“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). Do we have a right to call ourselves the sons of God? It says here that it's not us calling ourselves sons of God; it says they shall be called sons of God. That means that God is going to call us His sons when we are peacemakers. We must have a reputation as peacemakers. The opposite of a peacemaker is a troublemaker. What is your reputation in your church? Maybe you say, “I'm not a troublemaker and I’m not a peacemaker, but I’m neutral.” Well then you can’t be called a son of God! It says here “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Peacemakers are those who are always seeking for peace.
When Jesus was born, the angels from heaven came saying, “Peace on earth, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among the men with whom He is pleased” (Luke 2:14). God is pleased with those who pursue after peace. The world is full of all types of quarrels, fighting, grumbling, murmuring, and complaining. If we were to look at this earth from heaven’s standpoint, we would see it filled with darkness because of this. But in the midst of this darkness there are a few spots of light - those are the children of God, the sons of God; and one mark of these sons of God is that they are peacemakers.
We find the same thing repeated in Philippians 2. Why does it say that we must do all things without grumbling, disputing, and complaining (Philippians 2:14)? We must do every single thing in our life without any grumbling, without any complaining, and without any disputing - that's a pretty high standard. But it says in verse 15, that that's the only way we can prove ourselves to be blameless, “Innocent children of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.” That's the only way we can appear as lights in this dark world. How is that? What is the darkness? It’s murmuring, grumbling, and complaining. What is the light? It’s people who make peace and do not grumble or complain.
When Jesus sent out His disciples to the people of Israel He appointed seventy to go two by two, ahead of Him to every place where He Himself was going to come later (Luke 10:1). He directed them to look for a man of peace to stay with whenever they enter a town. He said, “Whenever you enter a house, say ‘peace be to this house,’ and if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And if you find a man of peace, stay in that house - don't move from house to house because you will hardly find another house like that in a town” (Luke 10:5-6).
In other words, what He was saying was: “You will probably find only one house in a town where a man is a man of peace.” Otherwise why did He tell them not to move from house to house? What if there were 10 or 20 or 30 or 100 houses like that? Jesus knew that it is very unlikely to find such homes. But such homes are exactly the type where God dwells.
Is your house a house of peace? Can it be said about you as a husband that you're a man of peace? It always requires two people to quarrel; you can’t have a quarrel if one person refuses to fight. It’s just like how both of your two hands have to collide with each other to make a noise. You can’t have a noise with just one hand clapping. If one hand refuses to clap, the other hand cannot make a noise; quarreling is like that. If anyone (say husband or wife) refuses to fight and dies to him or herself, there will be no fight. Instead, there will be peace. So I can never blame the lack of peace on another person, whether it be in my church or in my house or anywhere else.
You can’t say, “My wife is the one who disturbs the peace,” or “My husband disturbs the peace.” It is because you cooperate in that quarrel and fight that there's no peace. There can be no sound if even one hand refuses to come together with the other. So in a situation where there is conflict, if you are pursuing peace, then you will die to yourself and let the other person agitate as much as he or she likes. Then there will be peace.
If I believe that God is sovereign and will never allow me to be tested beyond my ability, I'll be willing to die to myself. Many people say that if you pursue this path, people will just take advantage of you; they will treat you like a doormat and walk over you. Not so. If you believe 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says, “God will never allow you to be tested beyond your ability,” then you will recognize that He will not allow people to take advantage of you, and you will confidently pursue the way of peace. You'll find, like it says in the book of Proverbs, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10). When you find controversy, take refuge in the name of Jesus and then you'll find the fulfillment of Proverbs 16:7, that “When a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, you come and hide in the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” It's amazing what God can do! I've experienced that. If you try to please the Lord, you too will find that even your enemies get subdued.
“Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called be the sons of God.” The meaning of sons of God is different than the meaning of children of God. Children of God are babies; a son is a mature person who knows how to die to self and to walk in the footsteps of Jesus.
