns also and thistle shall it bring forth
to thee and thou shalt eat the herb of the field in the sweat
of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground
for out of it wast thou taken for thus thou art and unto dust
shalt thou return it is the curse And it's on man because he's
a fallen creature, he's in that state of rebellion against God. And the comment of the Puritan
Thomas Watson, he says this, the heart of man naturally lies
under this curse. It brings forth nothing but the
thistles and strifes of contention. That's man's heart by nature,
it brings forth nothing but the thistles and strifes of contention. We see it, of course, in the
relationship between men and women, the nations of the earth,
and wars and rumors of wars. Oh, how awful, under that dreadful
curse of God, because of willful sin and rebellion against the
Lord Himself. Again, the Apostle Paul, when
he writes to those Galatians, says, "...as many as are of the
works of the law are under the curse. For it is written, Cursed
is every man who continueth not in all things written in the
book of the law to do them." Every sin, every sin is a manifestation
of rebellion. And the rebel is that one who
is under God's curse. And he has no ability to do anything
with regards to his condition. Man cannot change himself. Can
the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard, his spots? That's the question that's put
there in the prophecy of Jeremiah. And he goes on then, May ye also
do good who are accustomed to do evil. Our custom is to do
evil. Our mind is enmity against God.
We are alienated from Him by our wicked works. We cannot therefore
make peace with God. How can we be the peacemakers?
And yet the Lord utters these words, Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God. How can we make
peace with God? We cannot. It must be Christ
who comes and brings that peace into the heart of the sinner.
And we have that word, don't we, in Micah? Micah 5 and verse
5. This man, this man shall be the
peace when the Assyrian comes into the land. Who is this man? it is the second man, the Lord
from heaven it is the last Adam who comes to undo all that the
first Adam has done in the first Adam we find sin and rebellion
or in the second man, the last Adam we find peace with God in
his very person. Why this man, who is the priest,
is he not Job's daisman? Remember how Job cries out there
in chapter 9, O that there were a daisman betwixt us, whom I
put his hand upon each of us. One who can stand between God
and man. And who can do this? Surely it
is the God-man. always the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ he is the one in whom sinners find peace with
God in his very person because he is truly a man and yet he
is also and never anything less than true almighty God he is our peace it says he is
our peace in his very person or do we recognize the wonder
the wonder of who this man is, the Lord Jesus Christ the wonder
of the incarnation, God's manifest in the flesh, that one who can
stand between heaven and earth that one who comes to reconcile
sinners to God we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ in his person, in his work and remember our In Colossians
chapter 1, the Apostle Paul very much speaks of that work of reconciliation. Look at the language that he
employs there. Colossians 1 and verse 20, we
read of Christ having made peace, having made peace through the
blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself. By him I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometime
alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now
hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh, through death,
to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. Is our natural state one of enmity
and alienation? In Christ there is reconciliation. Or where there was that distance
from God, now brought nigh by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. But not only that, as we've already
reminded you, and we've said it previously, There's not only
reconciliation in that precious blood that was shed when he made
the sin atoning sacrifice, there's also propitiation. Where there
was wrath, there is now peace, propitiation. Isn't that what we have mentioned
there in that first epistle of John on two occasions 1 John
2 2 he is the propitiation says John for our sins and then again
in chapter 4 and verse 10 he says he'll in his love not that
we love God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the
propitiation for our sins and I know it's a A theological
word is a technical term in that sense but it's important that
we understand what the word means because it's here in God's word,
it's a biblical word as well as a theological word why the
Bible is full of doctrine and theology. We do well to consider
it. What does propitiation remind
us of? It reminds us of that Godward
aspect of the work of atonement The other word is expiation.
Expiation reminds us really of the manhood aspect. The sinner
is guilty and his guilt must be expiated. His guilt must be taken away.
How can it be taken away? It's taken away when another
is punished in his place, in his stead. Substitutionary atonement. But this word propitiation reminds
us more of the Godward aspect. Sinner is under the curse of
God, he's not only guilty as one who is a transgressor of
God's commandment, God's law, but more than that, he's under
the wrath of God. God is angry with the wicked.
And what has the Lord Jesus accomplished by his death? Why he has made
peace? through the blood of his cross. And the sinner now is free from
all that dreadful curse because Christ has borne the curse for
him. Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Well this
is that provision then that is made whereby those who were never
peacemakers, they're never at peace with God. And what do we
have here in the text? We have a blessing being proclaimed. The Lord says, blessed are the
peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. They're God's children. They're
God's children. And they're blessed in the sense
because they are Christ-like. when we think of the Lord Jesus
Christ again and the wonder of the incarnation and the song of the angels at
the birth of that babe glory to God in the highest and on
earth peace goodwill towards men all what What a peace is
this? It's interesting, isn't it? Because
when he is born, of course, the glory of the Roman Empire was
at its zenith. And the legionaries of Rome would
ensure that there was peace throughout the empire. And there he's born
in Palestine, very much a province of that great empire. And as Rome ruled, so there was the
Patrumana. There was the peace of Rome.
There was political peace really. Oh yes, there may have been troubles
from time to time, but such was the power of the Romans that
they ensured that there was order throughout the empire. It's not
some political peace thing that is being proclaimed by those
angels. at the birth of the Lord Jesus. Glory to God in the highest and
on earth peace, goodwill towards men. What is this peace? It's
spiritual peace. It's that spiritual peace. It's
that reconciliation with God. It's the wrath of God being propitiated
that we've already spoken of. Or the child that is born It's
a fulfillment, isn't it, of those words that we have back in Isaiah
9, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government
shall be upon his shoulder. And this is the name with which
he shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He is the Prince of
Peace. And these whom the Lord is speaking
to, of course, they are the true disciples of the Prince of Peace. Seeing the multitude, He went
up into a mountain, and when He was set, His disciples came
unto Him. And He taught them. And what does
He say to them? Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they are the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, who himself
has brought peace and has left to his people that glorious legacy
of peace now his ministry you see it's full of the language
of peace this is the message that he is proclaiming we're
familiar with those words at the end of chapter 11 come unto
me all ye that labour and are heavy laden he says I will give
you rest take my yoke upon you learn of me for I am meek and
lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls for my yoke
is easy and my burden is light. Oh, he speaks of rest and peace
and acceptance with God and as we said this is really his blessed
legacy this is what he comes to acquire for his people and
we read those words there in John 14 27 peace I leave with
you my peace I give unto you not as the world giveth give
I unto you let not your heart be troubled neither let it be
afraid this is the Lord's legacy and He gives not as the world
gives and again we read those words that He speaks to His disciples
after He has accomplished his work and made the great sin atoning
sacrifice the language that we have there after his resurrection
in chapter 20 of John and verse 19 the same day at evening being
the first of the week when the doors were shut where the disciples
were assembled for fear of the Jews came Jesus and stood in
the midst and said unto them peace be unto you And when he
had so said, he showed them his hands and his feet. You notice
the connection. He said unto them, Peace be unto
you. And when he had so said, he showed
them his hands and his feet. This is how he has procured that
peace. By these wounds that he sustained upon the cross. Oh,
he has made peace through the blood of his cross. He has reconciled
sinners unto God. Those who were in that state
of alienation they have brought nigh. Then were the disciples
glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again,
Peace be unto you. So he repeats. This is his legacy
you see. and then he sends them forth,
as my father hath sent me, even so send I you. Oh, what a blessed legacy. And
those who know that peace, you see, they're Christ-like. They're
called the children of God. Because they're Christ-like,
they're, in a sense, God-like. Who is this Lord Jesus Christ?
Why? He is the Son of God. He is the Eternal Son of the
Eternal Father. And what of these who are His
disciples? They are His adopted sons. And
their sonship is altogether bound up in His sonship. That's what
we're told in Ephesians 1 at verse 5, God having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to his eternal purpose. All from all eternity God appointed
them, adopted them and their adoption is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's rooted in Christ's eternal
sonship. Theirs is an eternal adoption. from all eternity the Lord God
has known, having set his love upon them, or the wonder of it. What does John say? Behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should
be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not, beloved, now are we the sons
of God and it does not yet appear what we shall be but we know
that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall
see him as he is or they shall be called the children of God
and it's all bound up there in the Lord Jesus Christ the wonder
of what we have in Christ by nature what are we? We're children
of disobedience. We're children of wrath. That's
the language, isn't it, that we have there in those opening
verses of Ephesians chapter 2. That's what we are in our natural
state. Children of disobedience. Children
of wrath. We are those who are the children
of Adam and Eve. And yet, whilst that's by nature,
what are we by the grace of God? Why, we must be born again. Born from above. Remember how
the Lord Jesus makes that so abundantly clear to that man
Nicodemus, a teacher of the Jews. He must be born again, he says. And what is it to be born again?
It's to be a partaker of the divine nature. Peter speaks of
believers in those terms. We have a new nature. John says,
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, because his seed
remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. John is speaking of that new
nature, that divine nature that's coming to the soul of the sinner
by the new birth, born again. And how strange, how strange
is that new nature, but there's still something of that old nature
as the Apostle makes so plain there in Romans 7. And there's
that conflict. Why the Lord says that that he's
born of the flesh is flesh, that that he's born of the Spirit
is Spirit. And the other is the contrary one to the other. And
ye cannot do the thing that ye would. So what is the life of
those who are being spoken of here in this beatitude as in
all the others it's that strange life, that paradoxical life that
life that's full of seeming contradictions it's a life of war and peace or there's that going on in the
soul of the believer what will you see in the Shunammite? as
it were the company of two armies, we read back in the Song of Sodom.
That's the child of God. What's in that person? Why? There's
a conflict, a conflict between the old nature and the new nature.
And yet we come back to the text and what do we see here? We have
a duty being expressed. Blessed are the peacemakers. for they shall be called the
children of God." And what do we see here in the duty that
is expressed in the words of the Lord? Well, there's that
charge concerning the gospel of peace. This message that we're
to proclaim in the world that lies in the wicked one. in a
world that's so evidently under the curse as we see it there
in Genesis chapter 3 remember how Paul speaks there in the
Tent of Romans how beautiful he says how beautiful are the
feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good
things that's the charge that we're to proclaim that gospel
of peace, the good tidings, the glad tidings, the same message
that was being proclaimed by the angels, glory to God in the
highest on earth, peace, goodwill towards men. That's the message
that we desire to proclaim and to preach. It's the gospel day,
it's acceptable time, it's the day of salvation. And how do
we commend it? Why? We commend it by the manner
of our living. We are to practice the things
that we preach. And so when we come to the epistles
in the New Testament, we have those practical part of Paul's
letters, where he continually gives charge to the churches
or to individuals as to how they are to conduct themselves follow
peace he says with all men and holiness without which no man
shall see the Lord that's the charge were to be those who would
follow the ways of peace let the peace of God he says rule
in your heart Or is that what we desire, that God's peace might
indeed rule in our hearts? He says, which also, whereunto
also ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful. We are to be those then who are
very much lovers of peace. And not just amongst the saints
of God, not just in the communion of the Church, but in every part
of our lives we are to follow up to the things which make for
peace and things wherewith we edify one another and as we do
that so we will seek to be those who are living at peace with
all men if it be possible as much as life in you we are to be at peace with all
men Well, this is the way in which we are to seek then to
commend that grace of God in the Gospel. Now, do we witness? Well, we witness by the manner
of our living. People are to take account of
us that we are those who have been with the Lord Jesus. We
are Christ-like. We're God-like. We're the children
of God. And so if we live our lives as
we ought, will they not ask the reason of the hope? The language
of Peter, we are to be ready always to give an answer to every
man that asks the reason of the hope that is within us. But how
often are we asked? Alas, is it not that we conform
too much to the ways of the world we're not to conform to this
world's ways we'd be trying to be transformed by the renewing
of our minds we understand what the will of the Lord is and what
is the will of the Lord that we're those who are for peace
we're those who would seek to proclaim that blessed message
of the gospel of the grace of God and the peace of God for
sinners and we want that peace to rule in our hearts that we
might be those who are indeed truly God's children because
we conform to what He says here in His Word and we delight to
walk in the ways of His commandments. Oh, the Lord help us here and
grant that we might know these blessings. These blessings that
we read off here as we've said the word literally means happiness
and as I have also said each time it's really in the plural
it's blessednesses or happinesses here is the happy man here is
the happy man he's a peacemaker and he is evident in the manner
of his living one who is a child of God and a disciple of the
Lord Jesus Christ or might we know these truths then for our
own comfort and for our own establishment. May the Lord bless to us His
word. We're going to conclude our worship this morning as we
sing the hymn 974 and the tune is Meriton 366. The scripture
at the head of the Him seek peace, while contests
rend the Christian church. O may I live the friend of peace,
the sacred mine of Scripture's search, and learn from man, vain
man, to cease. 974-366. Yes.