Blessed to be Peaceful
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Sermon
Pastor Beau Waldrep, September 1, 2024
Part of the Listen & Learn series, preached at a Sunday Online service
Matthew 5:9-12
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Sermon Notes
Peace receivers have become peace distributors
Be a peacemaker
Receive the peace of God
Promote the peace of God
He refers not to peace-keepers but to peace-makers, people who end hostilities and bring the quarrelsome together. Argyle (A. W. Argyle, The Gospel according to Matthew, Cambridge, 1963) points out that these are “not appeasers, but those who actively overcome evil with good.”
Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary
Romans 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Live like a son of God
1 Peter 3:9-12 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.”
Lean into hard things
“So long as we are occupied with any other object than God Himself, there will be neither rest for the heart nor peace for the mind. But when we receive all that enters our lives as from His hand, then, no matter what may be our circumstances or surroundings–whether in a hovel or prison-dungeon, or at a martyr’s stake–we shall be enabled to say, ” The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places” (Ps. 16:6). But that is the language of faith, not of sight nor of sense.” Sovereignty of God by A.W. Pink
The way of Jesus will cause problems for some (revile)
The way of Jesus will cause problem for you (persecution)
The way of Jesus will give more peace for you (blessed)
John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Focus on the true reward
“Reward” (more literally wages) is more a promise of “future recompense for a present condition of persecution and reproach” than a reward for piety. There is no comparison here between those with a lesser reward and a greater reward. So the reward should be thought of as heaven itself and not some particular status in the life to come. Jesus offers a poignant reminder that the great men and women of Old Testament times often suffered a similar fate. The prophet Jeremiah provides the classic example. The same is true of Christian history. When we suffer, we must avoid the trap of thinking that we are the only ones who have ever experienced such problems.
Craig Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22, The New American Commentary