Pastor David continues in the series from the Beatitudes. Blessed are the Peacemakers.

<p>Pastor David continues in the series from the Beatitudes. Blessed are the Peacemakers.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Hillside O’Malley SDA Church

The Beatitudes

David Shin

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

Blessed Are They that Mourn

Blessed are the Meek

Blessed are Those Who Hunger for Righteousness

Blessed Are the Merciful

Blessed are the Pure in Heart

Blessed are the Peacemakers

Blessed Are the Persecuted

Go to Washington, D.C., you will see this monument, this memorial of the Korean War right there on the mall in Washington, D.C.

I am Korean by descent, And this has a special place in my heart.

Shortly after World War II, the Soviet Union and the United States carved up the Korean Peninsula as to who would rebuild which section.

And the Soviet Union took the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, and the American forces took the southern part, much like East and West Germany was divided after World War II.

And there were 2 different ideologies, as you would imagine, that were promulgated, obviously in the North, a communist mentality, Marxism, and in the south, capitalism.

And in July of 1950, the North Korean forces, with the support of the USSR, broke through into the southern part of the Korean Peninsula.

My mother was born in January of 1950, and she was about 5 months old at the time.

And my grandparents were living on the northern part of the Korean Peninsula.

The forces had broken into the southern part and then you remember Douglas MacArthur in October of 1950, if you remember your history books, did the offensive and essentially pushed the North Korean forces almost up to the Chinese border.

It was then that my mother got deathly ill and they needed some medication, and so my grandparents decided that they would have to go south to get medication for my mother.

My mom tells this account, she said all her parents, my grandparents took with her, was a Bible and a diaper bag.

They knew someone in the American Army, so they went south and it was shortly thereafter that the Chinese pushed the American forces down and the border was locked in 1953 between the North and the South, the 38th parallel, the demilitarized zone, the DMZ is right there, and you were not able to go between the North and the South anymore, and it's quite remarkable because if my mom had not gotten sick, she would have been trapped in North Korea and likely would have been shipped off to a concentration camp, as many Christians were under the new regime, and I would not be your pastor.

I would not exist because my parents met in the United States.

You know, the ravages of war, by the way, there was a ceasefire that was agreed to, but there was no peace treaty after this war.

So technically, North and South Korea are still at war today.

And the ravages of war reach its tentacles and affect millions because ethnically, North and South Korea are the same, just 2 different ideologies.

And my mother's cousin, during the war, went to the South and had to leave behind, for different reasons, their precious six-year-old daughter.

They hoped that she would be able to join them later, but the border was closed, and the last time they saw their daughter was when she was 6 years old, and they were not able to see her until 40 years later.

And they were only able to spend a little bit of time with her 40 years later.

She had grown by this time, had her own family, and just broke this relative of my mother's heart that they had left a child back in North Korea.

It's a picture of North Korea and South Korea today.

You know, we live in a world that is longing for peace.

And because of sin, we have on an international scale a lot of conflict and it's not only on an international scale, it's in the family as well.

We experience unfortunately between husband and wife, between parents and children, between family members, perhaps that have not spoken for years because of conflict, because of baggage and trauma that has been experienced.

And peace is something that our world is longing for.

Dear Billy Graham, I guess you can say I burned my bridges with my family more than 20 years ago.

They weren't perfect, but I have to admit, I was the main problem.

I'd like to get back in contact, but they aren't interested.

Dear J.H., no, you shouldn't forget it, both for their sake and for yours.

Admittedly, it may not be possible to restore your relationship with your family, but that shouldn't keep you from trying.

The Bible says there is joy for those who promote peace.

Which brings us to the focus of our study today in our series on the Beatitudes, blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God." This passage is not indicating how we become a son or daughter of God.

This is indicating a characteristic of what it is to be a son or daughter of God.

We should be individuals that are initiating restoration and harmony, whether it be in the family or the church or community, Christians are to be peacemakers.

Now I want to touch on very quickly here in the beginning because it seems that there is a contradiction between what Jesus said in Matthew 5 verse 9, blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God.

And you remember another place in Matthew 10 verse 34 where Jesus seems to contradict what he has just said 5 chapters before.

You remember the statement, do not think that I've come to bring peace on earth.

I have not come to bring peace but a sword for I've come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's foes will be those of his own household." What is Jesus talking about?

First he says, look we should be peacemakers, we should be reconcilers, we should be bridge builders, but here Jesus says look I haven't come to bring peace, I've come to bring a sword.

Well Jesus is not promoting disharmony in the family.

To be very clear, Jesus is establishing the reality that in the hierarchy of values, we should place our relationship with the Father, with God, at the highest place, not secondary.

Now I come from an Eastern perspective and in the East, in Asia, there is something that transcends even truth.

And so for the sake of family, truth is secondary.

Jesus turns it on its head and says, Look, our relationship with God is primary and the result sometimes of following God is that our families, unfortunately, will not accept our decision and will choose to disown us.

But we should remain faithful regardless.

Here he's talking about the results of faithfulness and ultimately our faith in God should trump even our earthly relationships.

He says, In other words, you must love peace and work for peace.

You must pray for your enemies and do good to them and greet them and long for barriers between you to be overcome.

But you must never abandon your allegiance to me, meaning God, and my word, no matter how much animosity it brings down on your head.

He goes on, Purity takes precedence over peace.

Remember the beatitude preceding peacemakers.

It is, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God afterwards.

Purity may not be compromised in order to make peace.

In other words, it is not peace at all costs.

It does not mean compromising our values and our principles, but it does mean that the posture of the Christian is towards reconciliation, amen?

Very quickly, I want to look at some Bible texts about the nature of peace.

Christ is the Prince of Peace, Isaiah 9, verse 6.

God has called us to live in peace, 1 Corinthians 7, verse 15.

In 1 Peter 3, verse 11, and Paul goes on in Hebrews 12, verse 14, make every effort to live in peace with everyone.

I like this definition from 1 dictionary of a peacemaker.

A peacemaker is a person that tries to make peace, especially by reconciling parties that disagree, quarrel, or fight.

Now, isn't it interesting in the Western world It seems like we like to fight, doesn't it?

Especially this time of year in the election cycle.

I promise I won't talk about politics from the pulpit, all right?

It is God who loves reconciliation and who now through his children as formerly through his only begotten Son is bent on making peace.

So the posture of the gospel is for reconciliation, is for restoration, it's for harmony.

The posture of the devil is for rebellion and disharmony.

Now with that in mind, we've just prefaced it with the notion of purity takes precedence and not compromising our values.

But we need to recognize that in application of being a peacemaker, this is a characteristic of what a Christian should be.

Now, there are 3 applications of how we can look at the notion of a peacemaker.

In other words, I have a conflict with a brother or sister, a misunderstanding.

You know, we go through this all the time, don't we?

I look forward to heaven when there won't be any misunderstandings.

Back to Menu

Series

The Beatitudes

Blessed are the Peacemakers

Transcript

Description

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

The Mount of Blessings

Being Reconciled to Your Brother

43m

The Cost of Forgiveness

52m

The Sermon Rarely Preached

32m

Let the Words of My Mouth

Let the Words of My Mouth- Part 1

30m

Marriage Heart to Heart

Forgiveness

54m

The Parables

The Unforgiving Servant

39m

Morning Devotional

When Prayers are Not Enough

43m

Restoring the Joy

49m

Are You Offended

40m

The Cross

Reconciliation

35m

To Forgive Is To Benefit

36m

The Lord’s Prayer

37m

Sound Doctrine