Let's turn again in our Bibles
to Matthew chapter five. And seeing the multitudes, he
went up into a mountain, and when he was set, his disciples
came unto him, And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying,
blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed
are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the
pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are
they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. For the last three weeks, we've
been looking at these Beatitudes, these Beatitudes that the Lord
spoke at the very beginning of His sermon called the Sermon
on the Mount. And these Beatitudes are characteristics
of those in whom God the Holy Spirit applies the redemption
of Christ. In other words, these are characteristics
of believers, of Christians, of those who are saved by the
grace of God. They are characteristics of those
who are born into the kingdom of heaven. You notice the first
one and the last one, they both speak about the kingdom of heaven. The Apostle Paul called this
kingdom in Colossians, the kingdom of his dear son. There are two
kingdoms in this world. One is the kingdom of Satan.
It's also a kingdom of darkness. And then there's the kingdom
of light, the kingdom of God's dear son. When we come into this
world, we are all born into a kingdom of darkness. The whole world,
the apostle John wrote, life in the wicked one. In Ephesians 2, Paul speaks about
believers who have been made alive. And in deadness, when
we were dead in trespasses and sins, we walked according to
the course of this world. And we walked under the power
of the prince of the evil, prince of evil, that is Satan. A person
must be born of the spirit of God to be a member of the kingdom
of heaven. We sang about it in that first
hymn, at least, that we sang just a few minutes ago. When
Christ saves a person, he comes into your heart to live. By his
spirit, he sets up his throne in a person's heart. He becomes
our Lord, not just our Savior, but our Lord and Savior. That's
the way He's always referred to in the Gospel or in the Book
of Acts, as the Lord and Savior. We bow to Him as our Lord. We receive Him as our Savior,
yes, but He is the King of our life once a person is born of
the Spirit of God. He rules and he reigns. His kingdom
is not of this world, he said. If my kingdom were of this world,
then my subjects would fight. But he said, my kingdom is among
you, or it is in you, the kingdom of Christ, his kingdom. Now, the people to whom the Lord
preached this message that we're looking at, the first part of
it, at least, They all, because we read here the multitudes along
with his disciples, came to hear him speak these words. They had
been taught to look for a kingdom in this world, of this world,
only a kingdom greater than all the other kingdoms in this world.
That's what they were expecting. That's what they were looking
for. a kingdom in this world. How strange it must have sounded
in their ears, especially when we come to look at this ninth
beatitude, blessed are the peacemakers, for they are the sons of God. How strange that must have sounded
because they were expecting a kingdom that would surely be set up by
war, by fighting, by overcoming, conquering. and the Lord Jesus
as the Messiah reigning in this world. How strange when they
hear the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed are the poor
in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are
they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the
meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they that
hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed
are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the
pure in heart, for they shall see God. And now, blessed are
the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. Blessed are they that are persecuted
for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That's a very solemn truth. that
I've just covered from the word of God, which simply means that
every one of us in this room today, we're either in the kingdom
of light or we're in the kingdom of darkness. Either the Lord
Jesus Christ is the king of our life or we are under the dominion
of Satan. There's no in between. There's
no no man's land. We're either in the kingdom of
light or in the kingdom of darkness. What about you? What about me? Are we in the kingdom of light?
Is Christ our king? Does he rule? Does he reign? Is his word in our heart? Is his spirit enabling us, giving
us power to overcome evil, to live for his glory and for his
honor? Or are we just religious? The whole world is full of religion.
It's full of religion. Well, let's look this morning
at the last of these two. But I do want to say this before
I go on. I said all of these to whom our
Lord was preaching, they were expecting a kingdom in this world.
And did you know even the disciples, they were no different. The 12
disciples at one time, remember, They said, well, can we sit at
your right hand or your left hand? One of us at your right
hand and one at your left hand. One will be the Secretary of
State in this kingdom. The other will be the Secretary
of Defense. They were looking for a kingdom
in this world. And even until the day that the
Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven and took his place at
the Father's right hand, even until that very day, His disciples
were still asking this question about a kingdom in this world.
For they asked him, Lord, will thou at this time restore again
the kingdom to Israel? But here's an amazing fact. After the day of Pentecost, after
God the Holy Spirit was poured out upon his church, And they
began to understand like they had never understood before.
They never again speak about a kingdom in this world. Not
the disciples, not the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because they then knew his kingdom
is not of this world. His kingdom, our Lord said, comes
not with observation. Most kingdoms come with observation. In other words, there's an army
invading or something like that. There's a mighty dictator, a
general who rises up, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, some of
these men in history that have raised up armies and conquered
and established a kingdom. only for that kingdom to eventually
pass away. But you know, his kingdom was
predicted, prophesied in the Old Testament, a stone cut out
without hands that would break all these four mighty kingdoms
and his kingdom would last forever. When the angel told Mary that
she should have a son, he was set upon the throne of his father
David and the end of his kingdom, there will be no end. His kingdom
is an everlasting kingdom. He gives unto his people everlasting
life and his kingdom is everlasting. It shall never end. All these
other kingdoms that the world has known, they've all come and
they've all gone. Not his kingdom, his kingdom
continues on. The Caesars, the last kingdom
of Rome, they did their best to destroy, to wipe out this
kingdom, to extinguish the gospel, the Christian church. One of
those Caesars, when he was dying, said, you have conquered. Speaking to the Lord Jesus Christ,
you have conquered. I failed. And anyone and everyone
that rises up and fights against God is doomed to failure. There is no overcoming him who
is all powerful. You know that scripture says,
let the pot sherds of the earth strive with the pot sherds. A pot sherd is just a broken
piece of pottery. And that's what we all are. Let
man strive with other men, but don't strive with your Maker.
Don't strive with your Maker. You're not going to win that
battle. Bow. Bow to Him. Stack arms, as they
say, you know, and bow to the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord
and as your Savior. Here's the Ninth beatitude in
verse number nine, blessed are the peacemakers for they shall
be called the children of God. I want you to keep your place
here, but turn with me to Titus chapter three. Let that sink in, a peacemaker. Blessed are the peacemakers. The Apostle Paul here in Titus
chapter 3 is writing to Titus, of course, and concerning the
churches on this island of Crete. And he says, put them, that is
the believers and the churches there, put them in mind to be
subject to the principalities and powers, to obey magistrates,
to be ready to every good work. God's people are the best citizens
of every country, as long as the laws do not command a believer
to do something contrary to the rule of God. God's children are
honest, pay their tithes, they obey the laws, pay their taxes,
I should say. I didn't mean tithes. Pay their
taxes. They obey the laws of the land. They respect authority. That's
just true of God's people. And government is ordained of
God, and it is for the good of the people to punish the evil
and reward the good. And Paul tells Titus, now put
the believers in mind to be subject to principalities. And think
about this. The principalities of that day,
for the most part, were dictators. They were dictators. They didn't
live in a democracy, a land of freedom like you and I live in.
But Paul says, put them in mind to be subject to principalities,
powers, obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, showing
all meekness unto all men. For we ourselves also were sometimes
foolish. You notice how Paul includes
himself? We, Paul, Pharisee of the Pharisees,
a very religious man, a very self-righteous man. He says,
we, we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived,
serving divers lust and pleasures, living in malice and envy. What's these last two things?
and hating one another. Now think about that. That's
a description of lost men and women, hateful and hating one
another. Now how are people who are like
this, hateful and hating one another, how are they going to
become peacemakers? How are they going to become
peacemakers, people who are hateful and hate others? How are they
going to be made peacemakers? Well, obviously something's going
to have to change, right? Something's going to have to
take place for anyone who by nature is hateful and hating
others to become a peacemaker. And what is that something that
has to take place? Well, the Lord Jesus called it
the new birth. A man must be born from above. If you see here in Titus, read
on verses four and five, how Paul explained what takes place. But after the kindness and love
of God our Savior toward man appeared. What's that kindness? It's God's
grace. It's God's grace. not by works
of righteousness which we have done. That's not the way a person's
going to become a peacemaker. He's got a list of things he's
going to do. He's going to apply himself.
He's going to join the church. He's going to be baptized. He's
going to do this, that, and all of the rules and things that
men come up with. Is that going to make him a peacemaker? No. No way. Not by works of righteousness,
which we do, but according to his mercy, he saved us. Now notice, by the washing of
regeneration. Now what's regeneration? It's
being born again. It's being given life, regenerated. We're by nature dead in trespasses
and sins. We must be regenerated, quickened
by the spirit of God. Regenerated, he says, by the
washing of regeneration, by the word. The word is many times
referred to in the scripture as washing or water. And there must be a cleansing.
When a person is born again of the Spirit of God, his sins are
washed away. Has that become old hat to you,
as they say? That each and every one of your
sins has been washed away? Doesn't that still just overwhelm
you? That before God Almighty this
morning, if you know Christ, there's not a sin laid to your
charge. Well, you didn't put them away.
Not by your works. How then? By the blood of Christ,
by his sacrifice, he has removed our sins from us as far as the
east is from the west. But notice it's not only washing
of regeneration, but the renewing of the Holy Ghost. In other words,
when a person is saved, he receives a new nature. The old man remains,
but there's a new man. And that new man is created in
righteousness and true holiness, the Apostle Paul tells us. And
now, A person who was hateful and hated others by the new birth,
by the spirit of God dwelling in him, is now a peacemaker. That's an amazing thing, isn't
it? He's a peacemaker. To be a peacemaker, a man must
himself first have peace with God, and I know when Some people,
when they hear the preacher talk like this, they say, well, I've
always had peace with God. Well, you think you've always
had peace with God. And the reason you think that
is because you're dead in trespasses and sins. But no, you haven't
always had peace with God. The scripture's very clear that
a man needs to be reconciled unto God. The word reconciled
means he needs to be brought into peace with God. Why? Well, God said it like this in
Isaiah, but your iniquities have separated between you and your
God, and your sins have hid his face from you. No, you haven't
always had peace with God. In fact, the scripture says we
all are enmity with God. by nature. The peacemaker, the
person himself, must first have peace with God before he is qualified
or made a peacemaker. You know, one of the charges
in Romans chapter 3, where the apostle Paul is writing and he's
showing how the whole world is guilty before God. In chapter
2, he deals with the Jews. or chapter one with the Gentiles,
and then chapter two with the Jews, and then chapter three
just says it's true of all of us, Jew or Gentile. There's none
righteous, no not one. There's none that understand
it. There's none that seeketh after God. And one of the things
he says there in verse 17 is, the way of peace they have not
known. Man just doesn't know how he
can have peace with God by nature. That's one of the things that
God uses preaching for. Preaching. God has chosen through
the foolishness of preaching to save those that believe. The
Greeks seek after wisdom. The Jews, they were looking for
a sign, but we preach Christ and Him crucified. God is chosen
by the foolishness of preaching. But look with me in Romans chapter
10, this message that the preacher preaches. In Romans chapter 10, beginning
with verse 13, The apostle writes, for whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans chapter
10, verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call
on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent as it is written, now watch this, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of what? Peace, the
gospel of peace. That's the gospel that the man
who are called of God preaches, the gospel of peace. It reveals
unto us how that we who by nature are enmity with God may have
peace with God. may be in peace with God. How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace, bring glad tidings of
good things. But they have not all obeyed
the gospel, for he saith, saith the Lord, who hath believed our
report. I don't think there's ever been
a preacher who hasn't said that. Lord, who has believed our report? That goes all the way back to
the prophet Isaiah, but there hasn't been any since him, I
don't believe, that hasn't said that at one time or other in
his ministry. Lord, who hath believed our report? And that's all the preacher can
do, he can just give a report. He doesn't invent the message,
he reports the message, the gospel. that's given unto him from the
word of God. And it is offensive. Preaching
of the cross is offensive to the natural man. Why? For one
reason, because it addresses us all on the same level. There's no difference. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Men, we all are guilty of this. We just love to think we We may
not be perfect, but I'm better than so-and-so. I'm not that
bad. I'd never do that. When you read, and I mean really
hear what God says about man, there's none good. No, not one. That's offensive, isn't it? You
may be offended here today, but let me tell you something. Along
with the offense, there's good news. There's glad tidings of
great joy because I'm here to tell you what you can't do for
yourself, Christ has done. He's done for you if you look
to him and trust in him. Yes. So then faith, faith cometh
how? We don't have faith by nature. Now, the so-called religious
world will tell you, well, everybody has faith, not saving faith. No, no. Saving faith is a gift
of God. And Paul here tells us, faith
cometh. It comes. And when does it come? And how does it come? It comes
under the preaching of the gospel, hearing the word of God. God
grants and gives faith to believe the message. Faith cometh by
hearing and hearing by the word of God. Paul was able to write
to the people in Corinth and say, we are ambassadors, ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. I beseech
you this morning, if you're here without Christ as your Lord and
Savior, I beseech you, bow down to Christ today. Today is a day
of salvation. You're not promised another day.
Today, I beseech you, we pray you in Christ's stead, be reconciled
to God. We preach the gospel of Christ
who is our peace. He is our peace. Ephesians 2
and verse 14 says, for he is our peace. Having made peace
through the blood of his cross, Paul wrote, therefore being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. So now when a person is born
of the spirit of God, He's in the kingdom of God. He's a peacemaker. He's a peacemaker. Why? Because
he has peace. She has peace with God. One of the writers gave these
four practical suggestions for a peacemaker. Let me give them
to us. Four practical suggestions for
a peacemaker. Number one, It means that we
learn not to speak. If we would be a peacemaker,
we learn not to speak. James said, be swift to hear,
slow to speak, slow to wrath. When someone says something mean
or angry to you, you don't respond in kind. You learn not to speak. When you hear some, some gossip
or some evil report about someone else. You don't repeat that. You don't whisper. A whisper
can separate chief friends. So the first thing this writer
said about a peacemaker is we learn when not to speak, when
to keep our mouth closed. Remember one of the old writers
said God gave us first as a line of defense so our tongue will
not get us into trouble. He gave us first our teeth. Clamp
your teeth. And then he gave us our lips.
Seal your lips. That's good advice, isn't it? How many people have been separated,
how much harm has been done by a tongue, by a person not knowing
when not to speak, not to speak. And second, he said, it means
that we view things in light of the gospel, that we are His,
and it's not just how the, whatever it is that we may be offended
about, are over and it might be just. Yes, we have every right
to be offended over something, but if we respond in such a way,
we don't only have ourselves to think about, we have the gospel
to think about. We have the church to think about.
We represent Christ in this world. All of us do if we're his children.
So it means that we view things in light of the gospel. And we
realize that if a person says something harmful or evil to
you, that offends you, that hurts you, just remember that the places
would be reversed, but by the grace of God. But by the grace
of God, it would be you speaking evil of someone. making someone
offended. And third, it means being positive,
being positive and look for ways of making peace. If the enemy
hunger, feed him, feed him. Look for ways of making peace. And fourth, it means to be lovable,
selfless, willing to make the first move. And notice it says,
the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. The word called here means they
will be owned. They will be owned, recognized
as the children of God because they have that family likeness.
God is a God of peace. You know, five times in Paul's
letters, He refers to God as the God of peace, the God of
peace, the God of peace. The peacemakers shall be called
the children of God. Why? Because they have that family
likeness. They too are peaceable. And lastly, blessed are they
that are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. Now this beatitude is different,
this last beatitude is different from all the others. The others
are descriptions of a person in whom God has worked the work
of grace, but this one is indirect. This will be the result of being
a Christian, that is this persecution. But notice it is, being persecuted
for righteousness sake. It's not being persecuted just
because you're Maine. Because you're an ornery person,
you know, some people, they can't get along with their own selves
even. They're so mean. Well, they can't
claim this beatitude, that they're blessed because they're being
persecuted. No, this beatitude has to do
with being persecuted for righteousness sake. Peter put it like this in a negative
way, but let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief or
as an evildoer or as a busybody in other people's matter, other
men's matter. If you suffer for all of those
things, that's not being persecuted for righteousness sake. No, it's
being persecuted for righteousness sake. To believe and profess
the truth that God requires a righteousness that we cannot produce. He requires a righteousness that
we cannot produce. That all of the righteousnesses
that we may be able to work up and God's side are His filthy
rags. But He has provided a righteousness
for us. Christ is made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, redemption. He is our righteousness. When you profess and proclaim
this righteousness, then others around you, they may not like
that so much. They don't agree. And so they
say, we don't live in a time when people are being burned
at the stake in this country, at least. But I read, I'll close
with this, but I read again yesterday, in England, the English martyrs. There were
several women who were who were martyrs. But usually they were
not burned at the stake. Most of the women who were martyrs,
they were put in a bag and thrown into the Thames River to drown. That's the way they thought that
was more merciful. But there was a lady, and I'll
read this to you, we have a touching account of the last days of Anne
Askew, a lady of high position, who endured the flames of martyrdom
in the year 1546. She wrote before her death, written
by me, Anne Askew, who neither desires death nor fears its might,
and am as merry as one bound to heaven. She was placed on
the rack, you know, tied the body onto the rack and they'd
turn that and it would just pull your joints, pull you apart,
so to speak. She was placed on that rack for
two long hours when the Lord Chancellor persuaded her in vain
to renounce the truth, to renounce the truth, but she wouldn't do
it. When they took her off the rack,
unable to walk or stand from the torture she had suffered,
she was carried in a chair to Smithfield and fastened to the
stake. One who saw her there declared
that she had an angel's countenance and a smiling face. At the very
last, a written pardon was offered to her if she would recant, but
she turned away her eyes and would not look at it. She did
not come there, she said, to deny her Lord and Master. Thus, compassed in the flames
as a blessed sacrifice to God, she slept in the Lord, leaving
behind her a singular example of Christian steadfastness for
all men to follow. Yes, to be a believer, to be
a child of God, For many has cost them their property and
even their lives. We live in a day when we have
much more freedom, don't we? Much more protection from the
civil authorities. But still, there's persecution
for righteousness sake. Maybe on your job, maybe in your
home. Man's foes, our Lord said, will
be those of his own household. But blessed, happy are you, the
Lord Jesus Christ said, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. May
the Lord bless these words today.