Blessed are the Merciful Peacemakers

I. Prior characteristics emphasized the character within

A. Poor in spirit

1. Not full of oneself but desiring to be filled with God’s goodness
2. Key passage: Ephesians 3:14-19

B. Mourning

1. Mourning for ones sins and the separation from God and desiring to be reconciled to Him
2. Key passage: 2 Corinthians 7:10

C. Meek

1. Humility; using the power we have to glorify God and edify others instead of exalting self
2. Key passage: Philippians 2:1-7 (read 3-5)

D. Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

1. Desire to be right with God and live a righteous life
2. Key passage: Matthew 5:14-16

E. Pure in heart

1. Desire to have a heart undefiled with immorality and defiled religion
2. Key passage: Titus 2:11-14

II. These final two characteristics emphasize our attitude towards others

A. Certain of the prior characteristics, notably meekness, righteousness, and purity will be evident to others as fruits that are produced in our godly life but the focus was on being the right kind of person and, as a result, the fruits follow (reword)

B. Merciful: Showing mercy to others because he has received undeserved and abundant mercy from God

C. Peacemaker: One who desires to live in harmony with God and fellow men, even seeking good for his enemies

III. The merciful receive mercy

A. Matthew 18:21-25 – Jesus gave this parable to demonstrate this principle

1. Mercy between us and God is a one way street: He does nothing to demand our mercy but we must have His grace and mercy every day
2. Mercy between us and others is a two way street: we do things that require others to be merciful to us and they do things that need our mercy
3. It is arrogant and foolish for us to withhold mercy from others
   • We might think that what they have done has wronged us greatly—and perhaps it did.
   • However, it may be we have done things where they consider that we wronged them but never said anything to us about it (how often do you bite your tongue and not say what you think?).
   • If not, we have wronged others greatly and they were merciful to us.

B. As we will sow later, the child of God is forbidden from being vengeful and must give vengeance to God.

C. The sobering part of this beatitude is that if we want to receive mercy from God we must be merciful.

1. That means that in our most demanding situation, we must find a way to show mercy
2. Mercy comes from our willingness to give it, not whether others deserve it.

D. We are products of mercy

1. We did not earn mercy from God and had no desirable qualities to warrant it, Romans 5:8
2. Titus 3:1-5 – In our rebellion, God showed mercy

E. Showing mercy is part of loving our neighbor as ourselves and doing unto others as we would want them to do to us.

F. James 2:12-13 – Judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy

G. Being merciful will help us to be peacemakers

IV. The peacemakers will see God

A. Finally, the child of God must be actively doing things that make for peace

1. Peace between himself and God
2. Peace between himself and others
3. Helping others to be at peace with God
4. Helping others to be at peace with one another

B. As with mercy, God has taken the first step towards peace with us though we didn’t deserve it

1. Ephesians 2:13-19
   • Through His sacrifice we now have peace with God
   • He brought peace between the Gentiles and Jews through His sacrifice and breaking down the wall of division, the Old Law, between the Jew and Gentile.
   • Colossians 1:20 – His blood brings peace and reconciliation of all things
2. Romans 5:1 – We are at peace with God through Jesus
3. We must preach the message of peace to so others will have peace with Him

C. Having been brought into peace with God, we must seek peace with others

• 2 Corinthians 13:11 – Peace should be a goal, something we actively pursue
• James 3:13-18 – Begins with purifying our hearts and following God’s wisdom
• Ephesians 4:1-3 – attitude of humility that actively pursues peace with others
• 1 Peter 3:8-12 – It demands a love of unity and purity among brethren
• Romans 14:19-23 – Sacrificing our rights in order to have peace

D. Seeking peace with others we need to help others be at peace as well

1. Hebrews 12:14-15 – striving for peace and digging out roots of bitterness that spring up
2. We cannot spread gossip or take sides in disputes; instead we should encourage others to reconcile and stop spreading slander.
3. Acts 9:31 – A peaceful church can be a growing church; a church at war cannot grow

V. If we are living the other beatitudes, it will help us to be merciful and peaceful

A. Romans 12:14-21 – We do what is within our power and overcome evil with good

B. We must seek peace with God and others for we follow the Prince of Peace