Blessed are the Peacemakers Part 1

You probably noticed the beautiful flowers that were up here. Thank you for that. Heart of God's beautiful creation and all the design and the creation of everything. It's just an amazing thing. It's a miracle in itself. Further, when it comes to a hydroelectric dam, it can be one of the most beneficial projects, construction projects, that men can build.

It can really provide a lot of good things. It can generate electricity for hundreds of thousands of people. It creates a water reservoir, which is able to water the crops for hundreds of thousands of people, producing a lot of food. And it can provide a lake that provides recreation that can also serve countless other thousands. If you've heard the story about a dam that was attempted to be constructed back in the 1970s, you know, this was an area that was surrounded privately by some of the most beautiful scenery in all the world, at least in this country.

And in 1972, the Bureau of Reclamation decided to begin construction of the Teton Dam. I don't know if you've heard of that, but the Teton Dam. Maybe some of you have, maybe some of you haven't. The Teton Dam was a risky project. In a sense, this dam was supposed to be the greatest dam ever built. Even greater than the Hoover Dam, which is really world famous. And probably the reason why we haven't heard of the Teton Dam, because it wasn't successful. In a sense, Hoover obviously was. The Hoover Dam was built, and many of you have probably seen it.

It was supposed to surpass even that famous dam, and yet the subsoil was not stable. It was an earthquake area, but they pushed forward. They started to build the dam, and they built the earthen foundation to it. It wasn't that they couldn't build the dam there, though. They just needed to be very careful when they built it. And the timing of it was very, very important when they built it. Again, the subsoil wasn't stable. It was an earthquake area, but they pushed forward.

So they started to build the dam. They created what they called the earthen foundation, and the water began to back up. It began to back up and back up. But the power of water is pretty strong. The power of water began to break through. Things actually started to go terribly wrong. Before the foundation even was completed, the dam water began to seep under the foundation and into the subsoil.

And then water began to make its way through the foundation. They call it piping. And it began to work its way through and began to create damp spots on the other side, the downstream side, which again was beginning to weaken the construction of the dam. High pressure water springs began to abrupt underground, thousands of feet downstream from the dam. And those wet spots in the dam started to become holes, and then they got bigger and bigger. By 1976, the earthen dam gave way. It gave way. An estimated 80 billion gallons of water began to break through, and it destroyed everything in its path.

It completely destroyed two towns in Idaho, and it also killed 11 people. It wasn't that they couldn't build it. It's just that they had to be careful how they built it. And they rushed it. They rushed it, they blew it, and disaster happened. You know, brethren, they didn't really show enough respect for the power of water. Well, also, relationships require respect also. And a certain amount of preparation and effort go into a relationship that is going to be successful. Even more than a hydroelectric dam, good relationships require things. They require a good foundation.

And good benefits can come from great relationships. There can be incredible blessings that come from good relationships to mankind, to you, to me, to all of us. But when those rules of relationships are not followed, the relationships can crumble. And that can be bringing contention and strife, and it can destroy people's lives.

Let's turn over to Proverbs 17, verse 14. Proverbs 17, verse 14, because Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, human being that God gave wisdom to, he compared these human stripes and arguments and contentions with the breaking of a dam. Let's notice. Proverbs 17, verse 14. Proverbs 17, verse 14. It says, the beginning of strife is like releasing water, therefore stop contention before a quarrel starts. Human relations, in a sense, are like a dam.

If you're careful and you follow guidance from the Scriptures, the benefits can be incalculable. The benefits can be amazing. But also, if you're careless, you don't follow the principles of Scripture, and you don't apply the principles of Scripture, then disaster is imminent. But a Christian, brethren, is supposed to be different. We're supposed to be different.

Someone who agrees in covenant with God to give up their life to God the Father, to their older brother, Jesus Christ, is required to have a certain title placed upon them. And that title is this, Peacemaker. Peacemaker. Let's turn over to Matthew 5, verse 9. Matthew 5, verse 9. We're going to see Jesus Christ relaying this information from God the Father to those that were listening to Him. The title of Peacemaker, and it's not an option for you and for me, it's not an elective that we can choose to learn or not learn.

But God seems to indicate that it's a prerequisite, that it's a requirement for Christians, in order to be a part of the family of God. Because who's going to be in the kingdom? Who's going to be a Son of God? Do you remember what it says here in the Sermon on the Mountain, on the Mount of Olives that Jesus Christ gave here? Well, let's notice here in Matthew 5, verse 9, what He relates to us from the Father.

He says, blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God. In fact, that's the title of the message here this morning, is blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. And, brethren, I don't know if you thought about that, or thought about this in a way. But you know what that implies? That implies if you're not a peacemaker, that you will not be called a son of God.

And it says, blessed are we, if we are a peacemaker. Which also suggests, cursed are we, if we are not. There won't be blessings, there'll be problems, there'll be difficulties. So what I want to do today is to go through some basics. Some basics.

Why basics? You know, a lot of us have been in the church a long time. Some of us have been in the church for decades. Some feel we need some more advanced topics. And that's true. There's a place for that. But why should we go through the basics? Because the dams break. The dams break. In fact, they break fairly frequently. They break all the time.

And strife goes gushing through. And not only destroying the lives of the, maybe there's two people if they're having contention or strife. Not only destroying their lives, but often destroying the lives of those who are around them. Affecting their lives as well. So we have a responsibility, all of us, don't we? In the family of God. In a sense to be peacemakers. Not only in the church family, but in our human families, in our own families.

We have responsibilities. Or in our communities. Or in school. Because there aren't many peacemakers out there. And yet that is what God has called us to be.

Brother, we're going to take some time now to go and cover some basics. Some basics about being a peacemaker. About how to avoid strife in our lives. And if some of us think of ourselves as advanced Christians, and hopefully we are, but if we've had arguments with somebody in the past or recently, because if we have, or maybe some things that are recent, or some things that are long-going, if we have, then this sermon is for you and for me. Any relationship, rather, requires certain fundamental keys. God gives it and designs it that way. Principles of how we get along.

And so, there are certain fundamental keys we're going to be covering here today and the next time, because this will be a two-part message as we go along here. Preparation. Preparing ourselves for relationships. Just like preparing the ground to build the dam and applying certain principles to hold back the water, to hold back the pressure that can come, to not let it get out of hand, not let it get out of control.

That things that can undoubtedly build up when there's a relationship between two or more people. Because these relationships can bring tremendous potential benefits. But there's always that potential for pressure. So we see from Scripture here in Matthew 5, verse 9, where it says, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.

But as we look around, it seems today that there are not a lot of peacemakers. There are not a lot that follow the Scriptural guidance here when it comes to that, and peacemakers are becoming increasingly rare. And it doesn't matter where you are in your life, whether you're in school, whether you're at work, whether in your family, or whether it be the church family. There are opportunities and responsibilities to be a peacemaker, no matter where we are in our life.

But what do we do? Because it's becoming increasingly rare on this globe for people who are willing to fulfill this role. As we look around, there are a lot of conflicts. There's a lot of contentions. There's a lot of disagreements. There's a lot of quarrels.

There's a lot of strife. All of these things are going on. And it's because of many reasons, I suppose. It's because of politics. It's because of religion. It's also because of our own human nature. We sometimes want our way and refuse to yield, and that causes conflicts and strife, not only for ourselves, but as I mentioned, for other people who may not even be involved. And yet it affects them as well. So how do we become peacemakers? Because God says that's what He wants us to be. And so to ask ourselves the question, all of us, I include myself, how are we doing?

How are we doing? Because this isn't something that comes naturally for us. This isn't a proclivity that we have humanly. But as we'll see from Scripture in a moment here, we have to be taught.

We have to be taught from God Himself how to be a peacemaker. Because we as human beings, it doesn't come naturally for us. But God is creating us. He's creating us to be like Him. He's creating us to be a son or a daughter of God. It's interesting that He says, blessed are the peacemakers because they are called the sons of God.

And I think I've relayed this thought to you before. In Hebrew thought, the term son of means a person who bears the characteristics of the person described. Remember a couple of disciples who were called the sons of thunder. Because they were pretty strong in their personalities. If you remember that, they were called the sons of thunder. Because of those characteristics. So when peacemakers are called the sons of God, it says that they epitomize or have the same peacemaking characteristics of their father.

In other words, God wants you and I to be like Him. To be like His son, Jesus Christ. To be peacemakers. So, what does that require? We're going to see in a moment, it requires a lot of things. We're going to be going through that in the next couple of messages. As it will be a two-part message. We will review what it requires from Scripture, from God's Word.

And we'll find that peacemaking has to be more important than my opinion necessarily being right. Even if I think it's right. Peacemaking has to take precedence over our opinions of being right in the conflict, or in the quarrel, or in the strife, or in the situation.

It's more important than just getting my way or your way. Now, when we look at some of the Scriptures, and some of the descriptions of God, we see that this is a fantastic quality that He has. God is a peacemaker. We'll also see that Jesus Christ is a peacemaker. Let's look at some of these Scriptures here. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 13 and verse number 20. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse number 20. If we're to be like Him, then we need, and our older brother, we need to know what they are. We need to understand their characteristics. Hebrews chapter 13, and we'll begin here in verse number 20.

Now it says, now may the God of peace, and that's an interesting phrase all of its own there. We're talking about not only God, but the God of peace. That's a thought all of its own. May the God of peace that brought our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the covenant, make you complete. That's what God is trying to do. He's trying to make us spiritually complete. You know, we're the work of His hands, we're the clay in the potter's hands, and He's working us. He's pushing us in certain directions. And He's trying to create in us a complete spiritual creation so that when we get closer to the end, the work of His hands is complete. But we have to yield to His influence in that regard.

And so part of that process is having peacemaking characteristics. Verse 21, make you complete in every good work to do His will, not our own, working in you, so He's working in us. That which is well pleasing in His sight, not our own necessarily. And He's doing this through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. So, brethren, He wants to make us complete. It says He's the God of peace. And He says in Matthew 5, verse 9, that's what He wants us to be. That's what He's creating us to be. His sons and daughters will be peacemakers. Let's notice also in 2 Corinthians chapter 13. 2 Corinthians chapter 13, and we'll pick it up here in verse number 11.

2 Corinthians chapter 13, and verse number 11. This is quite a process that God is undertaking here with us. And He had to reveal through Jesus Christ that He wants us to be peacemakers. 2 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 11. Finally, brethren, farewell. So Paul is in the process of leaving them. He's giving them a bit of advice before he leaves. He's saying goodbye, and He says, become complete. Now that's interesting. He's using the same word, complete in the context of peace here, as we're going to see as the writer of Hebrews used. He says, become complete, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace. Notice, live in peace. That's God's will. His will for you and me. To live in peace, and the God of love and peace. And we read earlier He was the God of peace. Now we see He's also the God of love and peace. He shall be with you. Let's notice Isaiah 59. Let's go back to the Old Testament for a moment. We're going to be flying through some Scriptures here. Isaiah 59, verse 8. I touched on the fact that we don't know how to live peacefully. We don't, of our own proclivity. Human nature does not know how to do it. We don't. We think we do. And we will try our method. But it won't have good fruits. Let's notice what God has to say here in Isaiah chapter 59, verse 8. Talking to His people through His prophet Isaiah here. In Isaiah chapter 59, verse 8, He says this, The way of peace they have not known. They haven't known it. Why? Well, He gives us a little bit of information here. Because it says there is no justice in their ways. And so we begin to understand that our ways really aren't just. They're really not fair. We think we understand certain things, but we really don't. We really need to rely on the principles of Scripture. When we begin to rely on our own thought of what's fair and what's just, it's not going to bear good fruit. There is no justice in their ways. And so, since our ways aren't just or fair, there's no way that peace is going to come. It says they've made for themselves crooked paths. In an attempt to have peace, we've got our own paths, and they're not straight. They're crooked. So often we think we know the way to go. We know which direction our feet should travel on a certain issue, on a certain issue or direction. And God says, no, no. Your paths are not just, and that's why you don't have peace. Verse 8 says, so you made for yourselves crooked paths, and whoever takes that way shall not know peace. It won't happen if we walk our own paths. Now, there's other Scriptures that talk about the Father being a God of peace, but also Jesus Christ as well. We're here in Isaiah, so let's go back to Isaiah 9 and verse 6. And we'll see it talks about Jesus Christ and peace. Isaiah 9 and verse 6. Pretty well a well-known section of Scripture here, but in the context here of Blessed Are the Peacemakers.

Isaiah 9 and verse 6. It says, for unto us a child is born. I think we understand this is a prophecy about the coming Savior, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. And the government's going to be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. And notice the Prince of Peace. The Father is called the God of Peace, and now we see Jesus Christ as this title, the Prince of Peace. And of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end. That's an amazing thing. The God of Peace is going to have peace. The Prince of Peace is going to help bring peace. They are peacemakers, and they want us to be peacemakers too.

Of the increase of his government and peace, there'll be no end. I imagine a lot of us are looking forward to that. When this peace starts, and this government starts, it just increases. It gets better and better and better as time goes on. There's going to be no end to it. That's a wonderful thing, because right now there's no end of conflict, it seems. No end of war, no end of contention. That's going to end eventually. God's going to be able to bring that about. He wants his sons and daughters to begin to learn those peacemaking principles now.

In our homes, brethren, and our families, and I don't know what goes on behind closed doors, I don't know. But God would have it to be a place of peace. For those of us that are men that are leading our families, we have that responsibility. I think I mentioned before that my wife bought this little plaque that's hanging on the... not hanging, but it's sitting on one of the cabinets in our kitchen. It says, take a deep breath. You're home.

You know how it is? You feel like you've just got to relax, and there's so much going on, there's so much pressure, there's so much influence that's out there in the society and the culture in which we live. And that's the way we should try to make it for our homes and for our children. And, brethren, the same is here in our church family here. We should be able to come in and feel, okay, I can relax. You know, I've been fighting this battle all week long, but I shouldn't have to fight it here.

We encourage one another, we help one another, we edify one another. Brethren, God is asking us, He's inviting us, in a sense, calling us to be peacemakers. He's asking us. And to begin to learn how to be a spirit being, to be complete, and to learn how to be a peacemaker. And not just for the future, but right now. You know, we're the kingdom of God, in a sense, in embryo right now. And so we have a responsibility now in our families, in our church family, at work, at school, to apply these biblical principles. But if we don't know what they are, it's hard to apply something that you haven't been taught or that you don't know. Begin to start applying these characteristics today. Now, if we're going to help our Father bring a troubled world to a place of peace, can we all understand as the bride of Christ that He's trying to teach us right now? And that we ought to know maybe something a little bit about it right now, individually and collectively? And as a spirit being in the making, how can we become peacemakers now, in this life? So as we begin to address this question, let's understand that there have been conflicts and strifes and quarrels and contentions among the people of God in the past. We're going to look at some of those in a moment. In fact, let's turn over. Let's notice that over in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 11. 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 11. But if we can be armed with God's principles of peacemaking, and we're not ignorant of what our enemy is trying to do, we can have incredible benefits in our families and in our church family. Let's take a look here at what was going on in the Church of Corinth. Paul had to address some problems that were there. So these things are not unique to, really, they go all the way back to the first century. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 11. Let's take a look. There were some issues that were happening in Corinth, some of these problems and quarrels and disagreements and factions and dissensions. Let's take a look. Paul says, It's been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. So Paul said, you know, I've been talking to some of the members of the house of Chloe and they've been filling me in on some things, and I understand there's some contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you, so apparently there were a lot of that were involved in this, some are saying I'm a Paul. I'm of Apollos. I am of Cephas, referring to Peter. And I am of Christ. So they're all saying, I'm with this person, I'm with that person, and I'm in this camp, I'm in that camp, or I'm with Christ. And Paul has to begin to teach. And he says, let's stop for a moment, let's think about this. Is Christ divided? It's a rhetorical question, which means we should know the answer. Obviously he's not. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? So we begin to see that Paul begins to teach them. He begins to address the problem, he introduces the topic, and he begins to show them, and us by their example, that there was a problem. And then later on he begins to teach them about what they can do from Scripture, and how they do it. So we see there were problems here in the early church. Let's turn a couple of pages, chapters up to chapter 3, 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse number 1.

This seems to have been a common theme throughout Paul that he had to deal with in this church area here. And he says, really, because of this, he couldn't even speak to these people the way he really wanted to speak with them. He couldn't share things with them that he wanted to share with them, because this was affecting their mind, this was affecting the things he could say to them. It affects how he's going to deal with them. Let's notice verse 1 of 1 Corinthians chapter 3. And he says, and I, brethren, couldn't even speak unto you as spiritual and unto carnal, even babes of Christ. I've had to feed you with milk and not with meat, because you're not able to bear it. Neither now. Still going on, he's saying, are you able? So it was actually affecting what Paul was able to teach them, what he was able to share with them from the Scriptures, what he was able to share with them about why they were here, why they were born, what their destiny was. About their spiritual creation. He had to feed them milk at this time, because they were spiritual babes at this time, because of the problems that were going on. So, brethren, what does this begin to show us? I think it begins to show us that spiritual babes are recognized by what? They're recognized by envy, by strife, by disagreements, by arguments, by contentions. And, you know, that's happened to all of us. It doesn't matter who we are. You know, the Scriptures say there is none righteous, no, not one. So we've all been involved in this, but God's trying to get our attention. He's trying to shake our coattails a little bit and say, not for my sons, not for my daughters.

You know, when those types of things begin to happen, it's a releasing of the water. It's the pressure beginning to release. And we're going to see in a moment here some of God's instructions on how to address that type of thing. Because there's going to be problems. There's going to be destruction. There's going to be people's lives that are going to be affected. We have a responsibility to encourage and not to discourage, and to edify, and not to cause problems. So we all have an individual responsibility to be peacemakers in order for the congregation to thrive. And when there are those things that are happening, when there are contentions, when there are quarrels, that's telling us there's something wrong. There's something wrong.

And we need to begin to look at ourselves, and we need to begin to look at the Word of God. Verse 3, For you are yet carnal, and Paul pretty much calls it pretty plainly there, for you're carnal, for where is there among you? And being, and strife, and divisions? Are you not carnal? And walking as mere men? He says you're walking like human beings, and that's not who I'm creating you to be. Creating you to be a son or daughter of mine. But you're not behaving, when this happens, you're not behaving like sons or daughters of mine. You're not working things out. You're not following the principles. You're not following the Scripture. You're not reconciling. So they were having some pretty serious difficulties, weren't they? And the same things can happen to you or to me at any time in our lives, in any environment, wherever human beings are coming together, at the workplace, at school, at play, on the playground, in our families, in our church families. It can happen in any of those situations where there's contact with other human beings. So I think it behooves us every once in a while to stop and take stock of ourselves individually and collectively. How are we doing? With God's guidance on His saying that we'll be His sons and daughters if we're peacemakers. What things can we learn from our maker? That we can learn and apply and begin to change so that we can begin to institute this concept of peacemaking that our Heavenly Father has and that our older brother Jesus Christ has. Let's go over to Luke chapter 1. We'll focus on verse 7 and 9, but we'll pick up a little bit of the context here, maybe in verse 76. Luke chapter 1 verse number 76. The context here is that John the Baptist's father has been mute for a long time, and he's about ready to share. He's about ready to speak. God's about ready to allow him to speak. He'd been mute because he didn't have faith in believing what the angels had told him about having a son in his old age. And then God restores his ability to speak. And He not only speaks about his son that's coming, John the Baptist, but He also speaks about Jesus Christ. So let's pick it up in verse number 76 here of Luke chapter 1. It says, And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the highest, for you shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of sins through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dayspring from on high has visited us. And notice verse 79, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace. So we needed Jesus Christ to help us here, to guide our feet into the way of peace. For those of us that have been sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, to begin to guide our feet. So God has sent Jesus Christ to us, and one of the reasons is to turn our direction to a way of peace, to a path of peace. How does Christ do this? How is God the Father doing this? Let's go over to Galatians chapter 5 and verse number 14. Galatians chapter 5 and verse number 14.

God begins to give us a blueprint, begins to shed some light on some things here, and becoming a peacemaker. He says in Galatians chapter 5 verse 14, For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this. This is hard to wrap our minds around this. All the laws fulfilled in one word, even in this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. So here comes a clue here. God says that we should have a relationship with our neighbor of love. And we've been taught that this agape love is a love out of concern. It's a love out of care. And I think we understand some of those things. That's what drives a relationship, is to make sure always that we fulfill that command. That we obey that command to have love for our neighbor as ourselves. He goes on in verse 15 to say what happens if we don't follow that principle. But he says, if you bite and devour one another. Now that sounds like strife, doesn't it? Sounds like conflict. Sounds like contention. And it sounds like it's not fulfilling the previous verse, as instruction. But if you bite and devour one another. Here's the fruit. Beware. Lest you be consumed one to another.

It's human nature for you and I when we think we're right, or when we are right, or we think we're right to just refuse to yield. Refuse to yield. And we'll get right in there, we'll pound away and say, no, I'm right, and that's it. And then it says, beware, if you bite and devour one another, what happens?

Well, it says it's going to eventually come back to harm ourselves. And not only that, they can harm innocent bystanders that are not involved in the strife at all. It can hurt them. Beware, it says, lest you all be consumed one to another. So we can be right, getting up there, pounding, pointing our finger, getting in someone's face, and all it's going to do is backfire. I've tried that. It doesn't work very well. It backfires. It's going to backlash. It's not going to have good fruit. It's not going to go in a direction that God wants it to go. There won't be any peace that will come from that. There won't be any peace that will come from that attitude. So what should we do then? Well, verse 16 says, I say then, walk in the Spirit. You know, for those of us that have been here and been baptized and committed to God's way of life, and entered into that covenant and received the gift of the Holy Spirit, God says, follow that lead of that gift that I've given to you. To follow it. To be a peacemaker. You know, to be a peacemaker, we've got to do and go where God's Spirit tells us to do or shows us where to go. We have to yield to it. We have to respond to it. We need to follow the example that we see in verse 16, to walk in the Spirit, where it leads us to go. He says in verse 16, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And we're going to see a little bit as we go further into the context here that the lust of the flesh includes a lot of different things. But it also includes strife. If you and I haven't thought about that before, the lust of the flesh includes strife and contention. We'll see that as we get down here to verse number 20. Well, let's go on here. Verse 16, you shall not walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And then it goes on to say what some of these lusts of the flesh are in verse 17. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit. They're not in harmony at all. And the Spirit lusts against the flesh. And they are contrary. They're on opposite sides of the fence. They're nothing similar at all to one another. So that you cannot do the things that you would. Isn't it true when human nature is there that it's in conflict with God's Spirit? It says they're contrary. It won't work if we try to do it our own way. It doesn't work.

So God says we can't continue to hold on to the old man when it comes to peacemaking. So we saw in verse 18, But if you are led of the Spirit, so if we're following the lead of God's Holy Spirit, then we're not under the law. But if you're not following the lead of God's Holy Spirit, it talks about some of these things here.

Some of these lusts of the flesh, these works of the flesh here. And interestingly, we'll see what some of these lusts of the flesh or works of the flesh are. Verse 19. Now the works of the flesh are evident. They can be seen. They're manifest.

They're seen. Which are these? Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity. But notice it also includes strife, and jealousy, and anger, and selfish ambitions, and dissension. And notice the last part of verse 21, which is a warning to me and a warning to you. I warned you, as I warned you before. So this was something you had to continue to bring up from time to time.

That those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. That's a big caution flag, isn't it? That's a warning out of love from our Heavenly Father, through the Apostle Paul here, to the Corinthians, to you and I. You know, we look at things, some of these things, and we think, wow, adultery's pretty serious. But he's talking about contentions, too, and strife, and selfish ambitions, and dissensions. And how easy is that for a human being to have? It's pretty easy for us to have that, brother.

Because that's what comes to us naturally. That's the way we're wired. That's the way our heart is before God begins to change our heart. That's our natural proclivity. God says, I'm beginning to change that natural proclivity from human to divine. God says, not my sons and daughters, not you. That's not where I'm taking you. That's not where you're headed. That's not where I want you to go.

I want you to become a complete spiritual creation, and part of that is being a peacemaker, and to put on a new man. Alright, let's notice if we follow the lead here of God's Spirit, and do the new man. Where does that take us? Verse number 22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, and peace. So we see here that's one of the fruits of God's Spirit that we know we're following the lead of God's Holy Spirit when there's a peaceful environment.

Okay, so the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, and peace, and patience, and kindness, and goodness, and faithfulness. You know, peacemakers will have these attributes, in a sense. They'll be gentle.

Page number, or page number, Scripture number 23. Gentle, self-control. Against all these things, there is no law. And those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh. And these fleshly works that we've been talking about, and these fleshly lusts, we begin through the help of God's Spirit to put those things to death. To crucify them in our lives with its passions and desires. We have certain passions and desires that God wants us to put to death with the help of His Spirit.

Verse 25, if we live in the Spirit, then let's walk in it. Let's walk in it. And let's not be desirous of vain glory. Let's not provoke one another. Let's not envy one another. Let's go back to 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 25. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 25. Brother, we can do this. We can do this with God's help in our families, at work, in school. We all have the responsibility to be a peacemaker. God's teaching us how to begin to do it. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 25.

In this chapter, we've been hearing a lot about the problems that they had, and we possibly could be having as well. It's not unique to them. And then it begins to start to talk about solutions. And God begins to inspire Paul here on how we can begin to turn this situation around. Because the fires were burning, and they were being fueled, and there was great difficulty in the church.

There wasn't a unity, there wasn't a peace, but there was strife and contention. And it didn't seem like anyone was going to stand up and try to reconcile that everyone was standing on the ground. Let's pick it up here in verse 25 of 1 Corinthians 12.

It says that there should be no schism in the body. So we talk about this one body, one faith, one spirit, and there shouldn't be schism in the body. That's what God is inspiring here through Paul here in 1 Corinthians 12. That there should be no schism in the body. We're going to see he goes on to speak almost like a parent saying to their kids that you are not getting along, that you need to. Sometimes as parents we don't have a solution, but now God begins to provide a little bit of a solution. He says this, but that the members of this one body should have the same care, one for another. Same care. What's it talking about? Well, I think we know what care means. You know, you care for your children. You care for your spouse. You care for people. You want the best for people. You love them. You care for them. You take care of their needs. You help, if you can, to take care of their needs. You've got somebody in the hospital, you visit them. You know, in your family, you care for your children because you love them. You want to make sure they're taken care of. And God has this same care. He wants us to have the same care for every single person all across the board. You know, there's not going to be, well, I care for that person more than that. That's not scriptural. That's not according to the Bible. So we have a pretty big responsibility, don't we? We all do. To have the same care, one for another, all across the board. Now, that can be hard because that's a godly thing. That's God's Spirit working in us. You know, that's a hard thing, but that's the standard that God has set for his sons and daughters. It's here in the Scriptures. No schism in the body. We all have the same care, one for another. For time's sake, I'm going to quote, you can write this down, you can turn to it if you'd like to. 1 Peter 5 and verse 7, we see that God has that care for all of us. And why should we be different? 1 Peter 5 and verse 7 says, cast all your care upon God because he cares for you. He cares for you. Every one of us here, he has the same care for. That's his standard. That's the standard of his family. So he's not just talking about three or four in the crowd, he's talking about every single one. And he begins to communicate that to us through Paul here. That that can begin to address schisms if there are any. He begins to bring about a unity.

Let's go over 1 Corinthians 12. Let's notice here, I guess we've been reading verse 25. Every member should have the same care for one another. Let's go on to verse 26. And then he talks a little bit also about how that works. When one member suffers, all members suffer. When you think about that, when one member suffers, all members suffer. When your children are hurting, you hurt, don't you? You hurt too. It seemed like when I dived into the deep end of the pool at age 37 and married my lovely bride. She had been a single mom for five years. All these things happened all of a sudden, real quick. Our son had a kidney stone at age 8, which is very unusual. Our daughter broke an arm playing kickball. She was the pitcher, and somebody kicked it pretty hard, and she stuck out her arm. It bent back, and it was a hairline fracture. It wasn't right, and she kept complaining. We took her in, sure enough, it was broken. But we cared for them. We took care of their needs. So it's the same way, brother, in our human families and our church family as well. We have to think about how are we doing. We have to ask ourselves, how are we doing? How can we learn to care? How can we learn to care? How do we do this? What should we be thinking? So he talks about it here, that when one member suffers, all members suffer.

In the latter part of verse 26, when one member is honored, all members rejoice with it. You know, they were having problems, I suppose, in that congregation with some jealousies, where one was honored. All, some got jealous about that type of thing. You know, that's a human thing to do, but God says, I want you to be one. One mind, one spirit, you know? And sometimes it's hard to rejoice when somebody else is honored, because you might think, that should be me. That should have been me. But you know, that's a dangerous thought to have. Be careful. You know, God warns us about that, and our enemy will certainly take advantage of that situation. He'll grab hold of that if he can. He'll take us in an area where God doesn't want us to go.

Verse 27, but now he says, you are the body of Christ. There's one body. Oh yes, there's members individually, you know, that God has called that everyone's got a certain gift. Everyone has a certain place in the body, and all parts are needed. Every one of us. That's why God called us, because we're all needed.

One is the hand, you know, one's the foot, one's the head. Everyone has a place in the body. Every part is important. If you didn't have eyes, well, the feet could maybe get you around, but you couldn't see. If you see, but you don't have feet to be able to get from place to place. Every member is critical, and God utilizes this analogy here of a body to help us to understand that don't compare ourselves among ourselves. God says, no, no, no. I've given you each individual gifts and talents, and they've come from me to you. And I want you to use them to benefit the body. And don't compare yourselves with each other, and don't get jealous or anything like that. Verse 27, now you are the body of Christ, and your member is individually. And God has set some. He's the one that's done this. He's called us to do certain jobs and have certain responsibilities, and He lists several of them here. Some are apostles, some are prophets, some are teachers. Some perform miracles. Some have the gift of healings. Some are just people that help. They're just helpful. And there's certain governmental structures that people are involved with. And there's different diversities of languages. So God gave all these different gifts to help to do the work and to take care of the flock.

And so He's given each of us certain gifts. He goes on to say, well, now are all apostles? It's going to get in the rhetorical question. Not all are apostles. Are all prophets? No. There are some, yes, but not all. Are all teachers? No. Not all of us are going to be teachers. Are all workers of miracles? Well, no. It'd be nice if we had a few more. So there are many different gifts that He's given.

And what He's basically having to deal with with them is they were comparing their gifts with each other, and they became jealous. Or they began to measure themselves by the gifts that God had given to them, thinking this was me. And so God had to deal with that through the Apostle Paul. And they thought, why didn't God give that gift to me?

Verse 30, have all the gifts of healing, do all speaking languages, do all interpret, but earnestly covet the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way. And then He begins to go on to show a more excellent way. Familiar with 1 Corinthians chapter 13, the love chapter. And these are some of the characteristics that God has, and He wants peacemakers to have. And as we review some of these here, I think you'll see with me that if we had these characteristics, there would be more peace in our families.

1 Corinthians chapter 13, let's go to verse number 4. He's talking about love, but I guess you could be thinking about that peacemakers will have this. It's one of the fruits of the Spirit, peace as well as love. That peacemakers will suffer long. That peacemakers will be kind. That peacemakers won't envy. That peacemakers won't parade themselves, and they won't be puffed up. That peacemakers don't behave in a rude manner. That they won't seek their own selfish ambitions. That they won't be easily provoked. And they won't ever think evil about anyone. So we have to individually ask ourselves the question, how are we doing?

Verse number 6. It does not rejoice in iniquity. Someone will sin and will say, man, I'm glad they got found out. I'm glad they got it. They deserved it. It doesn't rejoice in that. Rather, it's sorrowful because they know where that's taking that person. It's not taking them to a good place. They've fallen into a difficult situation. They're headed in the wrong direction. They're not rejoicing over the difficulties that they're in. Love doesn't rejoice in iniquity, but it does rejoice in the truth. And it bears all things. It believes all things. And it hopes all things. And it endures all things. And it never fails. So these are some of the peacemaking characteristics that our Heavenly Father has. And He has set us a standard, or a goal, and something to shoot for. Because He says, that's how I am. And that's how I'm creating you to be, in order to be a spiritually complete creation. We're here in 1 Corinthians. Let's go to chapter 14. 1 Corinthians chapter 14.

Verse number 33. Another well-known scripture here. Maybe not at all, but I'm going to touch on one section here of the scripture, which sometimes isn't emphasized. 1 Corinthians chapter 14 and verse 33. For God is not the author of confusion. We've talked about that over the years. But notice what He is the author of. But of peace. He's the instigator. He's the author. He's the one that's teaching His children how to do it. And notice, as it says in the latter part of this verse, as in all the churches of the saints, all of my sons and daughters, all of the congregations of the saints. That's where He's taking us here. So He's in the process of authoring peace in all of the churches around the planet. All of His people to teach us, to help us to learn, to help us to be conformed, to build in us that characteristic of a peacemaker that He has. So God's intention is that peace be a hallmark in all of the churches of God. So how are we doing? How are we doing as a body of Christ? How are we doing as individuals? How are we doing as in our human families and in our spiritual family? Do we have that unity at home? Do we have that unity here in our congregation? Have we been able to reconcile? Have we been able to apply these scriptures? Because we all have that obligation of unity and oneness to reconcile differences. Everyone has the obligation to begin the process. And we, as God, ought to become authors of peace, the chip off the old block. Now, focusing on peacemaking is very important to your destiny and mind as spirit beings. That peace with God, and interestingly as we'll see, that peace with our neighbor are tightly linked. Peace with God and peace with our neighbor are tightly linked. Very tightly linked. Now, if God isn't pleased with us, then we don't have peace with Him. Now, if He is pleased with us, then we have peace. We have a relationship with Him that doesn't need to be reconciled. But if He's not pleased with us, we are in a falling out of peace and we need to be reconciled with Him. If God isn't pleased with us, then we don't have peace with Him. And the solution then is to be reconciled back together with God. And if our neighbor or brother is upset with us, then the solution again is to be reconciled. That's what God says. Takes two to reconcile, so they've got to work together and realize how important reconciliation is. We want to be very careful. We follow the principles that God gives to us in the Scripture. There are steps that God has given to us in the Scripture on how to do this. He doesn't leave us guessing. Let's go over to Romans chapter 5 here. Verse 1 for a moment. Romans chapter 5 and verse number 1.

It says, therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God. How do we have peace with God? It says through our Lord Jesus Christ. So Jesus Christ is very influential in the fact that we were able to be reconciled back to God. God used our Savior Jesus Christ in order to have peace with Him. We'll talk in a moment about how that happened. Verse 2, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope. So we rejoice in hope and the glory of God, which of course is yet ahead of us. So God started this process. He was the author. He began the process of reconciling us back to Himself, of reconciling man back to Himself. He's the great teacher then in how it's done, and He's the great example of how it's done. So He's in the process of bringing this about, a peaceful reconciliation between He and His people through Christ. Well, let's go over to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. We'll pick it up here in verse 17, and we'll read a little bit more about this. We'll see more about this. 2 Corinthians chapter 5.

Verse number 17. Therefore if any man is in Christ, so we're talking about Christ as living in us, we're being led by the Holy Spirit, that's how God is in us, is through His Spirit. If any man is in Christ, He's a new creation. That's the new creation He started in us, of being a spirit being with His character. Old things are passed away, and behold, all things are become new, and all things are of God. God is the one that's bringing these things to us, who has reconciled us. So God has done the reconciling. He's reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. Whoa! That's part of our responsibility. Being a peacemaker and reconciling. That's part of the Gospel message. Really, not only the coming Kingdom of God, but this whole process of God reconciling mankind to Himself, and man being reconciled to man. This is a huge project. This is a huge undertaking. The ministry of reconciliation, being reconciled back to God, and being reconciled back to our brothers and sisters, is a part of the message of Scripture. It's a ministry of reconciliation, a peace, of restoring peace where there was no peace. It's part of God's message. Notice verse number 19. That is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, and not imputing their trespasses to them. So we see how God begins to do this. He looks at Christ's sacrifice, and He says, I'm not going to impute their iniquities and their trespasses to them, because of what Jesus Christ did in their stead, in their place. He paid the penalty. And He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. So now that word of reconciliation, how that takes place here in Scripture, the instructions and the examples of peacemaking is in His Word. It's here. He gives us guidance on how to do this, otherwise we wouldn't know.

We recognize there's a minister of reconciliation, a ministry of reconciliation of peacemaking, and God is in the process of reconciling the world to Himself. And the question we have to answer is, can we be reconciled to God? Really, it starts there. And also to ask the question, can we be reconciled to God and still be angry with our brother? Because we're going to find out that you can't be reconciled to God and still be angry with a brother, and still be angry with our fellow man. It's not possible to have both going out at the same time to be reconciled to God and yet still be angry and be upset with our fellow man. Well, we're going to let God answer that question as we'll see whether or not we can be reconciled, if we're not reconciled with our fellow man, whether that affects us being reconciled to God. We'll also see whether I'm willing to forgive my fellow man. We'll also affect whether or not I can be forgiven.

Because God says that if we don't forgive, really will we be forgiven. Let's go over to Matthew 6. Matthew 6. God begins to say, I was willing to forgive you in order to reconcile. Now, you, if someone has faulted you and asked for forgiveness, you have to be like me. You have to be a peacemaker. You have to be willing to forgive. This is part of the Sermon on the Mountain that God gave to us through Jesus Christ. Matthew 6, verse 12. He says, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. We have to be willing to forgive others because God forgives others. Verse 14, we'll jump to verse 14, Matthew 6. For if you forgive men, their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive yours.

But if you don't forgive men, their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours. So God's trying to tell us if we don't do what He did, we're not going to be forgiven. We're not going to be reconciled, and we're not going to be able to be reconciled to God in that sense. Because we're in a state of conflict with God if we're not willing to forgive. So God says He wants His sons and daughters to initiate reconciliation because God initiated reconciliation. He wants His sons and daughters to be involved in the ministry of reconciliation. And our relationship with our heavenly Father depends on our ability to reconcile with our fellow man.

Let's take a look at some other scriptural examples. Let's go over to Matthew 18 and verse 15.

Matthew 18 and verse 15. We'll find an example of a difficult, challenging situation here between human beings. And God's guidance on how to reconcile and restore peace. Matthew 18 and verse 15. Pretty familiar scriptures, but not often applied. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault. Not before everyone. You know, not before the church meeting. But you're wronged me. He says if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. So if someone sinned against you, it's clear from scripture, they have violated a principle and they've sinned against you, then go talk to him privately. I don't know if you've ever had a chance to do that. And what type of experience that you have. God says go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. And says if he hears you, then you've gained your brother. You've reconciled. You've restored. Peace. It's a wonderful thing. It's important. It's a marvelous principle. But what if there's a different situation? Instead of your brother wronging you, you hear your brother has something against you. You realize you've wronged your brother, said something you shouldn't have said, did some offensive thing, or you gossiped and you slandered. And then you go to God to pray or to make an offering. What does God say to do? Let's go to Matthew 5, verse 22. Matthew 5, verse 22. These are tough things, brethren. God's ways aren't always easy, though. Matthew 5, verse 22. What does God say must be done to reconcile in this situation?

He says, But I say unto you, that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause is in danger of judgment. So sometimes you can be angry without a cause. And whoever shall say to his brother, Raka, shall be in danger of the counsel. Whoever shall say you fool shall be in danger of hellfire. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and you remember that your brother has something against you, you really did something you shouldn't have done, and you remember that your brother has something against you, then leave your gift at the altar and go your way and first be reconciled to your brother. And then, come, come and offer your gift. Brother, none of us are immune to wronging others. We've all been offended or have offended others. There's no one that's righteous. There isn't one. But to be peacemakers and begin to reconcile and try to build a strong and unified people of God, there's principles that he gives to us. And a lot of times he gives us advice to do it quickly, not to let it stew, not to let it go on very long, not to let too much water, in a sense, gush out. You know, just for time's sake, I'll refer to Matthew 5, verse 25. Matthew 5, verse 25, it says, agree with your adversary quickly. You know, that seems to tie into a lot of scriptures that God says, do it right away. Do it now. Don't wait too long. Don't let it fester. That the quicker you do it, the less damage that there will be. Don't want the dam to break. If it breaks, that's another story, and that's what we're going to cover next time. We'll get into some deeper things here. But agree with your adversary while you are on the way with him.

At any time, the adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and then you will pay the ultimate price. Some of us have paid the ultimate price. It's not a good thing. God says, do it quickly. Do it quickly.

Alright. What if it's not done quickly? What if it goes on too long? That's what we're going to cover next time in part number two.

Let's go over to Proverbs, chapter 19, verse 11. The Scriptures say, if it is possible, as much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men. We're talking about in every single human issue where people can come together. I don't have time to go there, but you can reference your notes. Romans, chapter 12, verse 18. As much as is possible, live peaceably with all men.

As much as it depends on you and on me.

Let's go over to Proverbs, chapter 19, verse 11. We'll see there's more information here on how to be a peacemaker. It says, the discretion of a man makes him slow to anger. So, you know, part of peacekeeping is we don't get upset right away. We're slow to anger. And his glory is to overlook a transgression. You know, sometimes we just take it. Sometimes we overlook it. You know, sometimes it's serious and you've got to go to your brother, but sometimes it's not that big of a deal. And you just let it go. But if you do that, you really got to let it go. You can't hold the grudge. You can't bring it up later. If you're saying, you know what, I'm going to let this go. Then you really got to let it go. I'm not going to let it affect me in the way that I deal with my brother or sister. I'm going to let it go. And there are other times when you do have to address it. Okay, let's close with John 17. John 17 and verse 20. Final scripture here. John 17, verse 20. So from time to time, God wants us to look at ourselves and examine ourselves and ask ourselves, how am I doing? How am I doing? Am I constantly trying to follow these principles of being a peacemaker? It's a big thing. It's not easy. This is big stuff. And it doesn't come to us naturally. It has to be learned. And it's not going to probably get any easier as the culture goes along the way here. And our enemy tries to stir things up even more, whether inside or outside of the church. But let's take a look here. John 17, verse 20. One of Jesus' final prayers here before his death. He says this. He says, I don't pray for these alone, but also for those which shall believe on me through their word. So that's you and me, brethren. That they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you. That they may also be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. You know, it's kind of one of the signs. There's a unity here. There's a oneness here that is a sign that Jesus Christ really is the Savior. That the world may know that you've sent me, who the true God is and who his Son is and who God's people are. Verse 22, in the glory which you've given me, I've given to them, that they may be one just as we are one. And we know how they're one. He wants us to be the same way. We can do this, brethren, with the help of God's Spirit. I in them, you in me, that they may be made perfect in one. We've talked about that before, that that's this complete spiritual creation that God is making. We become perfect when we become unified.

This is God's words. That the world may know again that you've sent me, and you've loved them as you love me. So this is a profound scripture about the oneness that God desires for his family.

So how are we doing? We've only scratched the surface on this topic, brethren. There's going to be more specifics that will come next time. You know, the ruler of this age doesn't want us to follow these principles. He doesn't want us to be peacemakers in that sense. He doesn't desire that we become one. And he will fight those who try to do that, who try to become peacemakers. Will it be easy? No, it's going to be hard. But let's begin. We'll cover this next time, too, Part 2, of, Be blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.