Waging Peace
Matthew 5:9
May 11, 2008



Expanding the community of peace by establishing and maintaining grace-based relatiohships

Bible on our pursuing peace (1 Cor 7:15; 1 Peter 3:11; Heb12:14; Romans 12:18)

Objection; Matthew 10:34-36

What is peace?

AW Pink, “We are to avoid all needless occasions of contention, yet not to the point of sacrificing the truth, compromising principle, or forsaking duty.”
Peace is the absence of war, or conflict; but it is also the presence of shalom.

What is the root problem of human existence?

The Peacemaker, Jesus

(Isa 9:6; 52:7-10; Ezek 37:24-28; Luke 2:14; Col 1:19-20; Luke 24:36; John 20:19; 14:27)

How did Jesus achieve peace? (Phil 2:3-8)

Peace with God

We must know peace before we can wage peace.

In order to wage peace,
We must be at peace with God.
We must not be quarrelsome ourselves.
We must not be in it for ourselves.
We must learn to control our own tongues. (1 Peter 2:23)
We must seek it actively.
We long for all men to know peace, and be rooted in the gospel.

Peacemakers Pledge

Peacemaking in the home

Peacemaking in the church

Peacemaking in the world

The promise of the peacemaker

Bearing the character of God

You are a Christian, so you are a peacemaker.

Peacemaking

Peacemakers Pledge, Ken Sande

"As people reconciled to God by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we believe that we are called to respond to conflict in a way that is remarkably different from the way the world deals with conflict. We also believe that conflict provides opportunities to glorify God, serve other people, and grow to be like Christ. Therefore, in response to God's love and in reliance on his grace, we commit ourselves to respond to conflict according to the following principles:

Glorify God — Instead of focusing on our own desires or dwelling on what others may do, we will rejoice in the Lord and bring him praise by depending on his forgiveness, wisdom, power, and love, as we seek to faithfully obey his commands and maintain a loving, merciful, and forgiving attitude.

Get the Log out of Your Eye — Instead of blaming others for a conflict or resisting correction, we will trust in God's mercy and take responsibility for our own contribution to conflicts—confessing our sins to those we have wronged, asking God to help us change any attitudes and habits that lead to conflict, and seeking to repair any harm we have caused.

Gently Restore — Instead of pretending that conflict doesn't exist or talking about others behind their backs, we will overlook minor offenses or we will talk personally and graciously with those whose offenses seem too serious to overlook, seeking to restore them rather than condemn them. When a conflict with a Christian brother or sister cannot be resolved in private, we will ask others in the body of Christ to help us settle the matter in a biblical manner.

Go and be reconciled — Instead of accepting premature compromise or allowing relationships to wither, we will actively pursue genuine peace and reconciliation—forgiving others as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven us, and seeking just and mutually beneficial solutions to our differences.

By God's grace, we will apply these principles as a matter of stewardship, realizing that conflict is an assignment, not an accident. We will remember that success in God's eyes is not a matter of specific results, but of faithful, dependent obedience. And we will pray that our service as peacemakers will bring praise to our Lord and lead others to know His infinite love."